All from solo or duo ranked, usually solo top lane.

Replay: http://leaguecraft.com/replays/559-ap-mordekaiser-ranked.xhtml

This build is currently for advanced users. If your not skilled beware you probably won't succeed with this build!

Hello and welcome to my first guide!

Before I get started I'd like to introduce myself. My LoL name is Sindustry and I've been playing off and on since the beginning of closed beta. Yes I am an Adjudicator, for whatever that's worth. Needless to say, I have at least "some" knowledge, experience, and skills in LoL.

In this guide I'll go over the items/runes/masteries and explain the overall playing style for this build. I'd like to state that I've played Mordekaiser as a tank, off-tank and pure caster many times. What I've noticed is that he's really not up to par as a full-tank since he has absolutely no CC/disable/slow. Because of this and many failed attempts to tank due to lack of tanking abilities, I've long since migrated to playing him as a heavyweight caster.

With this build you should play like a ranged ap carry, not a tank. Your not a tank. Your a wrecking ball! This build requires a lot of micro because of how easy you could be owned.

Pros
Early game advantage from AP rushing.
Shield fills instantly in most cases.
Creep wave eating.
W helps team mates out + more damage done by you and keeps your shield up as long as W lasts.
Late game can kill almost anyone 1v1.


Cons
Asbolutely no CC.
Can't tank.
Requires lots of micro, zone control and map awareness.
Extremely item dependent build.
Prone to be focused later in the game due to massive damage output (hense abyssal/zhonya's late game.)

The biggest reason for going with tank runes is that Magic Resist and Armor also apply to Mordekaiser's shield. While this doesn't help him offensively, these help keep you alive for that extra second or two to out dmg someone :P

The mpen is for keeping your shield up early game. With mpen on W you shouldn't have to worry about losing your shield in a creep wave vs 2 opponents. (IE crash into wave/2 champs and have a hay day because of shield :P)

I decided to go with 9/21/0 for the same reasons as the tank runes. Along with the runes, this will give you that extra little defense to out survive any other squishies that try you.

I wrote a whole bunch of stuff but realised it was just too confusing so I'll keep this simple.

The build idea is to get the most AP you can as soon as possible.

To start I get regrowth pendent and a hp pot and solo top or duo-lane unless we don't have a good mid. I lane until I die or need to item (usually 1950 gold minimum if not killed). If I don't die at 1950 gold I'll have to decide if it's worth leaving the lane. If their team is still laning and already proved not as good, I'll return and grab Needlessly Large Rod and boots.

After buying rod and boots, I need 2k to complete rabadons, but only 1200ish for mejais. So you have to decide: getting lots of kills/assists? mejais. Not enough damage/survivability? Rabadons. You should have this complete by lvl 13 at the latest. I usually have it around lvl 11/12.

Now usually for me once I have rabadons I will get mejais asap if my team is doing good at mid-game meta. The sooner I get it stacked the better. After mejais I'll get Void Staff for the mpen unless I need MR because of burst casters (ryze etc) then I'll get abyssal. Abyssal comes after void staff in this case.

My final item is normally Zhonyas as it has more AP than the will of ancients and you benefit more from the armor than the spell vamp. Reasons: Your not losing HP if your shield is up and the armor applies to your shield, so that makes it last longer. So long as your shield is on, spell vamp is useless because your not constantly losing health like other champs.

Not sure I got the skill sequence right, but the idea is to focus creeping death first and foremost. This is your bread n butter skill imo. The AOE DOT allows you to be focused by an entire creep wave and never lose a drop of health. It also helps a lot vs melee champs you might end up 1v1 with for more than a few seconds :P

W: Because your passive shield is based on ability damage, focusing on AP and creeping death is how you will survive and creep farm. Use your W on one of the melee minions to creep farm and harass melee champs/not smart players from a distance. Also try to use it on any squishy melee champs you have in team fights at all time. This will help them survive longer, deal damage for you and keep your shield up at the same time :P

E: Last hits/harass ftw! Always use this to last hit creeps and to harass champions. I usually wait until I can get a last hit on creep and a champion at the same time before I use it. But otherwise use it to hit enemy champs as much as you can early on, late game just focus on creep killing and harassing/last hitting champions.

Q: is focused last as half the time you won't beable to land it due to movement speeds. Save it for when you exhaust or someone else CC's them so you can hit. In 1v1 you want to use it as much as possible since it does double dmg to single opponents. Otherwise, just another generic creep farming skill.

R: This is the game changer. If you can get this off successfully, you should be able to win any team fight. Focus it on squishy AD champs first and foremost. Not tanks/support! Your clone will deal a lot more damage from physical dps champions ;). Obviously once you have it you want to ctrl+click them on the next weakest champ and so forth till they are dead or running.

Another thing though is if you know you won't be killing anyone in the next minute and half or so, go ahead and use it if your low on health. No use spending half the game not using a spell that will keep you alive just because your hoping for a kill at some point :P Usually I'll use it when I'm being chased to keep me alive that extra little bit for a team mate to show up, then I turn and help finish them off ^^.

Exhaust and Ignite are my favorites.

I take exhaust over ghost because in most situations I'm not running. I rarely put myself in a situation where I have to run and have no team backup.

The main reason I want exhaust is for taking a dpser out of a team fight or help the team/myself catch a kill.

Ignite+Ult, not much more to say there. I do suggest you ignite first since it will help with your ult's initial damage.

Farming is easy. Get E first and only use it to last hit creeps or harass champions, preferably both at the same time with each use.

For wave killing: walk up to the wave and cast W on your self, wait till creeps are low then E or Q them to get as many last hits as possible. Once you have your rabadons you'll be killing entire creep waves with E alone almost. After that it's simple, farm as much as you can while still helping the team.

The more creep kills the more money and probably experience you have ;)