Mordekaiser General Guide by Azphreal

Introduction

Welcome, and thank you for taking the time to read this. First and foremost, this is a work in progress. I just randomly had this idea, tested it, and it works. Jungle Mordekaiser is an idea that is being expanded upon in every game I play him. This is also my first guide, so excuse me for any formatting issues or places that could be better.
Right. You should know that this is a jungle Mordekaiser guide. If you’re looking for a mid-lane guide, this is not the place to be. Know also that jungle Mordekaiser isn’t quite as powerful as the mid-laner (due to simply being in the jungle), but is still potent and is able to do well heading into the mid and late game.
Once again, thank you for coming, and I hope that this guide will at least make you consider jungle Mordekaiser. After all, jungle Gragas and Blitzcrank have been coming through recently; why not another? Don’t forget to drop some criticism for me down the bottom.

Pros / Cons

Pros + Strong early game damage + Fast clear time + 6v4 teamfights + Flexible item buid + Monster shield + Not blue buff reliant

Cons - Squishy early game / jungle - Prone to counter-jungling - Able to be kited easily before having a slowing item - Often needs a hard engage from the lane to get off ganks

Abilities

IRON MAN: A portion of ability damage dealt is converted into a damage-blocking shield. This is one of the reasons that jungle Mordekaiser works. Each spell you cast, you gain 35% of its damage as a shield. Simple, effective. Early game it’s a little tricky to build up, due to only being able to hit 3-4 minions or one champion, but late game when you can clear minion waves quickly, it’ll be fully stacked in no time. Use the shield to survive constant damage, dive turrets, help you in taking objectives, and just generally slaughtering things.

MACE OF SPADES]: The next attack strikes up to three additional targets, or deals extra damage to an isolated target. This is mainly what gives Mordekaiser his great clear time. On-hit damage that bounces up to three times means you’re doing the entirety of its damage to the entire jungle camp. Long cooldown at early levels, but has a nice spammable cooldown at rank five. Scales on bonus AD and decently on AP, so anything you build makes this effective. And don’t forget that isolation bonus; it buffs the damage, buffing the spellvamp, buffing the shield, and making Mordekaiser a terror to 1v1.

CREEPING DEATH: The target unit gains defenses and damages enemies nearby. While it might not look like much, Creeping Death is a deceptively useful spell. At higher ranks, it actually gives some nice damage and defense. The other important note is that it procs Rylai's Crystal Scepter in an AoE, making it Mordekaiser's best chase ability (aside from his ult). Not much else to say; it does exactly what it says.

SIPHON OF DESTRUCTION: Damages all enemies in a cone. Combo’d with Mace of Spades, this lets you clear jungle camps in no time. Mid game, you can one shot (or nearly) caster minions on the off chance you get to lane farm, and late game, it can obliterate a whole wave. Brilliant for damage, spellvamp, and shield-building. The only downside is that without proper sustain, the health cost can be a little high in the early game.

CHILDREN OF THE GRAVE: Steals health from the target champion. If they die under this effect, a ghost is resurrected and serves under Mordekaiser. Mordekaiser’s signature ability. If the target dies under this, you get a ghost that can do Tons of Damage™ to any enemy. Mostly used in a 2v2 gank situation; burst down one member, ghost them, kill the other. Becomes amazing once you have a Rylai's Crystal Scepter, as the ghost will proc the slow. In a teamfight, use it on their ADC, burst them down, and suddenly they have a 6v4 on their hands with no ADC. Proceed to clean up. Don’t forget that the ghost can also tank towers quite well, and that you steal health, making Mordekaiser an even more potent duelist (as if Mace of Spades wasn’t enough).

Skill Sequence

Take your pick of skill sequencing.

> > >

Standard Mordekaiser levelling path. You want to do as much damage as possible, as quickly as possible. Maxing Siphon of Destruction gives you that damage, followed by Mace of Spades, obviously taking Children of the Grave when possible.

> > >

Maxing Mace of Spades first gives a little more damage if you're playing a hybrid or less AP-focused build. The decreased cooldown means you can dish out lots more damage, provided you can stay in range. As always, follow it with Siphon of Destruction for more damage, and Children of the Grave at levels 6, 11, and 16.

> > >

Standard Mordekaiser levelling path. You want to do as much damage as possible, as quickly as possible. Maxing Siphon of Destruction gives you that damage, followed by Mace of Spades, obviously taking Children of the Grave when possible.

Masteries

It’s really up to you and your team what you do here. This is the just about the standard AP burst jungling set, taking a bit of extra attack speed with Fury . Blast , Mental Force , and Archmage give more AP, Spellsword and Arcane Knowledge compliment that bonus AP nicely, and Executioner is a given for anyone that takes 21 in Offense. You can put the remaining three points in either Sorcery or Deadliness ; again, personal preference.
In Defense, I believe this is the standard jungling nine-mastery setup. Four points in Durability and one in Veteran's Scars gives you more health, while two points in each of Tough Skin and Hardiness make your jungle that much easier.



I don’t hugely recommend this, but it could work. Take four points in Fury for attack speed, then max out Blast and Arcane Knowledge for damage.
As for Defense, this is obviously your focus tree. Use the same nine points as the first set, then take the more champion-centred survivability masteries. The whole line of Unyielding and Block help you out with their ADC, three points in each of Relentless and Tenacious make you that much harder to stop, and three in Juggernaut gives more health. Finally, the obligatory point in Honor Guard gives even more tankiness.



Just something I've recently been playing around with. I don't use these exact masteries, but they're a good start. Four in each of Fury , Deadliness , and Blast gives you clear speed and is the base of the hybrid, with one point in the penetration masteries Weapon Expertise and Arcane Knowledge . One point in Spellsword helps out. The final point in Sorcery is from lack of anywhere else I could be bothered putting it.
In Defense, it's much the standard nine-point setup, but taking two points in each of Unyielding and Relentless , plus the one point in Block , for a little more survivability.

Runes

My personal choice. The extra attack speed helps out with your jungle clear, and helps if you plan to siege/backdoor late game.

Another valid choice. Makes your burst that much… burstier. Shreds tanks late game.

greater mark of hybrid penetration

Could work, due to Mordekaiser’s strong basic attacks already, plus the fact that attack damage works quite well.

This is really the only seal I can recommend for any jungler. Unless you’re Taric, or maybe Malphite, you need the extra armor to survive.

Personal favorite. You usually take these as an AP mid; they just help with your damage so much late game.

Decent pick if you decide to go tankier. The extra magic resist helps in the mid and late-game teamfights, especially if you don’t normally build magic resist.

A possible choice, but not recommended.

A strong choice for any burst ability power champion. Helps with your early jungle by giving you an extra ~9 damage on either ability per hit.

My secondary choice. Mordekaiser’s base movement speed isn’t too shabby, but with his ability to be kited, extra speed is welcomed. With a Rylai's Crystal Scepter or other slowing item, it makes you near-impossible to escape from.

Summoner Spells

A required Summoner’s ability for a jungler that isn’t Cho'Gath or Nunu. Gives buff control and helps you clear camps. Procs spellvamp; 20% of 490-1000 damage as free health? Yes please.

The old favorite of many, and is still strong. Gives mobility, a much-needed escape, and a chance to keep up with your opponent.

A potential pick. Gives Mordekaiser some CC early game before having a slowing item. Can eliminate the ADC in teamfights if used properly.

Backdoor Mordekaiser is actually a potent thing with his strong wave-clear and good base attack speed and damage. Allows for surprise ganks on bottom lane.

Not quite recommended, but isn't a bad choice if you haven’t hit level 12 yet. Makes you hard to get away from or hard to catch. Gives a nice amount of chase potential to someone who doesn’t have it in the early game.

You really shouldn't need the additional sustain in the jungle. Life-saving-team-heals are fun, but you best leave that to the support.

...moving on.

Without any hard-to-line-up skillshots or being a support, this is a wasted slot. sight wards give the same amount of vision for longer, and only cost 75 gold.

You really don’t have the built-in escapes or chasing potential you need to be able to run jungle ignite. For an example of someone who can, see Shaco.

Has a 10 minute cooldown. Not exactly worth it for what you want to be doing.

This isn't exactly the kind of mobility you’re looking for.

Iron Man is all the shield you’ll ever need.

Items

This is where things get interesting. Mordekaiser has so many build options; he scales well hybrid on Mace of Spades, has great ratios for Children of the Grave, and has high base attack values. The primary thing in any kit is to give him some sort of spellvamp, and a slow.

The mandatory starting item for junglers in Season 3. Should be obvious.

Don't let the image deceive you. You actually want five of these. These are absolutely required for jungling early, because until you get spellvamp, Mordekaiser's sustain is ****.

These help you get around everywhere. You can only move so fast, so Boots of Mobility help you go faster than that. Allows you to catch fleeing opponents in some rare occasions.

This will be your first upgrade. Yes, you slightly waste stats, but no one cares, because it builds into one of two items you will use: Spirit of the Spectral Wraith, or Spirit of the Ancient Golem.

If you need a slow earlier than Rylai's Crystal Scepter, an early Bilgewater Cutlass can help in ganks. You can sell it later, or upgrade it into Hextech Gunblade or Blade of the Ruined King. If you get Spirit of the Spectral Wraith, I recommend going for the BotRK, since spellvamp doesn't stack.

On the other hand, Rylai's Crystal Scepter shouldn't need an explanation. It makes all of your spells slow, and is generally amazing on Mordekaiser. Regardless of what you do with Bilgewater Cutlass, you should get this.

There should be no explanation necessary. Gives you a buttload of AP, and magnifies that further.

With only three (instantly) damaging spells, you want to do as much damage with them as possible. Playing an assassin, you want to kill someone as fast as possible. These two ideas had a child, and it was named Deathfire Grasp.

The finishing items. Take your pick, based on their team. If you want damage vs. tanky comps, either of the first two is good. If you're getting bursted, grab a Zhonya's Hourglass.

Makes you more resilient and gives more damage. Should be obvious.

Unfortunately, this doesn't work with Rylai's Crystal Scepter, but it is still a great item. Gives health and armor, and even hurts people. Potent with Creeping Death.

Amplifies your healing through spellvamp and Children of the Grave, and gives some nice health and magic resist.

Don't be afraid to buy these if the support hasn't. The jungler often plays a support-tank role anyway, and these will not detract from that. Team items are good.

I'll be honest, you waste about 1000g on mana here. However, this item is amazing on Mordekaiser. Late game, your Siphon of Destruction and Mace of Spades are on low cooldowns, and when you get in range due to Rylai's Crystal Scepter, you can smack them with another slow.

Just a random idea. The new passive makes it a more damaging item, so it could have some success. I don't recommend getting this normally, but just if you want to try something new / are really fed.

If you're behind, you can buy a kage's lucky pick to try and catch back up, then build into this. Alternatively, use this to counter that pesky AP Master Yi who keeps healing off everything you do to him.

Gameplay

VIDEO COMING SOON.

Jungling: What to Know, What to Do

The jungler is a fifth player not assigned to any one lane; rather, for gold and experience, the jungler farms the neutral monsters located in the jungle between lanes. The camps are as follows:

Credit to flatline-lol.net.

Each jungle camp spawns at 1:55, and has a variable respawn rate depending on what it is. The minor camps (wolves, wraiths, and golems) have a 40 second respawn time, while the buff camps (Lizard Elder and Ancient Golem) have a 5 minute respawn time. While the minor camps only grant gold to the killer and experience to nearby champions, the buff camps will grant a buff to the killer ( Blessing of the Lizard Elder or Crest of the Ancient Golem respecively).

The Dragon and Baron Nashor are special jungle monsters. Dragon spawns at 2:30 and respawns 6 minutes after being killed. Killing the dragon awards 25 gold to the killer, plus 190 gold to the killer's team, as well as 400 experience. Baron Nashor spawns at 15:00 and respawns 7 minutes after death. Killing him awards 300 gold and 900 experience to the killer's team, plus granting the Exalted with Baron Nashor buff to their team for 4 minutes.

As mentioned, the jungler farms their team's jungle. Their job is also to keep control of Dragon, Baron Nashor, and their own jungle by using wards. Wards will grant vision and allow the team to see if enemies are nearby. In addition to this, junglers are expected to help out the other lanes, by providing ganks. Ganks involve the jungler assisting in the lane member(s) for a quick kill, or to alleviate pressure from the lane. I won't teach how to gank, because that's a long lecture. Look up stonewall008 on YouTube for his extensive jungle play.





A word of note: sustain is an issue. This isn't like jungle Dr. Mundo or Zac, where you have a sustain mechanic. No, you have to rely on your shield to block the damage. And early game, that shield ain't so big.

Anyway. I personally start at the Lizard Elder camp for assistance in clear time, moving onto wraiths, wolves, then to the Ancient Golem, and then gank if you have the health from a good leash. Use a health potion at each camp, because your sustain is that ****.


MORE COMING SOON.

Summary

Mordekaiser in himself is a fun champion. Jungling amplifies this. While it may be slightly frustrating in the early game, his mid and late game seems to me stronger than his laning, and your unpredictability is entertaining to pull off.

In any case, give this a try. You won't know if you like it unless you do. Thank you once again for reading, and please drop any advice or criticism down below for me :)

Changelog

18.6.13: Guide created.