Hello, I'm Magical Rock, my LOL Summoner Name is Thoneunknown. This is the first guide I have ever made. I have played Malphite in multiple lanes, though my favorite by far is mid. I used to like to take him as a tank, but maybe in a higher elo. In this guide, you will learn how to take him in the mid lane as an AP ***issin. Malphite mid is quite strong right now, because a lot of the meta is melee in this lane.

Abilities

Items

Malphite - Shard of The Monolith Melee, Assasin, Magic, Mid Laner, Nuclear Weapon Role: Assasin Roams: Unbeatable Specialty: Squishies Be Gone Malphite Mid? Yep, and its better than you think. He has pretty good AP scalings, so building that on him can get high damage amounts. Overall, he is the perfect assasin. He has some of the best engage in the game from Unstoppable Force, and when you combine that with Ground Slam Thunderclap AA can get Electrocute and do massive amounts of damage. This damage is enough to kill an ADC, mid laner, and sometimes jungler.

PROS + High Burst Damage + Good Scaling + Great Engage + Granite Shield makes easy laning phase + Good Roams + Good escape tool As you can see, Malphite mid is not only viable, but good. The laning phase is not great for him, but manageable because of Granite Shield. This will give him a shield every so often which allows him to take less damage. He can also nuke squishy champions from his REW AA combo. This activates Electrocute which does some more damage, killing them. This can make the game unplayable for the enemy ADC, because before or during every fight, you jump on the before they can blink.

CONS - Mana-hungry - Weak in teamfights - Hard laning phase - Ranged champions bully him early - Cannot kill bruisers - Useless between combos As good as AP Malphite mid is, it also has cons. Most of them are in the early game, such as his high mana usage, that isn't solved until you get Sheen. And being an assasin, he is bad in teamfights, because of his low health and bad sustain. He also is useless and defenseless between combos, leaving a perfect opportunity for the enemy laner to counter attack. He also has very little kill pressure without Unstoppable Force, and can only poke with his Q. Bruisers also counter him.

Granite Shield Malphite is shielded by a layer of rock which absorbs damage up to 10% of his maximum Health. If Malphite has not been hit for 10 seconds, this effect recharges.Useful in the laning phase to pick up poke.

Seismic Shard Using his primal elemental magic, Malphite sends a shard of the earth through the ground at his foe, dealing damage upon impact and stealing Movement Speed for 3 seconds.A tactical nuke late game, you can use it to finish off low health enemies or to catch up to mid heatlh ones. Also good poke.

Thunderclap Malphite attacks with such force that it creates a sonic boom. For the next few seconds, his attacks create aftershocks in front of him.This can also be used for waveclear, but use it for going in because it does good damage and gives armor.

Ground Slam Malphite slams the ground, sending out a shockwave that deals magic damage based on his Armor as damage and reduces the Attack Speed of enemies for a short duration.This is good for waveclear, because it is AOE. It is also part of your combo.

Unstoppable Force Malphite ferociously charges to a location, damaging enemies and knocking them into the air.This is your core ability, without it you are basically useless. It is your main damage, your engage, and somtimes your escape.

FLASHThis is a good summoner spell all around, and is taken on almost every champion, save a few like Shaco. It can for anything from escaping, to going in. One of its purposes for Malphite is extending the range on Unstoppable Force.

IGNITEIgnite is a good spell for most mid laners or assasins, because of the kill pressure. Most people use it to finish off a kill, though the best time to use it is when you go in. This is because it gives Grievous Wounds, severely decreases their healing.

ELECTROCUTE Electrocute This is good on most burst assasins, because it gives a burst of damage from hitting three different attacks, which is your combo. For poke in the early game, proc with EQW AA combo.

CHEAP SHOT Cheap Shot This is good because you can proc it with Seismic Shard and Unstoppable Force. The damage will help you win your trades.

EVEYBALL COLLECTION Eyeball Collection This rune is good, because it helps you snowball a bit into late game with the additional AP it gives. If you get 10 champion takedowns, then you get even more AP, so this rune will help out a lot.

ULTIMATE HUNTER Ultimate Hunter This is the best hunter that you can have, because without your ultimate you are basically nothing. Try to get your first stack on the enemy mid laner, then roam down bot for 2 more.

MANAFLOW BAND Manaflow Band This rune will help out your poking a lot, because the maximum mana will allow you to say in lane longer. Basically it is a nice substitute until you can buy Lich Bane.

TRANSCENDENCE Transcendence This will give you the maximum 40% CDR, something that you need because of you high ultimate reliance. This is the reason for taking Sorcery secondary.

The more damage the better. - Just more damage. - Take the defense for your type of laner.

ELECTROCUTE Electrocute This is good on most burst assasins, because it gives a burst of damage from hitting three different attacks, which is your combo. For poke in the early game, proc with EQW AA combo.

CHEAP SHOT Cheap Shot This is good because you can proc it with Seismic Shard and Unstoppable Force. The damage will help you win your trades.

EVEYBALL COLLECTION Eyeball Collection This rune is good, because it helps you snowball a bit into late game with the additional AP it gives. If you get 10 champion takedowns, then you get even more AP, so this rune will help out a lot.

ULTIMATE HUNTER Ultimate Hunter This is the best hunter that you can have, because without your ultimate you are basically nothing. Try to get your first stack on the enemy mid laner, then roam down bot for 2 more.

PRESENCE OF MIND Presence of Mind This rune helps you stay in lane after you poke someone down and go in on them. If you do not take this, consider taking Triumph for the health restore.

COUP DE GRACE Coup de Grace After all your hard worked poking, this rune is the pay off. You do more damage to champions below 40% health, so when you go in you are sure to destroy them.

The more damage the better. - Just more damage. - Take the defense for your type of laner.

ARCANE COMET Arcane Comet The best keystone for poking, because the comet will give you some more damage. For a garunteed hit use Seismic Shard, but if they do not have boots Ground Slam will do.

MANAFLOW BAND Manaflow Band This is another poke rune, like Arcane Comet and Scorch. For mana reasons, you usually only want to poke if you have this and all your other poke runes off cooldown.

TRANSCENDENCE Transcendence You almost always want this in your runes with this build that way you can hit 40% CDR. This is crucial taht way you can get off more poke.

SCORCH Scorch Always take this rune if you are poking, because it will empower your poke, similar to how Cheap Shot or Sudden Impact empowers assasination.

BISCUIT DELIVERY Biscuit Delivery This rune will help you stay in lane longer, the biscuit will also restore your mana. Use these to kick your laner out so you can get some plates off of their tower.

MAGICAL FOOTWEAR Magical Footwear Free boots are good on you, because you do not really need boots that early. Also, Luden's Tempest is an expensive item, and that will help make up for length of time to get them.

The more damage the better. - Just more damage. - Take the defense for your type of laner.

DORAN'S SHIELD & HEALTH POTION

VS

CORRUPTING POTION

Take this most of the time, because it sets you up for a bit earlier laning phase. Only use your Health Potion when you are half health because you already have regeneration from your shield.

Build this itme if you expect to do a lot of early game poking. Since it does not grant defensive things like Doran's Shield does, so you will have to go on the offensive. This will make them poke you less.

ZHONYA'S HOURGLASS & NINJA TABI

VS

HEXTECH PROTOBELT-01 & MERCURY'S TREADS

These items will be what you want to take against an AD laner such as talon or zed. Buy Seeker's Armguard on your first back to start stacking armor and AP, and then get a Stopwatch if they go all in on you. Build Hextech Rocketbelt after Lich Bane.

Build these against AP laners, which will be almost all of them. On your first back grab Hextech Revolver. This will give you great poking potential from Electrocute. You combo will do more with the AP from it and passive. Build Zhonya's Hourglass after Lich Bane.

Lich Bane This item will always be your second item, because at that point you will be begging for mana. And even besides the regular mana and AP it gives, it also supplies you with a bit more CDR. This helps your cooldowns, which can make you poke better. Being a Sheen item, the empowered auto-attack will help your combo.

Rabadon's Deathcap This item is always good for if you are AP. It gives massive amounts of ability power and will greatly increase your oneshot potential. Perhaps the best part of Rabadon's Deathcap is the passive granting 40% AP. This allows for all AP that you have or will have to get a massive boost. Say hello to a lot of damage.

Void Staff This relatively cheap AP item not only grants your abilities damage, but also helps them penetrate. The base AP that it gives is only decent, but if the enemies start building any MR then your probably want this item. Magic Penetration is good on all AP assasins because it will help your burst not be negated by silly MR.

Morellonomicon This item is also good because it gives you more magic penetration. This item is also good in teamfights because when you go in with Unstoppable Force, you will be giving the enemy taem Grievous Wounds. This will prevent them from doing a lot of healing, though if they have a Spirit Visage or a Soraka then not all the way.

Dead Man's Plate A great item against AD teams, and also gives you a bit of health to make you look more tanky. If their team is 100% AD, consider even going Frozen Heart. The armor here will help you from getting caught out and provides suvivability. Remember that you might want Gargoyle Stoneplate if their fed ADC is the only AD champion. In that case, there will be no AD once you nuke them with your combo.

Gargoyle Stoneplate This is a defensive item you will want to take against a more balanced team, say with a fed Ashe but a Zoe that can still dish out damage. Overall, take this if you are dying fast, but do not know what defense would be more effective.

Banshee's Veil This item is good against an AP team because you can have magic resist yet still get some AP from it. One of the great parts about it though is the spellshield. This will prevent you from getting popped by an enemy jungler such as Nidalee.

Control Ward One of the best items in the game, most professional players get 2 on every back. This can be used in almost any place around the map. Some of the normal places are in and around objectives, in the river, or in bushes in the lane. Keep in mind you can refresh them if your Control Ward could be in a better place. Using this in the enemy jungle is also a good idea because you can tell what side they are on.

Elixir of Sorcery This is the elixir for you to take if you are full build because you will be needing some extra AP. Because this consumable is so expensive, make sure to not use it before you are full build or it will be a waste. Once you get full build though, take it every back because you will have enough gold to sustain it.

If you are looking for more of a harrass build on Malphite, to poke the enemy laner down, then this is it. This build will make you less of an assasin, but more viable in the laning phase. Luden's Tempest will still give you a bit of burst, though late game you will not do as much damage. Because you also build Luden's Tempest first item instead of a defensive item, this makes you unable to stay in lane for too long.

Dark Seal This will give you some early mana and AP, allowing for poke to do more damage, and to be able to sustain it better. With poke, try not to trade, and if they go in on you simply Seismic Shard and get out. This lane sustain method will be hard to get kills through trades with, but make sure to call in your jungler.

Refillable Potion You will want to upgrade this potion on your first back, because Corrupting Potion will do more damage with your poke, and restore mana. You want a refillable first though, because if you do not bring a Doran's Shield then you will need some way to sustain your health in lane.

Luden's Echo Make sure to grab an early Lost Chapter (preferably on your first back) to help sustain your mana. This item is great for poke, as it gives great CDR, mana, and more damage on abilities every once in a while. Make sure that you have charged up your echo when you go in to finish your laner off, that way you get the burst damage.

Boots You have three options to do with your boots. Your first 2 are to build defensive boots ( Mercury's Treads or Ninja Tabi, and you should build those on most games. Only use the third option Sorcerer's Shoes if you are ahead and want even more damage. Defensive boots will help you not get popped, and mpen boots will help you do more burst damage.

Morellonomicon This item will also give you some health, which is good. This item is good because it gives magic penetration to help deal out more damage. Morellonomicon also inflicts Grievous Wounds, something extremely important against teams with heavy healers ( Garen, Warwick, Sylas, Draven, Soraka). This item also gives some more AP, which is the goal in general for this Malphite guide.

Late game you will want to build the same things as you do normally, because you do not really poke much outside of the laning phase. One thing to remember with this build is that it is still important to hit 40% CDR, because this will maximize your potential. Also remember NOT to get another mana item, because you already have more than enough from Luden's Tempest. If you are doing well, upgrade Dark Seal into Mejai's Soulstealer so you can get even more glory.

EARLY GAME In this phase of the game, you will want to be careful and play cautious. Make sure to ward up a lot if you have pushed in, because before level 6 you have very little getaway. Make sure to ping if your enemy laner is missing, and warn the side lanes (mostly bottom). It is not hard for some champions like Katarina and Yasuo to start snowballing after picking up a double kill. While in lane, make sure to trade with your combos. Play defensively, and save your mana. Do not try to poke or trade unless you have Electrocute because you do not damage early game. After you get your first half an item ( Hextech Revolver or Seeker's Armguard, you can start trading a bit more, but do not get overly aggressive. If you are strong enough, follow their roams, but while you're at it get deep wards into the enemy jungle.

MID GAME Once you hit level 6, things get a LOT easier. You can start to poke down the enemy laner, and if they are low enough, go all in with your REQ combo. Once you do that, you can start to snowball a bit and get better items. You have gotten your first item, try to scare the enemy laner out of lane with poke then roam bottom with Unstoppable Force. If you can pick up a double kill here, then you will be well on your way to winning. If a tower in bottom lane falls, make sure to rotate with bottom lane. While you are at it, make sure to grab extra minion waves for more cs and gold. Start pushing bottom, and if anyone comes you can most likely kill them. Ward the enemy jungle, because it will give you a good idea of where the enemy jungler is. If you get ganked, then make sure to Unstoppable Force everyone and get away/kill everybody.

LATE GAME At this point, you are no longer as strong as you were and the main priority should be to win. Try to assasinate anybody who is walking alone, because this will create an unfair teamfight. Try to split push a lot, especially if you are fed. This will force at least two of enemies to come after you and allowing your team to win a fight. The whole team comes for you, signal your team to push or take an objective. Whatever you do, make sure that you die as little as possible. You are necessary to start the fights for your team, and therefore need to be alive to do that. If you get full build, make sure to grab an Elixir of Sorcery. Make sure to adjust your build if necessary against different team compositions as well. If they have heavy healing such as Sylas or Soraka, take Morellonomicon, and if they are building MR, grab Void Staff and maybe Morellonomicon.

TEAMFIGHTS In teamfights, you are without a doubt the MOST important person. Your job is to start the teamfight, take out the ADC, then get out of there. Because you are not a tank, once your combo is gone you are useless. If you have a Yasuo on your team, you are in luck because you will be able to combo. If the enemy ADC is far away, use the last combo listed to start the fight. Once you have used Unstoppable Force to get in, immediately followup by destroying the ADC or whoever their carry is. Once that is done, your job is over and you need to have your team followup. To do this, simply use Zhonya's Hourglass, and if your team isn't done yet keep fights with Seismic Shard and Thunderclap autos. If the ADC is not the carry for them, target whoever it is, but remember to never target their tank.

Combos are the pinnacle of assasins, becuase if you do not have a combo then you will be spamming buttons. This is bad because it can cancel animations, use your CC at the wrong time, and in general give your prey time to get away. Here are some of the combos you will have to practice when playing Malphite using this guide.

This basic combo is used in the laning phase to poke down the enemy laner. You will want to start off with Seismic Shard to get the speed boost, but then get Ground Slam when they are in range. The Thunderclap empowered auto-attack will also do some nice damage. These three attacks will proc Electrocute doing even more damage. The best time to use this combo is when the enemy laner tries to go in on you because they will already be close. You may even want to end with your Q if they have a good dash to get away.

This is another easy way to proc electrocute, but only if they enemy does not try to run. It does not use your Q, so that means if their speed is more than you than you will not get this off. This method is relatively easy because you can you do not use Seismic Shard, one of your most expensive abilities. This combo can also be used for waveclear. How you do this is you Ground Slam everything, then auto-attack a big minion and Thunderclap to get the auto reset. Then you keep getting the melee minions using the aftershocks to kill the casters.

After poking the enemy laner down a bit wiht Seismic Shard or any of the combos listed above, this combo right here is an execute. If you want to use a Thunderclap auto instead of Seismic Shard that is fine, though your Q will do more damage. This is still listed as medium dificulty because it involves hitting your ultimate. Make sure to not poke them down too much, because they will recall ruining your chance. You will proc eletrocute from this, though it is probably not necessary do the damage you will deal.

This combo right here can be hard, but it goes for a good purpose. Right here is a good way to steal objectives. Make sure that you have vision in the pit before time of course, and when the time is right (700-500 health) go in. The most important thing is that you hit the enemy jungler and the objective with Unstoppable Force, that way you can finish it off without Smite. It is important to not get greedy and go for kills, because if you do not use all your abilities on the objective you will not kill it. At the end, make sure to Flash out.

This is a relatively hard combo to pull off, and you will be using it on tanks, or tankier champions. You start off normally using Unstoppable Force to go in and following up with Ground Slam. You then want to auto-attack then Thunderclap and auto-attack again with the reset. Then you want to use Seismic Shard to steal speed and catch up. Then get as many auto-attacks off as you can with Thunderclap on and the speed from Seismic Shard. This should only be done if you have enough vision to make sure nobody comes.

Use this combo to iniate a fight from a distance. The key here is to get on top of the ADC and kill them before anyone can react. Once the assasination is complete, you are a sitting duck and completely useless. That is why Zhonya's Hourglass is good because it allows your team to follow up so you hopefully do not die. When using Unstoppable Force remeber that the main goal is the carry, though try to knock as many other people up for your teams sake. If you miss your ultimate for any reason, immediatly go Zhonya's and get out with Seismic Shard.

And that's all! Everything you need to know about playing AP Malphite mid. No more struggling on which items to build, what lane to go, what runes to take. You now have a deeper undestanding of league of legends as a whole, (unless you skipped), and now are well on your way to becoming a grandmaster. Thank you for spending all this time reading and learning about Malphite, and hopefully you will play him. If you did not understand anything, drop a comment, and if you liked it, leave a vote.

4/22/20 - Guide Completed
5/3/20 - Added Rune Page and added Control Ward to early game.
5/5/20 - Added Other Guides By Me Section.
6/6/20 - Major visual revamp. Changed items, added Gameplay section, changed runes, added Malphite Overview section.

More Updates to Come!!!