5-20-12

Hello Everyone! I understand my guide hasn't been updated for the past 4 months and that can be frustrating for a lot of you who are wondering with changes within the game. I'm here to tell you that I will be updating my guide within the month or asap. I want everyone to know that I will be adding old builds back before I redid it into one. I also have a better understand of how I should reconstruct my guide as well. I'm going to make my guide in two separate sections. One section is going to be for new players who have never played Mordekaiser and should go there first to learn all about him. That part of the section will explain his abilities, counters, and reasons for what targets to ult. The other section will be for experienced players who have been following my guide or have played a lot of Mordekaiser knowing the basics. In that section, I will be going in detail with different builds including explanation of masteries, runes, and item choice. I will also be discussing different strategies per build.

Again I'm sorry for the long wait for all of you. I'm the best man of my brother's wedding this week and there has been a lot of preparation for it (plane tickets, calling off of work, hotel, clothes to wear, tuxedo, etc etc. lots of things!) I've been really itching to remake this guide and I'm excited to do it! Thank you everyone for supporting what I enjoy doing, making you all better players and a better community of having fun with your champion Mordekaiser.

1-22-12

Even though I'm an American, I'm pleased to see Mordekaiser played by the Russians and win the entire tournament. It not only gives good feedback on what they build and play but it also shows that Mordekaiser is definitely viable. Also I wanted to note that I will be changing the guide up once again in hopes to make your lives easier and more fun. Expect updates this week.

1-16-12

It has been a long time since I've updated this! I'm very confident in what I'm about to explain from my playing and practice with Mordekaiser. I'm going to explain all of the changes I've made

I'm only for one way to building Mordekaiser now. Mordekaiser is a battle mage meaning he should be building items towards increasing his Ability Power, but on the side his survival as well. Mordekaiser is not a tank. He does not have any type of crowd control whatsoever unless bought which even then is only for slowing your opponents and not stunning. He's an anti carry champion that makes sure the carry on the opposing team doesn't get away with killing the rest of your team and hopefully turning the tables on them with your own ghost carry.

I know I've taken away a lot of variety from my guide, but I felt it was necessary to have Morde built the right way where he's the most useful and not an inconvenience. If you're looking to play pure tank, play a pure tank that actually has crowd control. If you're looking for a way to play Morde as an AD character, pick a different character all together. Morde is an AP caster first because of his shield generation which actually gives him that "tanky" feel. I know some of you enjoy those different ways to play him, but I think this is for the best. Since you're taking top lane to farm, having good damage for your team should be priority.

RUNES

Marks will always stay the same. Seals will either be Greater Seal of Armor when laning solo top or Greater Seal of Ability Power when laning mid. Glyphs will always be Greater Glyph of Ability Power and Quintessences will always be Greater Quintessence of Ability Power. By now all of you know and see that I'm starting with a large amount of Ability Power at the beginning of the game. Why did I go this route? Because your passive is based on the more Ability Power, the more shield is generated. So your shield should increase even more when using spells which should protect you from harassment during the laning phase. My top priority of why I chose this route is because Morde's harassment is relentless with Siphon of Destruction. The damage output is so much more noticeable and very helpful with sending your enemy champion back to base or killing them right there on the spot.

MASTERIES

I made a slight change to masteries that should help maintain Morde early game. I switched the points from Honor Guard and Siege Commander to Indomitable because reduction in percent is only useful in late game when damage is very high. Since Morde has the most trouble early game, negating 2 damage per attack is very useful! It will save health and from having to buy more health regen.

Spell Vamp Quintessences

Did I try them? Yes. What did I think of them? You can definitely stay in lane a lot longer with them and having the 3% from your masteries, but after playing game after game it was not working out for me and I would cripple my team more than help. Why did this outcome happen? I noticed Morde doesn't deal enough damage early game which doesn't make him threatening. Yea, he's surviving really well and can stay in lane, but what about using his potential to killing off his foes? My harassment damage with Siphon of Destruction was really bad and I felt like I was doing no damage to my targets. For characters that can heal like Tryndamere, Renekton, or Yorick, I was not doing enough damage to diminish their health and therefore they would be able to stay in lane and never have to worry about me. This of course leads to being able to bully me, farm better, and keeping me from farming. Yes the spell vamp did help me survive better, but transitioning from early game to mid game, I wasn't very useful because of my effectiveness for my team. Its always good to survive, but whats the point of surviving if you're supposed to deal damage and you can't? I'm just not a fan of the new quints, even though spell vamp is a very rare thing to get in the game, I dont think it's worth investing when playing Morde.

ITEMS

Once again, I did change this. I always put a lot of thought into what I should be buying because it determines the entire game after all lol. I have a better understanding of what to start the game with.


This item should only be bought when you're going to solo top. It only should be bought if you're against an AD Melee character that requires to move in to harass you, as in only if they're next to you, they can do damage such as Renekton, Tryndamere, or Riven. The extra armor will help maintain your shield if they do try to move in and attack you. The extra health is great to have against a possible gank from the jungle or themselves going on a full out assault on you.


Best item to buy when you're going to mid lane against burst mages that will have a high rate of harassment. It's also useable in top lane against characters such as Yorick who spam every spell they can on you or a ranged character such as Teemo who will try to pick at your health. You buy this item because you're expecting to lose health from harassment and therefore will buy an item that will help replenish your health quicker while maintaining your shield against future harassment.


I can only think of 2 reasons why you would want to go this.
-If you're laning against Udyr
-If you're laning against Garen

Neither of these targets can ever hit you if you can run the same speed or outrun them. Harassment against these characters is very easy with these.



Always your first go to item. Increased movement speed + Magic pen = Bigger damage output and easier harassment. If you can't afford these on the first trip back to base, buy Boots and if you have enough Amplifying Tome. Then on your second trip back make sure you buy this.

Mercury Treads
I recommend getting these against a very heavy CC team. This with Juggernaut should help a lot with being kept down.


Definitely staying as your 2nd item to go to. No exceptions


Definitely staying as your 3nd item to go to. No exceptions

4th Item

Now if you're playing Dominion or Twisted Treeline, your 4th item will automatically be
Lich Bane No exceptions

If you're playing summoner's rift, it varies on if you're doing well or if you're getting spanked. If you're getting spanked, it's most likely because one champion on the enemy team is packing heat or in other words, getting fed. You will build to make Guardian Angel. When building this, make sure to purchase the most needed resistances when doing so. If you're doing well and not having any trouble, Lich Bane.

5th Item

If you haven't built Lich Bane yet by your 5th item, build it now. If you have, are you having trouble surviving against AD characters? If so, build Guardian Angel If not, are you having trouble against AP characters? If so, build Abyssal Mask. If you're not having any trouble with either at this time, Build Hextech Gunblade making sure to build Hextech Revolver first when building.

6th Item

Are you having any trouble surviving? If not, Hextech Gunblade. If so, are you dieing more often? If so, Guardian Angel. Do you need more magic resist? If so, Abyssal Mask.


Yes, I am completely for this item. Once Will of the Ancients and Rylai's Crystal Scepter are purchased, you are ready to unleash the beast on people. Enemy champions that have been building magic resistance to protect themselves from you will be completely blown when this item is made. All the ability power you have harnessed will now be converted into AD damage when this thing procs. Always Siphon of Destruction before using Mace of Spades to proc Lich Bane. Those melee AD characters you're afraid to 1v1 against are no more with this. They will now fear you with this on your back. Honestly, this item when finally made hits like a truck. I was amazed how much damage I was doing to people and the spell vamp from Will of the Ancients makes it so much better when you need to go heal up without returning back to base. Just farm a bit and your health will come back.



Thank you everyone for waiting patiently for the changes. I hope I do not disappoint and hope the changes I made will heighten your game play with more fun! Please if any of you have any questions, place them in my comments section. Like I've said before in the past, I'm having job trouble and trying to find something that will help support not only myself but my wife as well. I appreciate all of my fans and their dedication to following what I write. I still have to update other sections within my guide. Follow only what I have within this section. I have to touch up the rest of the guide once again how fun! lol. Other than that, See you on the fields of justice!

12-23-11

Alright alright I'll admit I've been slacking a bit on updating the guide. My reasons are:

1. I'm a graduated college student with a bachelors now
2. Been looking for jobs. Income is a lot more important than updating your hobby.
3. Christmas presents and searching the right ones for all my family / wife
4. I've been wanting to update my guide forever, and so, I shall put my time and effort once again towards the Mordekaiser

I know a lot of you have been expecting an update, but I've been so busy trying to find something that will keep me alive literally =P I will start looking into Mordekaiser this weekend and let you know my thoughts.

Again I apologize and hope you're willing enough to stay tuned for a couple more days.

12-14-11

I'm excited as you all are that I realized they threw a few buffs in for Morde

Iron Man (Passive) shield amount increased to 35% from 30%
Siphon of Destruction damage increased to 70/115/160/205/250 from 65/105/145/185/225

I took a quote from Ironman to show a point

"35% of the damage dealt from abilities is converted into a temporary shield"

According to Ironman, it's based upon ability damage. These two buffs will both help build shield because one increases the cap percent amount that you gain and the other increases the damage output of your Siphon of Destruction. I'm not sure if it's noticeable early game or at all, but I'm currently under finals week right now and have no time to test theories until it's over. With that in mind, I was wondering if any of you can bring back some feedback and I'll read it over?

Also I'm curious about the new runes that came out. I really didnt get time to look at every single new one, but I saw there are spell vamp quints with 2% each. So 6% extra spell vamp, but 2% for multi hitting abilities and 6% for Mace of Spades when the target is alone and Children of the Grave. I see it as anything that Children of the Grave improves your survivability more. I'm not sure how well of an effect it would be over health regen runes. If any of you do happen to buy those and test those out, that would be fantastic as well!

I'll be done with finals on Friday and I'll start looking into some theories. I hope Mordekaiser is viable again and we can all enjoy him =)

12-1-11

Morello, Game Designer from Riot, has finally recognized that he and his team will be working on fixing Mordekaiser! He even started the threat himself!

Link Below

http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=1547572

11-18-11

Pick Greater Seal of Vitality over Greater Seal of Regeneration. I put a lot of thought into this and realized that the very first core item we're building toward consists of Ability Power and Spell Vamp. I count spell vamp as a different method of health regen. I also realized with this new defense tree that getting Greater Seal of Vitality would be very beneficial to gaining a lot of health through out the game. With 21 in defense and 9 seals of this, you literally gain 100 health per level! (Inbetween 98 - 99 health per level) What I also considered is which one is the most useful late game? Obviously having Health is going to decide the end game factor over health regen. If you live, you win. If you die, you lose. For early game, they're both needed. So I went with the better decision and said go Greater Seal of Vitality. If you're getting dominated early game, ask the jungler to help or buy up some health pots.

11-16-11

I threw what I thought up for the time being, but don't have a lot of time to explain it. Our biggest needs as Mordekaiser early game is good early game ability power so our shield can pump up more, health regen for our sacrificial needs (hurting himself), Movement speed to catch targets or to be able to escape, and of course Health for surivival and not feeding / getting blown up

I feel with Morde's early game problems for the time being, It's best to go 9/21/0. I'm so happy they finally made health regen not based off of mana. It offers health regen, movement speed, Cooldown Reduction, Health, and a little tenacity. The defensive tree offers so much now that I feel it's the best to go. You could go 21/9/0 but you are throwing away a lot of early game survivability you're going to need.



After playing a couple games, I still think flash is worth getting seeing it can still jump over spots that no one else can reach (even with the reduction of distance -_-) Let me know if there are spots that are impossible to jump with flash now, because I haven't seen one yet.

This is of course my preference for the time being of what I think. If you feel I'm wrong in anyway and think there are better ways to build him, Leave me a comment of what you think and I'll try to get back to you.

10-26-11

I need to vent or be really open about this. At first I saw the changes to Morde as challenge to my skill level. As I played more and more games I became more frustrated with the changes. His only way to deal the most damage is to be in melee range with Creeping Death and Mace of Spades. With the nerf, he can’t sustain enough health to survive unless you

1. Buy enough spell vamp and have enough Ability Power which takes A LOT of gold. This of course is now crippled thanks to every spell vamp item having unique passive. If you’re playing a ranked game or at least something near a serious game when people stack CC, it’s nearly impossible to poke you head out of your own turret area. Even if I do buy Moonflair Spellblade and even Quicksilver Sash, when you’re in a team fight, you’re for sure the first target because
a. You have to get into melee range to do max damage which sets you up to die.
b. You of course are going after the AP carry or AD carry for your Children of the Grave and because you are *COUGH* WERE an anti carry character “until the nerfs” -_- so you have to put yourself out of position (Reference A)
c. They made it so you have to build AP to generate shield, meaning you’re most likely not going to have enough armor / magic resist to take any kind of burst.
d. If you can’t get your ult off from all the CC, you’re just dead.

2. Buy enough Health Regen so that you don’t lose health while you’re spamming your abilities. I have a big issue with this too because as Morde levels, he actually weakens more by eating up more health as you level up abilities. Leveling up should be a time to be getting more powerful, not handicapping yourself. I feel like he’s taking a razor and slashing his wrist to cast spells as if he was a cultist that requires his own blood to do his bidding…

You would think it would be, oh I just need a Regrowth Pendant or even a Rejuvenation Bead, but NO you got to keep buying more health regen as you level. The gold that is being used on health regen is needed hardcore for at least upgrading your character to do more damage or armoring himself up.

The worst possible idea if you’re building health regen to sustain is to get more cooldown reduction. You would think being able to cast your spells more often would be a blessing, but it’s just a very big thorn in your ***. I tested it and realized that with 40% CDR, not even Force of Nature can even keep you from losing Hit Points. I find it ridiculous that so much health regen is necessary to hold yourself off the ground. I feel like I’m Dr. Mundo who can’t turn off Heart Zapper. Using abilities too much burns yourself out.

3. What’s worse is your shield doesn’t fill up at all unless you build Ability Power. But your shield is based off of your armor and your magic resist so it doesn’t sustain unless those are bought as well.

How ridiculous is this? We have a character that’s forced to buy health regen or go straight spell vamp right away to be able to sustain his own abilities. If you go the health regen route, you’re gaining no Ability Power whatsoever which is what you need to build shield and damage. Even if you go all armor and magic resist for runes and masteries early game, Morde can’t hold his own when being harassed. He’s easy to push out of lane and keep him away or kill him. It’s impossible to start with spell vamp so you have to have enough health regen or health potions to stay. When you finally get enough gold to afford spell vamp, you’re still left with no health, armor, or magic resist. So blowing you up is the easiest way to getting rid of you which is much easier now with the nerfs. It takes TOO MUCH GOLD to finally become viable for fighting.

You’re an AP caster now that’s handicapped to hurting yourself when casting spell, having to get into melee range to deal max damage, and forced to buy pretty much everything except AD, lifesteal, and cooldown reduction to survive. ALSO, you have no CC whatsoever. This is so critical when it comes to team components. Other AP Casters can slow and stun their opponents, but you can’t slow someone for a gank, stun someone to save a team mates life, and for escaping. Morde is completely Item Oriented and he can’t farm unless he can sustain. That’s the main issue here, Sustain.

Either he needs a complete rework or he needs a slight buff in the right direction. A major buff to me would be to get rid of his cultist belief which is damaging himself constantly. If it needs to stay, at least make it minor enough to where you buy one health regen item that you can sustain…

What I also thought was what is the point of Siphon of Destruction anymore other than to deal ranged damage? Nothing. It used to be your main ability to charge up your shield, but now it’s just a ranged attack. I think they need to increase the cooldown on Siphon of Destruction, but give it a slowing effect when it lands. That way, Buying Cooldown Reduction would be worth its value when you can slow your opponents for your team. I also realized that Siphon of Destruction takes the most health out of your abilities. Why? It doesn’t have any secondary effects anymore, so what should your ability used for harassing damage you the most? It baffles me.

Really, I’m open for any discussion about this now and want to hear from you the people out there. Throw in your personal opinion in the comments about:

1. Whether I’m right or I’m wrong
2. If Morde needs a buff, what do you think it should be. Or if he needs a rework, how should he be remade?
3. What you think is best to build for him now with all the changes. Straight AP or building tanky first then going AP? Or no AP at all?

I want to thank everyone who has read my previous guide back when it was the bible and this one now. It sucks to know all the work I put into a guide and it gets completely blown by patch notes lol. I once again updated my guide hoping that it will help you with you quest to succeed with Morde. And with that, I hope you enjoy my guide once again.

Skip to ITEMS section if you want to see the new information

I would like to announce that Mordekaiser is still viable to play and still a lot of fun. To be honest, I like the changes they made to him because it makes him more challenging as a player and it gets rid of the fact that Mordekaiser should EVER tank because he’s not a tank. Personally I only see one way to play him now and that’s to go straight up ability power. Here are my games the past 3 days I played.







My win rate this week is around 75-80% which is awesome! The games I lost were because people expected me to tank when they should of read the patch notes. I would try games without a tank or games where I was forced to duo lane with someone and this is a fail idea. I will cover all this as we go on, but first, I would like to go over the patch notes.

Iron Man

Iron Man is the reason why Mordekaiser is different than any other champion. The ability to charge up a shield that will soak damage instead of your health points is amazing! This passive has saved my *** so many times and I have won many team fights keeping this ability up. It's important to understand that this passive is based on how much armor and magic resist you have. In other words, the more armor and magic resist you have, the harder it is to get rid of your shield. This is key to being successful with Mordekaiser.

Mace of Spades

Mace of Spades is lighting up your mace and smacking someone in the face (wasn’t trying to rhyme lol) I like to use this ability to deal a bit more damage to my enemy champions or farm and charge up my shield a little more. If you hit the closest minion to you, it will send a shockwave of three bits to the next three nearest targets. Try to use this to your advantage by hitting enemy champions with the aftershock if all they do is kite you. It deals the most damage when charged up and smacked on the enemy champion.

Creeping Death

Creeping Death is your defensive ability, but can be used to deal damage the same time. Shards of metal surround you giving you increased armor and magic resist while damaging opponent around you. Even if you’re not colliding with the enemy just yet, the increase armor and magic resist will help you a lot if you’re focused. You can also throw this onto other allies that are being focused if they need the extra armor and magic resist. Remember that ALT + W will apply this baby onto you instead of clicking.

Siphon of Destruction

Your ranged harassment. This ability should be maxed first. Harassing with this ability at level 1 is poor, but once at level 2, the damage is noticeable and if done every 6 seconds it will diminish their health. Every six seconds, run back into the minion wave and attempt to hit the enemy champion and minions together.

Children of the Grave

I personally think this is by far the most important ability to learn how to use and to understand. It deals damage and heals over time. In WoW terms, it’s a DoT and it’s HoT on you (pun intended lol). There are two methods of using this ability:

-Using it for survivability purposes
-Using it for having a ghost pet

Survivability

If you’re using it for survivability purposes and need hit points throughout a battle, I would throw this on the tank of their team. Now why in God’s name would I ever do that? Because Children of the Grave takes a % of health from the target which means the more health a target has, the more health you’ll damage off your target. The best kinds of characters to do this on are on tanks. Plus, most tanks don’t go down easy and the duration of the ability is 10 seconds. Every second means more health for Mordekaiser. If you need all the health you can get, you should apply it to the tank because you’re doing the most amount of damage to a player who normally stays alive the longest keeping your Children of the Grave ticking for health.

Ghost Pet

If you’re using it to get a ghost pet, then you’re looking for an extra champion to play with as your pet. This ability is your ace in the hole where you get a pet to attack and defend for you. If Children of the Grave is on your target upon death, you receive their ghost as your new teammate for around half a minute. By taking down one of their champions changes the scenario from a 5v5 to a 6v4 which is really nice. This ability should always be used first and then followed by an ignite. You want the healing effects from your ult while you’re taking damage so it should be cast first plus the duration is longer than ignite. Here’s a list of what are the best choices for using this ability on.

Best Characters for damage (Ranged Attack Damage)

- Ashe
- Caitlyn
- Corki
- Ezreal
- Kog'Maw (AD)
- Miss Fortune
- Sivir
- Teemo (AD)
- Tristana
- Twisted Fate (AD)
- Twitch
- Urgot
- Vayne

Good Characters for damage (Melee Attack Damage)

- Akali
- Gankplank
- Irelia
- Jax
- Kassadin
- Kayle (AD)
- Lee Sin
- Master Yi
- Nocturne
- Olaf
- Pantheon
- Renekton
- Shaco
- Sion (AD)
- Trundle
- Tryndamere
- Warwick (AD)
- Wukong
- Xin Zhao
- Yorick

Anything else not listed is Tank or Ability Power oriented

Out of all honesty, it’s good to get a ghost no matter what because it will help in any shape or form. If a burst caster such as Annie or Brand are really fed and killing your team fast, focus them. No they’re not AD character, but it’s best to get rid of BIG threats toward your team. It’s not a total waste either. By having their ghost, your AP increases by 20% which helps a lot for AP Mordekaiser.

How to Use Your Ghost

I have seen many Mordekaisers that don’t use their ghost at all and it sickens me. I have played different characters and watch my ally Kaiser have a ghost and it just sits there like a rock, does nothing… I’m going to have to assume it’s because not many people know how to control it and use it. It’s very simple really, all you have to do is hold in the ALT button, then click where you want him to go or where to attack. It may take some practice to get good at switching back and forth, but once mastered you will become such a better player. Anytime I have a ghost and there are no casualties on my side, I run straight to the closest turret and deal as much damage as I can with it. There’s something VERY important to keep in mind. Whenever your ghost deals damage to another champion (and this includes Creeping Death on it) the turret will focus Mordekaiser. To keep this from happening, just keep Mordekaiser outside the turret’s attack range and you won’t ever be the focus.

If you’re only trying to use Children of the Grave to stay alive during a fight, these are the counters you must be aware of.

Banshee's Veil

Always watch out for this. This will eat up your ult or ignite which can cripple your capability of killing a champion and / or having their ghost. Just use Siphon of Destruction on your target before laying down the combo.

Quicksilver Sash

This item is completely anti Mordekaiser written all over it. It removes all debuffs (Ult + ignite) and it has magic resistance which hurts your dps overall. Avoid using your combo with someone with this unless you notice they use it, then go balls to the walls.

Sivir

Not hard at all to fight. She’s a very easy target, just have to know when to strike. Wait on using your ult and ignite until she uses up her Spell Shield because it will eat it up and be wasted. After it goes off, she’s cake. I’m thankful she can only use spell shield on herself.

Countering Ghost Possibilities

Trying to get a ghost off of a target is one of the hardest things to pull off. If Children of the Grave wears off before you kill your target, you get no ghost. There are so many ways to keep you from getting your ghost and you must always be aware of them. Timing is key and knowing if all items / hero abilities are on cooldown. Some of these suggestions are going to be obvious, but you always have to keep in mind when playing.

Guardian Angel

Now why would I ever worry about this item? Well, if you ult and ignite them and they die, guess what, no ghost. REALLY! Really… This item is evil and can screw over your whole game if someone like Kog'Maw is in possession of one of these… I have played against a few teams where their whole team composition would at least get Guardian Angel before the game is over. For you, this is hell, and you have to wait out the first death until you would like to have your yummy ghost.

Health Potions

lol, I know, it sounds silly… but it does work… This is actually another counter to your method of killing someone. There was a time that health pots used to stack, but thank god not anymore. It’s possible they can live through sheer health regeneration and a health pot.

Elixir of Fortitude

Big thanks to ß☺☻for finding this one out for me. If you throw your combo at someone when they’re holding one of these, it works just like Health Potion except instead of HoT its instant health granted. Be cautious if someone is holding onto one of these, they’re expecting your combo.

Anivia

Rebirth is very annoying, not going to lie. I hate 1v1ing this character. She rips through your shield pretty well even when it’s full + if you can take her down, she’s not dead. I wouldn’t even try getting aggressive against this character if you have to 1v1. Harass her when you can, but don’t risk it at the cost of your own hp because she will melt your shield. If you have to 1v1 her, I would have someone help you gank her, because there’s no way you’re going to kill her twice by yourself unless she’s a bad player.

TIP

Anivia is the best caster ghost to acquire. Her Rebirth works for your ghost! (this made me laugh so hard when I realized this happens). If you can get her and push with your team, she’s almost as good as a real tank tanking the tower. The turret will still attack her even in egg form so as long as no one else attacks enemy champions.

Blitzcrank

Mana Barrier With how much speed you’ll be packing from this build, you shouldn’t get pulled by his Rocket Grab if you play smart and tricky. I listed him as a minor threat because of his Mana Barrier. You have to keep in mind even if he’s weak and possibly a kill, you have to look whether Mana Barrier proced yet or not and how much mana does he have if it did? Waiting it out isn’t worth it because it takes a whole 10 seconds. If it’s low, combo him down and dps as much as you can before he escapes.

Kog'maw

When he dies to your ult, you have to wait until he completely dies from his passive. Very annoying if your team is losing a team fight and your ghost isn’t out right away.

Karthus

When he dies, you have to wait until his passive is up as well.

Kayle

Careful when using your ult when she has Intervention. Target is completely immune to all spells until the spell is off.

Poppy

Diplomatic Immunity If you’re not the target, then completely ignore her. Even if you are the target, I’ll fight her if she’s weak, if not, just focus on squishies until it does wear off.

Shaco

Hallucinate I brought up Shaco to bring up the point that he can make a copy of himself using Hallucinate. You want to be cautious when using your combo on him and make sure it’s really him when you’re using it. He’s a great hero to DoT down and kill for the sake of your team, but make sure not to waste it on his copy. You’re going to want Oracle's Elixir at some point in the game. If he’s the jungler of a game, be very careful because you’ll never know when he’ll strike.

Tryndamere

He can’t deny my combo against other characters, but god is it annoying when you can’t kill him until that Undying Rage goes off. He does massive damage and can survive a long time which creates a problem for our hero. If you 1v1 this guy, make sure you’re near a minion wave or else he’s going to tear you apart. If you know you can’t keep you shield up against him, I would ult him but not ignite. I would save my ignite right after he ults and use it at the time he’s thinking about escaping. It’s a waste to use ignite if you can’t even get him to use his ult. Ignite takes longer to come back than your ult, so keeping your ignite is more important than wasting it. In team battles, if you can make this guy use his ult, try to follow him while helping your team still, use your ult and ignite when he’s half way into his Undying Rage, it should get him even if he does escape.

Zilean

Chronoshift …….. I hate him the most out of any hero. The fact that his Time Bomb hit like a truck and he’s able to revive any hero using Chronoshift just cripples me. He’s a walking Guardian Angel to me, a huge pain in my ***. Careful with your combo when using it in a game with Zilean. Your best hope is ccing Zilean while dpsing the carry down as fast as possible before he ults. If not, try to burn someone down without using your ult until he does use his. Once he uses it, either wait until the champion revives or fire away on a different target.

I think an important topic to cover is how spell vamp works. Many people wonder how it works and is it worth it? I too was curious about this topic and did my own research and found some good information. This is quoted by Kismet, QA Analyst on League of Legends Forums

Spell Vamp is a bit more complicated than Life Steal.

Basically if your damaging ability doesn't proc Life Steal (abilities like Mystic Shot, Double Up, and Parrrley do) then it will almost always use Spell Vamp, even if the damage dealt from the ability is physical or true damage. This means that abilities such as Reckless Swing or Feast (true damage) or Spear Shot (physical damage) utilize Spell Vamp.

Something to note about Spell Vamp, however, is that there are two different values of Spell Vamp. Single-target spells, such as Malefic Vision, Reckless Swing, and Spear Shot, have 100% effectiveness when it comes to Spell Vamp. In other words, if you deal 200 damage with these single-target abilities and have 50% Spell Vamp, you will be healed for 100.

However, multi-target abilities such as Tormented Soil, Incinerate, and Heartseeker Strike, have 1/3 effectiveness for Spell Vamp. If these abilities deal 200 total damage with 50% Spell Vamp, they will only heal you for 33, but if you deal 200 damage to 5 enemies (totaling 1000 damage) you will heal for 166 health.

According to what Kismet says, Siphon of Destruction Creeping Death and Mace of Spades (When there are multiple targets) are multi target abilities so you’re only getting 1/3. To take advantage of your spell vamp, you’re going to want to use Mace of Spades against one target whether it’s a minion or enemy champion. I will say that your Children of the Grave will heal a lot more than what it normally does. Spell vamp is easily a way to replace health regen. Every item that gives spell vamp also gives ability power which is very good. I encourage everyone to still buy Health Potion every time they go back to base.

MARKS: 9x

Obvious reason, to have more spell pen which allows your abilities to do more damage.

SEALS: 9x Greater Seal of Regeneration

Now this one is new, and I really think it’s worth investing for Morde. Starting at level 1 gives you an extra 1 hp per 5 and every other level after. This should help with staying in lane more which = more farm and levels. Morde sacrifices life to use his abilities and it’s necessary to have a way to regenerate health back or you’re going to get out laned. Can’t get spell vamp until later in the game so this is your way of having a growth of health regen.

GLYPHS: 9x

I noticed that Magic Resist increases at a slower rate with levels compared to armor so getting magic resist is very good to have. Also rarely do I buy any items with magic resist at early to mid game so getting it as runes is important.

QUINTESSENCES: 3x Greater Quintessence of Vigor

To cover that early game health. Morde gets bullied a lot early game, especially from enemy jungler or other solo lane. People who are experienced at the game will try to gank you early, so EXPECT IT. It’s the best way to deny Morde from getting powerful.

If you’ve read my entire guide before the Riven Patch, the only thing changed that you need to know is Haste is switched to Blink of an Eye other than that I stick with the same masteries. If you’re new to my guide, keep reading!

My masteries for Damage Build Morde are 9/0/21.

Morde is a caster and going all offensive would be a complete waste to get havoc so count that out. For our first build, I tried going 21 into defense, but it wasn’t my style. Sure I was harder to kill, but I was slower without the 3% speed increase and not having ghost as often as I needed it. So for the Tank and Damage build, I feel you’re sacrificing a lot by not getting Presence of the Master . This mastery is by far the best one for Mordekaiser. It’s very important to get your summoner abilities back as soon as possible. Getting cool down reductions, increased movement speed, faster experience gain, and my favorite utility mastery when I have baron buff are all worth having to get presence of the master. You’re going to be building armor and magic resist items anyway so the defense tree is not really necessary.

The biggest reason why I go the utility tree is for Presence of the Master . It’s a huge component to your build because it gives your summoner ability ghost and ignite 15% faster CD. Having ghost as often as you can is a huge treat in itself, being able to initiate, chase that enemy champion that you couldn’t catch from normal speed to finish off, or saving yourself from death is always great to have when you need it at most. A bigger reason is getting ignite as soon as possible all the time. Ignite is your second DoT, maybe not as important as your Children of the Grave, but it negates 50% healing to that target. Which means if they’re trying to out heal the DoTs before they die, they’re going to have a harder time doing it. Plus, ignite is part of your combo and having both your ult and ignite together deals lots of damage to one individual. It takes longer for your ignite to come back than your ult even with presence of the master, so I don’t even want to think how much time I would be killing in a game waiting for my ignite. Now to explain the rest of the utility tree and why it’s good to get still.

Intelligence is a great one to have for Mordekaiser. Being able to cast faster means you can recharge your shield quicker + dish out more damage.

Quickness gives more run speed which will go well with the quintessence runes I picked. Speed will help initiate, help harass easier when enemies least expect it, and be able to get out of jams if your opponent can’t catch you. By being just a bit faster than your opponent, there’s nothing they can do to stop you even if you have 1 hit point left. It’s a great asset to have speed so long as you know how to use it right. I explain this in my rune quintessences as well. I sacrifice survivability to be able to have better harassment and greater escapeability. Which doesn’t mean I’m throwing away completely survivability, if I know when to retreat without getting cced and killed, I think the escapeability was well worth it. It’s the same idea as summoner ability ghost too, being able to intiate. You have Creeping Death and Sunfire Aegis and the best way to utilize that is to always be near your enemy champions. If they can outrun you, then you’re not putting out as much damage as you could be which is a problem. I want to not just be tank, I want to be a threat as well, and if I’m not threatening, then I’m not much use to my team.

Utility Mastery ohhhhh I love you lol. It’s great to have if you ever kill carries that have red or blue buff which normally they do and if you ever do kill the Baron in the game. Having an extended Baron buff is a large advantage!

Now for Greed , I know it’s not that much and it’s pretty useless on Mordekaiser who’s a God at farming, but seeing that there’s literally nothing else on the utility tree that I can use, it’s the best thing to go. Also, have you ever had times where you’re only 50 or less gold away from getting an item, but you’re not sure if you should wait because it’s crucial to get back on the battle field? Greed will cover that possible wait you didn’t expect.

Awareness is soooo good for Mordekaiser. Look how fast he farms! If he’s solo laning, he’s going to jump levels so fast especially if he’s taking down enemy heroes. Having levels over everyone else is a large advantage for any hero, but for Mordekaiser, it’s a ridiculous jump. He will have more items and levels which means more health, more armor, and more magic resistance. For the lower leveled characters, they aren’t going to deal that much damage to you when your shield is up. It makes it easier to take advantage of enemy champions who don’t see it coming and how much it takes to get rid of your shield.

Good Hands is great, being dead is the worst part of the game and I want to be out of it asap.

Blink of an Eye A must have. Flash can be your savior or it can help you get kills.

Finally Perseverance , which is probably the worst out of the whole utility tree since the mana regen is wasted, but it does throw in a bit of health regen.

I go nine into the offensive tree because of Archaic knowledge
. More magic pen = more magic damage especially from the start of the game. According to this chart, this is how magic penetration works.

% Reduction
Flat Reduction
Flat Penetration
% Penetration

Reduction can reduce magic resistance below 0, while Penetration can only reach to 0. Percent Reduction and Flat Reduction are very rare and won’t be seeing any on Mordekaiser. Nidalee's Bushwack Traps are an example of Magic Reduction %. After Reduction is Penetration. Flat magic pen is applied first then magic pen %. I have 8.55 flat magic pen from 9x Greater Mark of Magic Penetration then 15% of their magic resistance is reduced after by Archaic knowledge . So say we have a character with 35 magic resistance from the start of the game. It would be reduced to 26.45 after flat reduction, and then take 15% of that, which would be 3.9675 magic % pen which would come to 22.4825. So the start of the game, I’m taking nearly 13 magic resistance off my target from the start of the game. Now if this champion decides to get more Magic Resistance, it benefits my mastery much more greatly then anything. The number will increase the higher their MR goes up, but if my flat penetration completely gets rid of their MR without adding in the MR Pen %, then Archaic knowledge is useless against that target, but, that doesn’t mean it’s useless against other heroes. Almost all teams will have a tank and this mastery will affect him the most.

So a tank at end game will get near 180 Magic Resist. Lets say I have Sorcerer's Shoes, 9x Greater Mark of Magic Penetration, and Archaic knowledge
. Subtract the Flat Pen which would be 180 – 28.5 = 151.5 and now take 15% of that number. I’m taking another 22.725 magic resist off with just the mastery which is very nice. So the overall magic resist of our so called tank is 128.775. We took off 51 – 52 magic resist which is a nice chunk of defense.

For the first build, I will go 9 into the defensive tree and get +6 armor, +6 magic resist, +2.0% dodge increase, and nimbleness which can possibly proc increased speed movement every dodge I get. Reason why I go this is because I want to be fast enough to constantly stay with my targets and CC them down.

It’s really preference on whether you want to be more tanky or more threatening. I don’t think there’s nothing wrong going with 9 in defense, but I don’t believe it’s necessary to go a full 21 in defense. The best mastery to ever get for Mordekaiser is Presence of the Master and I feel there’s a lot more to be offered in the Utility Tree than the Defense Tree.

Overall, the main purpose of going utility is getting presence of the master. I want to be able to combo as much as possible the whole game and it gives many other rewards that are very useful for Mordekaiser. My guide is based on being threatening while keeping a tanky build. By going 9 into offense, I’m raising my threat level. If I go all tank, the only time it’s useful is if the enemy team is focusing me. If they completely skip over me, ignore me, and put me last on their kill list, I’m useless.

Your summoner spells should never change because these are the best spells for Mordekaiser which are Flash and Ignite. Ignite is your extra DoT that you will need with your Ult. With these two combined, even if the enemy champion gets away from you, the DoTs can still kill them. Flash is very necessary and one of the best summoner abilities in the game. Because we’re now building an all AP Morde, you’re easier to kill if taken by surprise or CC to death. Flash is your way out or it can be your offense. Which ever you prefer, this ability is very useful.

Level 1 – Siphon of Destruction - E
Level 2 – Mace of Spades - Q
Level 3 – Siphon of Destruction - E
Level 4 – Creeping Death - W
Level 5 – Siphon of Destruction - E
Level 6 – Children of the Grave - R
Level 7 – Siphon of Destruction - E
Level 8 – Mace of Spades - Q
Level 9 – Siphon of Destruction - E
Level 10 – Mace of Spades - Q
Level 11 – Children of the Grave - R
Level 12 – Mace of Spades - Q
Level 13 – Mace of Spades - Q
Level 14 – Creeping Death -W
Level 15 – Creeping Death -W
Level 16 – Children of the Grave - R
Level 17 – Creeping Death -W
Level 18 – Creeping Death -W

Even though Siphon of Destruction costs the most life when used and was nerfed to not help generate shield anymore, it is still an important ability to have. It is your only method to harass when laning or to harass before a team fight. Once your AP starts going, you will notice a much larger amount of damage. Poking with it will get to your target.

A big reason why I chose Mace of Spades over Creeping Death is because it only requires one swing to get the full effect of Mace of Spades while it takes a whole 6 seconds for Creeping Death. I still use Creeping Death before I run in and fight for that extra armor and magic resist, but you’re going to want to hit and run, not stay in the fight until you die.

o Attack Damage reduced to 40 from 60
o Ability Power reduced to 70 from 75
o Life Steal reduced to 15% from 20%
o Spell Vamp reduced to 20% from 25% and is now UNIQUE

Hextech Gunblade now has a unique passive toward Spell Vamp which means stacking it is completely useless. Even with the nerfs to it, it’s one of the best items to get for Mordekaiser. -5 AP and -5% Spell vamp are the only nerfs toward casters with this item. The extra AD will be missed, but shouldn’t effect Mordekaiser’s damage too much.

I made a change to Runes once again and decided it’s better to go all 3 quints as Greater Quintessence of Vigor. It greatly helps the need for health regen early game.


Even as AP Morde, I think getting this item is the best start. No it gives no ability power, but remember when I changed my armor seals for health per 5 seals? Doran's Shield will make up for that missing armor. Also +8 health regen and +120 health is big for Morde’s early game for he gets bullied a lot. You can start with Regrowth Pendant but I prefer the early game survival. You’re going to need that extra health when you’re being ganked. Either of them work.

When you go back to base, make sure you at least buy Boots, 2x -3x Health Potion, and a Sight Ward. If you have more cash, from here you’re going to build toward Sorcerer's Shoes.




Your first core item. This is the best Spell Vamp item in the game that you can get now. You will rush and get this item asap because it is your sustain item. The AP is great for your shield and damage, gives spell vamp for health back to our cultist, and it gives a nice aura for your team. All hybrids and mages will be happy to have you on the team.


You’re going to want to buy these after getting Will of the Ancients. If you’re against a mage like team or getting CCed hardcore, it’s a good idea to get Mercury Treads.


Your second core item. Everything it gives is everything you need. +80 AP, +500 Health, and your first and maybe only CC possible in a game. If you’re 1v1ing, throw your Children of the Grave out as soon as you start throwing fists to kill each other. You’re going to want that initial health when casting it and it will slow your target if they try to run away which is exceptional. Completely necessary to get this item because you have no slows or stuns.

If you’ve gotten this far, it mean it’s time to decide what route you want to take with Morde. Yes chosen one, you will decide the fate of your team and your game play by choosing your path. Here’s the items we already have

Our Items We Currently Have

Path One, Do I need Armor?

Randuin's Omen Team Based item
Guardian Angel Survival Item
Zhonya's Hourglass Self Powering Item



Your team oriented armor item. Your tankiest Armor item you will ever buy with Morde. Biggest reason to go this item is for the ability for CCing. The health regen is always helpful. +75 armor is excellent and +350 health to stay in the game. Oh and let us not forget that little 5% cooldown reduction.



This should be your go to item if you’re being focused a lot during fights or you’ve gotten all of your offensive items and ready to have immortality on your side. This item can be a game changer. Knowing if you’re the biggest threat on your team to them and you can come back to life is a big problem for them. Getting armor and magic resist from this item will make it harder to rip through your shield too (just like old times).



Your Self Powering Armor Item. The BEST Armor item to get if you’re trying to max out your Ability Power. +100 AP, +50 Armor, and that unique ability to go into stasis will save your ***.

I do not feel Sunfire Aegis is worth getting over either of these two items. You’ll be tankier with Randuin's Omen or you’ll be more powerful with Zhonya's Hourglass.

Path Two, Do I need magic resist?

Force of Nature Tankiest Magic Resist Item
Banshee's Veil Toward Specific Spells Magic Resist.
Abyssal Mask Most Damaging Magic Resist Item
Lich Bane Power Hungry Item



The best magic resist item in the game. This item is excellent for Mordekaiser in every aspect. +40 health regen to keep you in lane, +76 Magic resist and 8% Movement Speed. The Unique Passive is based on how much health you have total, but we’re not going to worry about that. It’s a little bit more health regen thrown on top, that’s it. Helps Mordekaiser catch catch his victims easier and staying out and farming. Best for the most survival.


The only reason I would get this item is against specific characters such as Karthus. His ult will be completely stopped from this item and is worth investing if he’s in the game. It’s also completely worth getting if you feel you’re getting CCed too much. Those are my exceptions to ever buying this item.


Best item to grab if you want a good amount of magic resist and lots of damage behind it.
+57 Magic Resist, +70 Ability Power, and that nice *** aura that lowers all your enemies Magic resistance by 20. Its funny, but this is the best team oriented item when it comes to magic resistance. I think it’s funny because it also gives you a lot of power. The best item to invest in if you’re looking for magic resist and power at the same time


I really don’t’ see this as a protective item. If you’re going this, it’s so you deal the most damage possible with Morde. Remember that you’re leaving yourself open to being exploded if you go this item. I would recommend this more in Dominion than Summoner’s Rift. The proc with Mace of Spades will deal phenomenal amounts of damage if your target is solo and alone. This happens a lot in dominion but near end game in Summoner’s Rift how rare it is to catch the enemy team off guard. I approve it in Dominion, but not Summoner’s Rift.

Path Three, UNLIMITED… POWERRRRRRR

Rabadon's Deathcap Raises AP incrediablely
Hextech Gunblade Spell Vamp


The best AP item in the game. Nummy nummy +130 AP AND 30% increase to overall AP wow lol. Feed your thirst with this steroid.


It has everything you ever wanted. AP, Spell Vamp, AD, Lifesteal, and a unique effect that can slow and your target even more. I believe this item should be a CORE item as well with your build.


Most Defensive Build
Will of the Ancients
Sorcerer's Shoes
Rylai's Crystal Scepter
Randuin's Omen
Force of Nature
Hextech Gunblade

Defensive and Offensive
Will of the Ancients
Sorcerer's Shoes
Rylai's Crystal Scepter
Zhonya's Hourglass
Abyssal Mask
Hextech Gunblade

Most Offensive Build
Will of the Ancients
Sorcerer's Shoes
Rylai's Crystal Scepter
Zhonya's Hourglass
Rabadon's Deathcap
Hextech Gunblade

I’ve given you all possible choices of how you want to build. The above are my ideas of how you want to build if you want to go a specific route.

Here are your starting stats if you’re following my Runes, Masteries, and Item Setup

With

Health – 621
Health Regen (per 1) – 4
Health Regen (per 5) – 20
Armor – 28.5
Magic Resist - 45
Movement Speed – 335

1v1

Once you’re level 3 and Siphon of Destruction is level 2, you’ll start to take damage for using it overtime, that is, if it’s constantly used right when it’s up. Make sure you’re not using your abilities when you’re farming. Learn to last hit for gold so you can save your health to stay in lane. If you’re out of ranged to last hit a minion, use Siphon of Destruction. Constantly hit your opponent with Siphon of Destruction if you have the opportunity. You want to push your opponent back to base so they’re missing time to farm and level. At the same time, you don’t want to be kill minions quickly because once the lane is pushed, you’re vulnerable to jungle or mid coming to gank you. Try to keep the creep wave near the middle lane or toward your side. If your opponent become aggressive and tries to take you head on. Move away from the creep wave and if still chasing, make contact with Mace of Spades, start running again while using Siphon of Destruction. You want to try to maximize as much damage as possible while trying not to lose a lot of health either. My example here would be Lee Sin. If he hits you with his Q attack, Expect him to fly into you. If you have it, apply Creeping Death, Mace of Spades him, and while running Siphon of Destruction. I learned the hard way that staying and fighting while waiting for cooldowns is a bruiser or diver’s advantage.

If you’re facing:
- Lee Sin
- Renekton
- Rumble
- Fiddlesticks
- Garen
- Urgot
- Yorick

You’re most likely going to get outlaned by these characters. They were hard as it is with the shield before pre nerf. Now that your shield can’t maintain, you can’t face these guys early game 1 on 1 unless they’re really inexperienced. Wait for the creep wave to come to you, or, if you can stand around from just enough distance to still get experience without getting harassed, do so. Another thing I like to do is if I know I’m facing one of these characters or facing a duo lane, I’ll start the game off hiding in the side brush. You’ll still get experience while waiting for the minions to get to your tower. If they’re hardcore suffocating you and there’s no way for you to get exp or gold, starting jungling on your side. Go back to base and start buying pots. Your jungler might get mad, but it will convince him even more that he should come up and help you gank…

1v2
Take the same precautions as I mentioned above. Find your ways to get exp / gold without feeding them. As they starve you, they’re also starving themselves from being able to get exp and gold at a faster rate, so keep that in mind. It’s rough, but it’s the smartest thing you can do.

Once the laning phase is over, you’re going to play Morde as if you’re a diving character. Once you have some good spell vamp, you will want to take any 1v1 opportunity you can get. Play like you’re a burst caster. You definitely want 1v1 fights because you can easily take a 1v1 head on, but if there’s more than one and they start CCing you, you’ll die just like any other mage.

As we all know, we want to get our Children of the Grave on their carries. I’ve come to the conclusion that’s it’s just as good to get rid of their burst mages as to get rid of their ranged AD carries. Even though a burst mage isn’t as effective as an AD character when it comes to having a ghostly ally, it’s a big asset to your teammate to not get nuked so easily. Your job should be to get rid of the hard carries on their team. Smart teams will make sure you can’t reach these character, letting their tanks CC you and take you with ease. If this is the case, you better have Moonflair Spellblade so you can Flash out if needed. Also, you’re going to want to ult their tank if this is the case as well. Why? Because you’re squishy as it is. You’re going to need as much health as you can get when you’re being focused. If the tank is taking heavy fire, they’re going to retreat. Without their tank, they’re open targets.

It’s very pro of you and anyone else in the game to always always always buy Sight Wards. Having map control and being able to see everything on the map will easily win games and keep anyone from getting ganked and creating easy ganks for your team. Always put Sight Wards in the most visited spots in the game Red Lizard buff, Blue Golem buff, Dragon, and Baron Nashor. There are very crucial bushes to put sight wards in too such as the one push outside of Baron Nashor. By having better sight than your enemy, you will have better map control and an easier time to run the show and win the game.

TIP

If you can get a ghost, feel you’re out of position to push a tower with it, and Teemo is in your game, I would use the ghost to purposely find his Noxious Trap or in LoL terms, his mushrooms. Might as well make a good use out of your ghost if it’s going to go to waste.

I would appreciate any comments and questions from any of you out there. I’ve put a lot of work into this guide and it’s worth helping those who still have any questions for me. I’m still putting work into the guide and updating it when I can.

I appreciate anyone who has the time to read everything I wrote about this guide. It was a lot of work and time, but I enjoyed doing it ; )

I would love to thank Heat n Serve for making me fall in love with this character and changing him into my main. I used his guide back when I started with Mordekaiser and couldn’t stop playing him.

I would also like to thank Frish for being able to explain magic penetration and for his guide as well. I’ve used it before and enjoyed it.

Big thanks to ß☺☻for always giving suggestions on what I haven’t covered yet.

A thank you to Tyrjoy for adding to Poppy’s Ult.

A thank you to Lokast for checking up on my mistakes =)

Thank you Kol1po for the good additional tip when facing Teemo =)

Thank you Alahric for always giving good advice and checking up on my guide. I appreciate everything ; )

Thank you Matt for extending the amount of space for my guide! I know it's a lot of information, but it will help the community!

And I saved the best for last. I would love to thank my wife for all of her support and patience to put up with me lol. I love her very much =)