A Thought About Mordekaiser Solo

So, since the rework, I have played Mordekaiser exclusively in top lane, and I've done fairly well (at least, for a silver scrub). Morde actually now beats a few of his old counters (Udyr could be pretty rough in the past - now, he can't do anything to you. Riven is still kind of dicey - whoever gets the first kill wins forever). However, it's become increasingly apparent to me that Morde isn't necessarily any healthier in a solo lane than he is in duo, even if he might be weaker, and I've been trying to figure out why. Partly, it seems to be because Morde essentially hard counters DPS melees (with the exception of ). Oh, you have to stand next to me to deal damage. Have a Q3. But this didn't seem to be quite enough - after all, if you stand within the full duration of Judgment or a Decrepify or a burning-whatever-it-is, you're going to feel the pain as well.

So why? Right now, it seems to me that Morde has a lot in common with - he can essentially win lane instantly with one lucky attack. I once saw Trynd's passive described as "When will Tryndamere randomly start winning lane?" Oh, you traded autos and he got a lucky crit? Congrats, Trynd gets lane control. Oh, you strayed within range of a Morde Q3? Congrats, Morde gets lane control. Even in the early game, that's 25-40% of even a bruiser's health gone instantly. It's made worse by the fact that Morde's melee range is 200 - just longer enough than most melees for him to hit you for free without you being able to retaliate, and very easy to tag someone with when they go in for CS. It's also not very obvious that Morde's range is longer than normal, since character info panels no longer display range and Morde's model doesn't appear to be any bigger.

I'm kind of glad I haven't seen anyone besides myself play Morde top. I kind of feel sorry for people I go against, since I know that they either aren't familiar with new Morde, in which case I'll mash their skulls into the dirt with my absurd damage when they try to trade, or they do, and they get to enjoy trying to play perfectly for laning phase and trying desperately trying to avoid my Q.

Oh, and it's stupid how easy it is to get First Blood with Flash-Q3. Flashed on to a Riven with Q3 up a day ago. She was dead before the flash animation was over.