Possible way to play Mordekaiser Top in 2017?

The preseason updates have brought a lot of changes to league that have drastically changed the meta in LoL. We've seen the introduction of the support item, Redemption, changes to the popular Rylai's Crystal Scepter, and rising popularity of assassins and tanks due to the assassin class update and the debut of the Courage of the Colossus Mastery.

Based on these changes I've recently picked up a series of games with Mordekaiser Top. My motivation to play the Iron Revenant this patch included several reasons: (1) The changes to Rylai's, which made the item cheaper and a lot quicker to obtain. Even though the slow got reduced, Mordekaiser can still remain sticky and pull off his full damage combos with ease. This is a buff to Mordekaiser's early game. (2) Assassin's have grown in popularity due to the class update, and Mordekaiser is known to be really good at dealing with single target bursts at close range. (3) With the Courage tank meta, tanky engagers with hard cc have become common picks, which is great news for a Mordekaiser who can now easily blow his close range, high burst damage abilities onto locked down targets. (4) Ghost Vayne/Twitch/Caitlyn are broken. And Jhin.

My experience with Mordekaiser Top has had ups and downs so far. At first I'd run either 18/12/0 with Deathfire Touch if my mid laner was an assassin, or 12/18/0 Stormraider's Surge if they were a mage. Ability max order would be R > W > Q > E. For my build, I'd rush Rylai's, followed my Protobelt, Sorc Boots, Liandry's, then Spirit Visage and Thornmail for tank items. If my team got fed, I wouldn't build tank items, and went for Rabadon's and Void Staff. My Summoners were TP and Flash, although I did go Exhaust and Flash once.

However it is my speculation that this build path doesn't work well against aggressive top laner-jungler pairings that take advantage of Mordekaiser's lack of escapes. Top laners like Mao'kai, Riven, Nasus, Yasuo, and Yorick can set up ganks really easily and force either Flash or 1v2 fights. Against a Lee Sin, Vi, Khazix, Rengar, or Hecarim jungle, death is very difficult to avoid.

To counter this weakness, I propose a different build path which focuses on giving Mordekaiser Grade A 1v2 capabilities and more in lane sustain. For Summoners I take TP and Ghost, although TP can be exchanged for Exhaust or Ignite. For masteries I go 12/18/0 Windspeaker's Blessing, which will significantly boost my Iron Man shield passive and heal from Harvest of Sorrow (W) by 10%.

Doran's shield and 1 health potion start always. For first items, I grabbed a Forbidden Idol on my first back, for 800 gold boosting my heal and shield by an additional 8% (18% total) and an additional 10% CDR right off the bat. Then I would rush Hextech Gunblade as my first main item, which gives me 15% spell vamp, a great single target slow for an active, and great AP AD stats that give Mace of Spades (Q) a huge damage boost.

After Gunblade I would purchase a Redemption. While Redemption is supposed to be a support Item, having it available while laning or split pushing is very useful in case you face multiple assailants, or for just 1v1 scenarios (Riven/Yasuo all-in?). It gives you 10% bonus healing and shielding, which is 2% extra off of the Forbidden Idol you bought earlier, making giving you 20% bonus healing and shielding. Don't forget the 15% spell vamp from Hextech Gunblade.

I use the active of Redemption as I am being ganked. The base heal I get from it will be increased by 20% and I will also heal for 15% of the true damage it deals to enemies because of my Gunblade.

Next I grab a Rylai's Crystal Scepter. The Redemption active can proc Rylai's and it's way too good for Mordekaiser's kit so its unavoidable.

For boots I always get Sorc Boots. However if Liandry's is chosen as a situational item, Merc Treads is totally viable.

The Final Two Items are always situational. My go-to tank items are Spirit Visage and Thornmail for primary MR and armor respectively. Spirit Visage will increase all heals you recieve by 15%, making you a sustain god. It also gives you 10% more CDR.

There are several reasons I believe Thornmail is the best armor choice for this build. It is relatively cheap and gives you the most flat armor out of any other item in the game, 100. Thornmail also has fantastic synergy with Hextech Gunblade, as the magic damage it deals from absorbing physical attacks from basic-attacks and on-hit abilities will heal you, and thus reduce the damage you take in overall.

For those wondering if Thornmail damage can proc Rylai's and Liandry's, answer is no and no, although it would be awesome if it could.

For Situational ability power, Hextech Protobelt and Liandry's are great because they can proc Rylai's, with Liandry's great against a tanky comp and Protobelt for its gap closing utility. Other options include Zhonya's, Rabadon's, and Void Staff. However I would take the tank items over the AP just to be safe, as Mordekaiser already has pretty great damage and scaling in his kit. I haven't tried it yet but ZZ'Rot portal might be great for your split push.

At full build, Redemption has the potential to heal Mordekaiser up to nearly full health. Remember if you use it on your team it will proc Windspeaker's on them, which is great in the middle of a teamfight. You should be able to deal great amounts of damage while taking very few with the combination of your passive and sustain. If your ahead you can split push pretty well with this build since no one would really stand a chance fighting you 1v1 and 2v1. The split push is also the reason i take Ghost instead of flash, since it has a low cooldown, covers more ground, and allows you to chase down escapees or disengage from a split push.

The cost of my usual build (Gunblade > Redemption > Sorc Boots > Rylai's > Visage > Thornmail), excluding consumables and starting items, is 14350 G which quite affordable compared to other top laner builds. To make a comparison, my basic Darius build (BC > Mercs > DM Plate > Spirit Visage > Randuin's > GA) costs 15200 G, which is 850 G more expensive. My build for Jax and other Triforce users are even more expensive.

Disclaimer: I do not think I have tried this build enough times and I will need test it some more. Also, I have only tried it in normals against low elo players like myself. It would be great if you guys can test this build yourselves (especially those higher elo players out there) and give me your feedback.

And that concludes this explanation for a possible new way to play Mordekaiser top this season. Your feedback/criticism is appreciated.