Mordekaiser top lane guide/discussion

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Hi, I am terkmc, a Silver 2 league player. I have been playing for over three years now, and I'm here to make a guide abt Mordekaiser, my favorite Iron Man. Now this is by no mean a super professional, or even good guide, seeing as I'm only Silver 2, but I've been playing Mordekaiser for quite a good time now, all the way back since I've first started League, rolfstomping through the mid and top lane, and all the way through the rework I have been taking Mordekaiser top to learn the match up, knowing the ins and out and generally getting a feel for it. At this point I can confidently pick Mordekaiser top, and at the very least go even in lane. Again, I'm not claiming to be an expert, I'm simply writing off of my own experience and knowledge. This has been my first time making a guide, so bear with me. Onward, enslaved souls

Skill build
R>E>Q>W
The set of buff he received has been great, E base damage raise make it a substantial spell to use now instead of a shield generator, and W minion cast is a great boon in the solo lane. Siphon of Destruction Siphon of Dickery should be used as it has always been, to harass an enemy hiding in the minion wave, making shield. But now, against immobile opponent, after E-ing your opponent, you should look for a way in to whack the enemy with one or two auto attack. Mordekaiser base AD is sky high and coupled with Grasp provide potent damage, while blocking retaliation due to the newly gained shield. This can easily chunk almost 10% of a squishy health early game. Max this early, and relentlessly poke the enemy down, but beware of jgler

Harvester of Elo New W is your absolute best friend during the early level. The base heal vs champion of W is immense early on, as well as the constant shield regen. W on, walk up to opponent, short trade, activate W as you retreat, and watch you top yourself off 20% of your health. With the minion shield this becomes even better, though make good decision of which minion you choose. Choosing the melee minion is aggressive but risky as they can easily be killed, while the caster minion limit your range but generally they wont be touched. Your window of power is cannon minion almost guaranteeing full W duration. Early Grasp + Harvest is very cheesy considering the healing you will be doing. Beats lvl 2 Riven all int just by the surprise healing. Slap this on your tank and go to town

Mace of Spade Now here comes the home run. This deals HEAVY damage an is an AA reset, and as Morde AD is actually really high, its often worth it to reset it using Q. Deals a truck worth of damage, but often doesn't hit due to the delay, you can zone out the opponent by charging Q on minion and standing next to your cannon minion daring the enemy to take it. If he does, W activate, healing you, might make the enemy miss due to minion heal, and bonk him on the head. Alternatively, charge back inside your minion wave, then surprise the enemy with a front line W, run up to them and bonk them on the head. The final hit cancel E animation when used together, might be useful.

Children of the Grave Post change, I tend to use this early in the fight, if its clear the enemy is committing. The burst isn't that big now, and the health dot drain might just save your life if it has enough time to drain, the shield and heal more important than the damage. If going for a damage heavy build, Children of the Deathfire Touch is a common, and very effective, damaging tool. With Ryal this is a good long slow for stickiness. YOu have two choice. If you are generally even and have a good assassin (Stablord Kitty, Knife Circle Man, Madam Moonlight), ult the carry, and 6 v 4. Alternatively, if you are ahead and is a carry in your own right, R the tank. The % health drain will boost your survival to really high level through shield and heal, allowing you to wade through the fight and carry by yourself. Your call. Note: The Dragon is super dumb. Use your R key often to control him, don't just leave him because 9/10 he will go chase a minion like a cat breathing fire

Item Build Starter: or . I tend to use Blade, since I look to bully the opponent early or cheese with W and Grasp healing, and it helps me does that. E and Q scale with ad now so its much better than before, and the ls helps fuel me, as my high AD does the work. Doran Shield is absolutely the safer and more stable choice, offering regen and tankiness against harder lane. I am experimented with ruby crystal, giving him a higher health-pool to work with, boost Shielding through E and Grasp, but i haven't done it enough to give a solid conclusion Next: or . Now Rylai will be better 3/4 the time, whats with health, AP and slow. But Gunblade has it uses. Against immobile opponent look for long trade, Gunblade edge over them, allowing you to poke and sustain with impunity, giving better damage and in fight sustain, and against said immobile opponent, the gunblade active is enough for cc. That said, when in doubt, Rylai. Another situational item is . Sounds weird, but hear me out. Against VERY mobile opponent (riven, fiora) you wont catch them with your Ryali anyway, and Sunfire allows you to tank up and out-last said mobile opponent by a long short. With sunfire, you clear creep very fast, so you can clear wave and gtfo, not having to deal with said opponent, and if they do fight you, the sunfire passive wrecks squishes who over commit. But still, when in doubt, Rylai What Now? Now, its fun, your build path is pretty open, adapt to the opponent and the game Super usefull, the tenacity helps you wade through cc, your biggest counter This is often time my 3rd item. It's just so good. Tankiness for your shield, CD for you to spam shield even more, and the enhanced healing is just beautiful in conj with gunblade R Grasp A Juggernaut favorite. Give you great tankiness and a god send ms and slow to bonk that pesky enemy running away I love this item. Morde base AD is very high, and Sterak, esp when triggered, boost it even higher. Maximum Bonk-age. The shield also provide a defense against one of Morde weakness, being burst before he can shield, buying you time to start shield tanking and ulting Old school tanky Morde build, but still works. Gives a combination of damage and tankiness. Liandry makes your ult burn like yesterday Mexican food Possible replacement for DMP if going against heavy AA and your team has solid initiation, allowing you to wade in unassisted by dmp Masteries: 12/0/18 is the one i run the most. Swiftness is a god send for Mordekaiser when dealing with cc, Runic armor is great for his healing and in conjunction with Grasp. None of the Cunning tree really fit him. Grasp can be switch for SoA if you are feeling defensive 18/0/12 a more damage, mage-oriented Morde, using DFT in conjunction with ult to burn people really really hard. Gameplay Early: lvl 1-3. This is a very fickle time for Morde. On one hand, he has low base stat for early level and his shield isnt there yet. On the other hand, W grasp and high AD is prime cheese material. Use your own precaution, against weak laner, or a cocky riven, establish dominance, push them around with your great healing and high base damage. Else, sit back, snipe creeps with E. Laning: lvl 3 6. Harass with E. Use W to clear creep wave and sustain, as well as make yourself a fat motherfucker scaring enemy off your own creeps, and Q for bonking people. At lvl 6 you have pretty good dueling potential, so just harass the enemy until they get annoyed enough to go on to you, then just bonk them on the head. Remember to choose your W minion carefully and aim E at the creepwave when possible Midgame: Lvl 6lvl 11. Now you are kinda vulnerable, due to your base damage start to fall off, your tankiness and scailing insnt really there yet. You have two choice. Ward up and push the ever living hell out of the lane. Morde can take tower pretty decently by virtue of super waveclear and high AD, and duel pretty well in slugfest, but ward up to avoid gank. His fast waveclear and good scaling means flash farming during this point is a legitimate strategy. Or, you can stick with your team, make picks or get dragon, and use that as a platform to prop up your mid game and take tower Lategame: lvl 11~lvl 16. Now you are starting to scale back up again. Your health and resistance make your shield a hard nut to crack, your damage with leveled spell and hybrid scaling with base AD is great, both dps and burst, and your ult is a game changer, either make it a 6v4 or just make yourself plain unkillable. Follow your tank, they are your best of friend. Draw attention to yourself like a magnet, you probably can take with shield and Gage, and if they dont stop you you just bonk other people. This is the biggest difference between top MOrde and adc morde. Adc Morde fall off late game. Top Morde is a deathlord late game Matchup Favor: . Your great base damage on E and AD means that you are a threat to their small health pool. Against Riven, you shield harder than her, can anti cheese with healing, and your constant harras make her life hell without sustain. Do be careful of W placement, as her aoe can kill your little guy D: Fiora is the same, smack her with E when ever possible. If she tries to go in, your Q out damage her greatly. More rely more on shielding than just plain health, so her true damage doesn't hurt as much. She also has very low waveclear, so just machine gun shove wave to her tower and make her cri. Sunfire is great here against both of them, as the combination of armor, sunfire and waveclear is potent Even: . Your shield should take care of GP harass, but he can match your waveclear with a few item, deals massive damage and run away very easily. Renekton is all about that first few lvl. If you held your ground, it should be pretty even in term of slugfest. Morde can defensively stand up to Renekton pretty well. Tahm Kench. You won't catch him or probably kill him with his shield and stun, but straight up slugfest you out stat check this fat ball of stat greatly. Counter: . Gnar will make your life HELL. HELL! He stay out of your range, has an escape, kite like a motherfucker, has % damage with a speed boost along with great cc. He will counter you. Olaf, is Olaf. High damage, great sustain, Axe spam will spell your death sentence if he chain them properly. Darius can be bullied early up until around lvl 6. But after that, Morde immobility means axe dance and Noxian Might is easy for Darius to proc

Friends: . High cc tanks are your best friend. They lock people down for you, peel for you, provide a magnet for you to W and run up to, and generally are full metal buddies. Assassin also provide the finishing, bloody and explosive touch to your Children of the Grave as you rip the enemy adc soul out and kill people with it

Notes: No matter the match up, ward up and be greatly aware of the map. Jg gank can ruin your day, but if you prepare well you might double kill. Believe in the metal

Closing Notes Welp, that's about it. Morde top is unconventional, for now, and people generally dont expect it to do well. Use it and bonk people when they least expect it. Remember you are a juggernaut, so play like one. Let's bring back Morde to his rightful throne in the top lane, inches by inches if we have to.