PSA: Malphite is not OP. AD meta is OP. Malphite is a Dark Knight.

Cloak an Dagger·Feb 14, 2016·257 votes·9,749 views

Stop hating the Shard of the Monolith because he's a free win against your multiple ADC cancer. He was only S-tier when Marksmen and AD assassins became S-tier and AP mages became garbage tier. Cause and effect.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

If he was removed from the game, who would we be complaining about then? I'm curious.

Would have more of a field day than they already are.

190 Comments

AlwaysByMySideFeb 14, 201624 votes

He's been S tier since before pre-season.

Cloak an DaggerFeb 14, 201633 votes

[{quoted}](name=Memeglaive Garen,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=wWmiq9j2,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2016-02-14T21:18:37.544+0000)

He's been S tier since before pre-season.

Everyone wasn't complaining before pre-season. Because it was before all the AD buffs and Mage item nerfs across the board. There have been minimal changes to him in the past years.

The Yetii RiderFeb 14, 20163 votes

[{quoted}](name=Cloak an Dagger,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=wWmiq9j2,comment-id=00000000,timestamp=2016-02-14T21:20:42.830+0000)

Everyone wasn't complaining before pre-season. Because it was before all the AD buffs and Mage item nerfs across the board. There have been minimal changes to him in the past years.

Minimal? The most recent change made it so his % bonus armor was always active instead of only active during his W active.

That's the reason for his current strength. Gaining an extra 100 armor at all times is insane.

SkoonieFeb 15, 201611 votes

Malph only gains 100 armor from his passive if you build armor items only. You'd have to build item 3742 , item 3068 , item 3025 , item 3047 , { item 3143 , and either item 3075 or item 3512 to breach 300 armor (of which 30% is stacked on top of it.). And if you put Malph in a position to build armor items only, you deserve to lose.

The Yetii RiderFeb 15, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Malph only gains 100 armor from his passive if you build armor items only. You'd have to build { and either or to breach 300 armor (of which 30% is stacked on top of it.). And if you put Malph in a position to build armor items only, you deserve to lose.

You're getting an extra 300 health from Strength of Ages, plus 400 + 15% from Cinderhulk.

The build you listed above is totally normal for a Malphite. With all the health he gets, plus his passive giving him 10% more, plus his ultimate basically being all he needs, a bit of magic damage isn't going to bring him down fast enough for him to not make an impact.

Fact is, you can pick Malphite into any team comp and just do fine.

LankPantsFeb 15, 201610 votes

Most Malphites do not jungle. Most Malphites go top, which necessitates Grasp of the Undying.

That alone pretty much makes everything you just said bullshit.

manliestdinoFeb 15, 20165 votes

To be fair, Malphite is going to be strong across all metas because he's so simple and his ultimate is game changing.

SteelflameFeb 15, 201610 votes

Not really. He is really really bad when AP tops are strong and popular, because they completely stomp him unless he builds to counter them, at which point everyone else on the team stomps on him.

Malphite abuses times where AD stack metas are strong, just like Rammus does. This is because in such metas, their niche value skyrockets to be a big 24/7 100% uptime powerspike. Same with Taric.

There is a reason all of these champions went from average win rates to top tier win rates within a single patch. It has little to do with them, and everything to do with how they sit in the meta as one of it's few natural counters right now due to how weak all the competing metas are.

Ariel the CruelFeb 15, 20168 votes

He is really really bad when AP tops are strong and popular, because they completely stomp him unless he builds to counter them

Galio Somebody call for a niche counter?

charcharmunroFeb 15, 20161 votes

Funnily enough, a good Galio makes Malphite's laning a living hell.

Ariel the CruelFeb 16, 20164 votes

A good Galio makes a lot of champions' laning a living hell. Mostly the Mages who can't hurt him, and the snowballs who can't kill him.

YumaS2AstralFeb 15, 20162 votes

{quoted}

Not really. He is really really bad when AP tops are strong and popular, because they completely stomp him unless he builds to counter them, at which point everyone else on the team stomps on him.

Malphite abuses times where AD stack metas are strong, just like Rammus does. This is because in such metas, their niche value skyrockets to be a big 24/7 100% uptime powerspike. Same with Taric.

There is a reason all of these champions went from average win rates to top tier win rates within a single patch. It has little to do with them, and everything to do with how they sit in the meta as one of it's few natural counters right now due to how weak all the competing metas are.

Also, even if Malphite itemizes for magic resistance, his kit is not appropriate for dealing with magic damage dealers.

His E is completely useless against casters. His W is not helpful against APs because you need to stack armor for it to be useful. His Q is actually useful against APs, but against many them, going for a poke war means you are going to get harassed or becoming OOM.

Critmaster GarenFeb 14, 201674 votes

[{quoted}](name=Memeglaive Garen,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=wWmiq9j2,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2016-02-14T21:18:37.544+0000)

He's been S tier since before pre-season.

rammus and malphite both saw a significant spike in winrate with the marksmen buffs. even taric did get a boost.

op is right. its the 2 to 3 adc on every team thats the problem. ofc malphite and rammus are gonna thrive in a meta like this.

AlwaysByMySideFeb 14, 20166 votes

[{quoted}](name=Critmaster Garen,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=wWmiq9j2,comment-id=00000001,timestamp=2016-02-14T21:34:00.324+0000)

rammus and malphite both saw a significant spike in winrate with the marksmen buffs. even taric did get a boost.

op is right. its the 2 to 3 adc on every game thats the problem. ofc malphite and rammus are gonna thrive in a meta like this.

Malphite being even stronger due to the marksman buffs (and at the time warlord's bloodlust) does not even begin to disprove the assertion that Malphite was overpowered beforehand.

No, stop pushing your bruiser/tank centric agenda. Malphite has been a problem since way before pre-season, and no amount of crying about ADCs will change that.

Malicious MetalFeb 14, 201660 votes

Bronzodia assemble!

OyddAWqJ5rFeb 15, 20169 votes

haha gotta collect the 5 Bronze cards, Bronze 1 2 3 4 & 5 to summon it

jQueryFeb 15, 20164 votes

I am outrageous with Taric right now on my main acc. He is a real gem.

And Malphite i can manage, similar skill level with me no problem, let the best man win.

What I cant deal with is the Iceborn Ezrael... Gets me so pissed of! Ima shove a ruby up his! - And make Lux to shine her ulti up that ruby!

TridemFeb 15, 20164 votes

Just realized both of thier names are with Garen and they're arguing wuth each other. XD

kile147Feb 14, 201622 votes

Malphite has been sitting at a high win rate for quite awhile, even before the marksmen update. I believe he had a 52% win rate across all skill levels before the marksmen update, which was then raised by 2% with AD becoming more prevalent. I would definitely say that for such a simple, niche champ he's pretty healthy and his current rise in win rate and popularity is due to meta shifting in his favor, as OP stated.

AnidanFeb 14, 20167 votes

I'm not even mad to be honest. A champion meant to thrive in this meta is thriving in this meta? Sounds good to me. It would be a good deal more alarming if he wasn't. We all know the Boards sound the alarm bells if he wasn't, and for good reason in this case.

Hemulen MagiFeb 15, 201621 votes

Step 1) Buff Rammus Malphite Taric Braum Volibear

Step 2) Watch those champions hit 65% winrate and 20% pick rate each

Step 3) Forums fill with tears as players who continue to create 4 AD champ comps are forced to adapt or get demoted to bronze

Step 4) DPS Mage players rejoice as their role becomes a necessity

Step 5) Meta shifts to mixed damage teams (as it should be) and armor stacking freelo fizzles out on its own

Step 6) And they all lived happily ever after... Until one week later when Riot buffed Zed LeeSin Riven Vayne to give them their "share of the spotlight" and the cycle began again...

Ariel the CruelFeb 15, 201610 votes

LeeSin We noticed that new players are [still] probably having trouble with Lee, as evidenced by his [still] low win rate at low elo. So we've decided to give him some ~~buffs~~ quality of life improvements. These are power neutral shifts that totally won't affect him at high elo.

Magic resist Changed from 32.1 + 1.25/lvl to 47.25 + .75/lvl.
Safeguard: Base shield changed from 40 / 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 (+ 80% AP) to 70/140/210/280/350 (+70% AP)

MhihnjFeb 15, 20163 votes

not to forget - %HP true damage, that scales with ad

Sir YamazukiFeb 14, 201617 votes

His win rate has been the same since S5, in fact it went down then slightly back up to what it was during S5. So no, it had nothing at all to do with the changes. He even had a decent win rate as a jungler. The only thing that has changed is he's played as a jungler less often and is overall being played more.

disregardableFeb 14, 201611 votes

Who's even complaining about Malphite?

MunchCrunchLunchFeb 14, 201620 votes

people don't complain about champions that don't get a lot of kills. I don't think malphite is op tho. I just think hes really good and fits well in this meta

SociopathFriendFeb 15, 20166 votes

Pretty sure at this point I have seen every single champion complained about with the exception of Urgot.

Maximum MordeFeb 15, 201610 votes

{quoted}

Pretty sure at this point I have seen every single champion complained about with the exception of Urgot.

Urgot more like Brokgot, shooting flying green dildos that lock on to ur asshole wtf is that shit man so op and he just teleports you into his bondage den while doing it fuck that guy.

Ariel the CruelFeb 15, 20166 votes

Urgod is one of those "never again" champions (see also: Alistar jungle and Soraka top). Back when he was strong, he completely shredded bot lane. Back when Zed was the mid meta, he was buffed then ripped Zed a new one (hint hint people!). Riot is super conservative to prevent his untimely return.

Jhin UItd JFKFeb 15, 20169 votes

I like how all the people who are upset they get their freelo champs shit on by a rock are bitching on here.

Makes my day :^)

KnoyleFeb 15, 20167 votes

I'm going to be honest. As Rammus The only AD Assassin/ marksman I haven't taken a complete dump on is Fiora. Rammus is tailor made for fighting AA reliant AD champions. He even scales AD off his Armor. And people are actually saying he is op af. He's not. He's just designed to shit on your ADC and with people jumping on the AD Assassin meta wagon He's going to shit on your team more when you decide to go

Jinx Thresh Yasuo Tryndamere Jax

Maybe next time you should actually mix the damage in your comp a little and get a Veigar Syndra Malzahar or you know something that DOESN'T rely on AA and build off of AD.

Serika ZeroFeb 15, 20164 votes

Corki ;) more adc

FastAsHeckFeb 15, 20163 votes

AD malzahar doesn't rely on AA :^)

GenghisEmoFeb 15, 20166 votes

Yep. Malphite isnt OP.

Like, seriously, he isnt OP. The only time Malph is OP, is One for All, 5 Ulting Malphites is not fun XD.

JasiwelFeb 15, 20165 votes

People are complaining about Malphite and Rammus? Goodness, some people will complain about anything that doesn't go their way....

Autrah FangFeb 15, 20165 votes

honestly... having a champion build full tank and still 100-0 you within 3 seconds without any hope of you getting away is a problem imo.. and i've been bursted down like that by Malphite multiple times. however, this isn't just a problem with Malphite. Volibear (although he isn't too much of a problem, since he is actually kite-able), Xin Zhao, and Master Yi also come to mind (there are more, but these are the only ones that i can think of atm). granted, Xin and Yi don't go full tank, but they build Guinsoo's and maybe BotRK, along with devourer if they're jungle, and then build nothing but tank afterwards.

Hayaishi2Feb 14, 20164 votes

Yeah having a free laning phase against any AD top laner sure is not OP.

Cloak an DaggerFeb 14, 201649 votes

{quoted}

Yeah having a free laning phase against any AD top laner sure is not OP.

Fiora Shits on him in laning what are you talking about. Almost everyone can abuse him in laning phase. You just can't steamroll him like you can vs everyone else if you happen to be an AD top-lane. Working as intended. Look at his mana pool versus his mana costs. It's painful. At best it's a stalemate top-lane. That just so happens to be a win for him versus snowballing AD champions.

Hayaishi2Feb 14, 20162 votes

[{quoted}](name=Cloak an Dagger,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=wWmiq9j2,comment-id=00010000,timestamp=2016-02-14T21:22:10.802+0000)

Shits on him in laning what are you talking about. Almost everyone can abuse him in laning phase. You just can't steamroll him like you can vs everyone else if you happen to be an AD top-lane. Working as intended. Look at his mana pool versus his mana costs. It's painful. At best it's a stalemate top-lane.

Who doesn't get destroyed by Fiora in the laning phase?

You obviously only go against bad malphites because the issue is he doesn't get bullied in laning phase and outscales everyone after, because of his teamfight.

Watch the "AD meta" gone (as if it already wasn't with Corki, Graves nerfed) and malphite still dominating.

Cloak an DaggerFeb 14, 201622 votes

{quoted}

Who doesn't get destroyed by Fiora in the laning phase?

You obviously only go against bad malphites because the issue is he doesn't get bullied in laning phase and outscales everyone after, because of his teamfight.

Fiora beats him lategame because of % max health true damage. If he reaches late-game versus a full AD composition which everyone and their mother is running is that really his fault? He's a counter pick. Everyone refuses to stop playing AD teams INTO him so he's going to seem "OP"

Hayaishi2Feb 14, 20162 votes

[{quoted}](name=Cloak an Dagger,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=wWmiq9j2,comment-id=0001000000000000,timestamp=2016-02-14T21:29:39.684+0000)

Fiora beats him lategame because of % max health true damage. If he reaches late-game versus a full AD composition which everyone and their mother is running is that really his fault? He's a counter pick. Everyone refuses to playing AD teams INTO him so he's going to seem "OP"

Again, who doesn't get destroyed by Fiora?

Cloak an DaggerFeb 14, 201625 votes

{quoted}

Again, who doesn't get destroyed by Fiora?

Exactly, then why are you complaining about Malphite of all things??

10TicklerFeb 15, 20163 votes

item 3036 still exists

LohenngrammFeb 15, 20169 votes

Not really, Malphite is actually a counter to Fiora. His passive shield absorbs all of her true damage, his attack speed slow drastically reduces her ability to do damage, his Q keeps her from disengaging effectively, Thornmail syngergizes extremely well with his kit, and if all else fails he has Ult. I've honestly never lost against a Fiora when I play Malphite.

Lost RFeb 14, 20164 votes

Overspecializing in anything is a weakness, if someone on the enemy team takes notice of it. ALWAYS assume that they do.

EnrovyFeb 15, 20163 votes

but an interesting question is, when will ap mages be s-tier, and galio be s-tier?

KaisadiIIaFeb 15, 20163 votes

I can't really understand why they make niche champions like Malph or Rammus, that are really strong against AD compositions, and then they complain that they are OP when the meta is full of AD compositions and [logically] Malph or Rammus shine. Of course Malph is "OP" now. He must be "OP" because he's the most hardcore counter to this meta.