Let's talk about Malzahar

First of all, I love Malz. When Zed, Yasuo, Kha, Kat, and Akali are running amok in Mid who are you going to lock in? Malzahar. When Nasus, Malphite, Darius, Renekton, and Mundo are harassing your carry who's going to stop them in their tracks? Malzahar. The absolute best thing about Malzahar is the feeling impending doom he brings to any champions he faces, no matter if they're assassins or tanks.

Back in golden age of WoW my main was an Affliction Warlock. Malzahar is the only champion in this game that gives me that same sort of playstyle: death by attrition. When Malzahar tosses his E on you, for the next four seconds all you can do is watch it widdle away at your health bar unless you do something quick to shield or heal yourself. If Malzahar throws his W down and ults you, you have to sit there helplessly and watch your health melt away unless your teammates come to rescue you. This is Malzahar in a nut shell - he is the prophet of your death. If there's only one thing I could ask Riot it's to keep this overall core identity in mind while looking into Malz. However I do understand that helplessly watching yourself die with no options to stop it...might be frustrating and not the easiest gameplay style to balance.

Malz - More game health issues than anything else. Counterplay's not great in particular, with Malz needing to just click on you and kill you given his squishiness, immobility, lack of reach, vulnerability to item system counters. Has a lot of distinctive stuff going on though.

Keep in mind that Malzahar's counter is his predictability. It's a mind game; it's a chess match. You know what's coming so you know what steps to take to prevent/avoid it. If you want to create more chances for counterplay (outside of items) I would focus on this aspect. Make his E more predictable on where it'll bounce. You could create a sort of "mark" in his kit, like Nidalee, that will then allow Malzahar to suppress them. That way it keeps the whole impending doom aspect of Malzahar in tact and makes his opponent think "Okay, I let him mark me and stuck around for him to ult me. I f'ed up."

Overall I would say his Q could be pretty different and the way his voidlings work could change, but what really makes up the core of his gameplay is his E, W, and R and the interaction of how his opponent can try to avoid them. If you can't avoid them, well...

"Oblivion Awaits!"

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