They both fill the same niche as hard initiator, but I feel Zac is overall better. Malphite is still one of the best tanks against AD heavy teams, but zac does more damage, has more CC, and can more reliably tank against teams that are not purely AD heavy since he does not rely as much on armor scaling.
Why is malphite used so often while zac is pushed to the side?
jDVL20eCYs3 votesmalph super easy to play. just (r q e w) 1 seca a a a a. you comb is always the same and your game play always the same. super uninteresting
FalconPawwwwnch2 votesBecause Zac can't lane against almost any champion lol
Zac has no defensive steroids
Zac doesn't reduce autoattackers damage by 50%
YumaS2Astral4 votesBecause Zac can't lane against almost any champion lol
Zac has no defensive steroids
Zac doesn't reduce autoattackers damage by 50%
Zac can lane just fine. I use him as a counterpick against many champions, including Malphite himself (although I am starting to use Tahm Kench as my favorite top lane tank instead of Zac). Actually, Zac can counter any top lane tank not named Cho'Gath (not sure about Tahm Kench, though). The thing with Zac is that he has good sustain, while Malphite doesn't. As long as you are not laning against a lane bully or a ranged champion, Zac can lane just fine.
Zac is better than Malphite against teams that are not too heavily AD-focused, though. Against AD heavy teams, Malphite's armor steroid and attack speed reduction tend to be more valuable.
Also, keep in mind that Malphite only costs 1350 IP, while Zac is a 6300 IP champion. People tend to forget that prices can influence a lot on a champion's popularity.
AtheosisX2 votesOne reason is probably familiarity. Zac is still behind the 6300 IP barrier which means many people do not own him. On the other hand, nearly everyone owns Malphite. Also Malphite is easier to play.
OperationDEEZ11 votes
Raxicor1 votesHe's muuuuuch cheaper.
Mecha MaIphite1 votesMalphite is ezpz.
Press W to automatically win trades against any melee.
junglerboy161 votesMostly because Malphite gets free permanent tankiness from W's passive armor boost, allowing him to now be exceptional against AD teams and still have room for a fair amount of MR too. Even just having a frozen heart and Sunfire cape plus base armor gives him 71 free bonus armor at all times with max rank W, which is altogether over 300 armor without runes and only 2 armor items. That is ABSURD.
That leaves him room for merc treads, Locket/SV, Warmog's, and another item of your choice. You could even throw in a Thornmail and have 440+ armor, which with adaptive armor gives you another free 4% of 350 armor as MR, or 14 MR, leaving him with easily 170 MR if you have scaling glyphs.
Malachite used to be able to get super tanky for short periods of time, now he's just super tanky all the time. If you aren't facing a lot of AD, you can pick up an Abyssal scepter and help your team deal a ton of damage, boost your own damage, and have over 200 MR while still having at least 300 armor in your build.
Zac may have more built in damage, but Malphite is now a super tank who will not die unless focused hard, and he shuts down carries more directly than Zac. Both have good sustain, both of their sustain kind of goes to crap in a team fight (malphites shield goes on CD, Zac usually can't pick up blobs easily if at all), and both have impressive hard engage (although Malphites is less telegraphed and much harder to avoid, while being a little shorter in duration).
Hasztalan21 votesZac's early gme and laning sucks.
HIs ult spreads the enemy team (big nope).
It is heavily telegraphed.
Malph's ult is instant.
^ basically this.
