Malzahar possibly top tier right now

All Day Tay Tay·2/18/2015, 1:48:19 AM·2 votes·1,421 views

So ive been playing malzahar a lot lately. he was my main waaaaaay back in season 2, but i tried him out again and its pretty similar to back then. He can build pretty tanky and still drain anyone down, even tanks. My go to build right now is item 3255 item 3027 item 3089 item 3116 item 3157 and either item 3135 or item 3151 depending if they are getting mr or hp. his w and his e alone can drain hp super fast (I've had instances where just his e can take half a tanks hp with the liandries+rylais procs). His ult has a 1.2 scaling, and its a suppress. Unless they get qss,they can not get out of it, and even then, it still hits them, because qss only stops the suppress. the build i give him gives him 3k hp, and i have scaling mr and armor runes, so my late game is insane. His laning is great too because after hitting lvl 5 and his e is rank 3 he can potentially toss e on a minion and go back to tower and farm for no effort nor a mana loss because it gives mana back. he wrecks anyone who cant kill him instantly. Ahri Katarina Akali cant put out damage fast enough, and just get cought in his ult. the only 2 i have problems with is Veigar and Talon because they can put out enough damage fast enough while laning, but after my 3k hp build it becomes useless.

5 Comments

Divewing2/18/2015, 4:31:42 AM1 votes

Yeah malz pretty strong atm i think for 2 reasons: He wasnt dump trucked by mana regen nerfs like most mages cause he has a somewhat consistent way to get mana back simply by csing. And he is dumpsters everything 1v1 without counterplay, and more specifically, dumpsters someone who relies on dashes etc (90% of the meta). To top it all off hes got great scaling into late game, and a nice ranged AoE silence that screws people over surprisingly well. BUT DONT TELL PEOPLE, RITO WILL NERF >_>

DocShocker2/18/2015, 5:41:27 AM1 votes

Don't know much about tiers, but he does feel really strong and safe compared to others in mid. Played him a few times on rotation and fell in love with him. He was a champ I've been wanting to try for a while, and will probly get him now as soon as I get the IP. That build is also what I ran. Though I usually got item 3151 second in the build after Rod. If anything, I at least grabbed item 3136 before starting on Rabadon's(or Zhonya's if needed sooner). It helps deal with beefier opponents early game with his dot since it stacks on ANOTHER dot on top of it(and summoner 14 if you pop that too). Also one thing I think people underestimate is the Voidling. It can really do some damage early on and help clear waves with your dot. Can't say how many times people would ignore it until it smacked away 1/4th of their hp then they run to tower since I stay close to it. Can just slap another dot or try to poke/silence if they turn to kill it. Only major downside to him is he has no escapes except for summoner 4 . Even still, a well placed Q can help deter someone or help slow their dps enough so you can try to run without burning Flash. Still, aside from the dot, the best thing he can bring is the Suppression on his ult. The damage feels odd to me since it seems so low(even the dot feels a bit more empowering to me), but can still help in fights. Placing the W for damage based on enemy health then Ulting them can help deal with it though(and Ignite if they are within range since it won't interrupt your ult unless the target is out of range) if your team isn't there to burst the useless enemy member.

All in all, Mal feels pretty strong against a good bit of champs in and out of lane. Just need to watch your positioning. Even when camped by jungle early game, the dot/voidling can help clear waves while under tower.

Scramrail2/18/2015, 6:41:21 AM1 votes

I played against a Malz once as Annie and got absolutely destroyed. I had no answer for him. Pre-6 his dot did so much damage that even a Q > W combo couldn't compete and post-6 if I tried to do anything besides flash > tibbers stun > QWE I just died (and even then, it was a risky move). If he ever does get nerfed I hope its to his dot, because the damage that thing causes is so overbearing.

Of course, I then played as Malz recently in an ARAM and absolutely demolished the enemy team. Literally no one can stand up to his full combo during ult, and even if they survive the initial attack the dot will just kill them after. Its insane the amount of damage that thing does.

Kouga2/18/2015, 8:55:47 AM1 votes

Malz excels in the laning phase. Early on he can safely farm by dropping his E on a low hp creep and then standing back, throwing a few AAs to help spread the DoT, plus his Voidlings can help him farm. His Silence (if used right) can deter ganks and initiations, and once he hits 6 he should be able to kill anyone with his full combo.

However, he absolute lacks of mobility in any form, coupled with his very dangerous dueling (full damage potential requires a full combo and his Ult leaves himself extremely vulnerable). Plus, late game any smart enemy will build a QSS, and if they're AD they'll build it into a Mercurial. Then all of a sudden they can break your suppression and either flee or murder you. Any team with coordination should be able to take down Malz. Once he's blown his combo, he's a buffet table.

Malz' strength lies in him having one of, if not the, highest damage 1v1 combo in the game (aside from Veigar's infinite stacking) Total damage if he gets a full combo:

1170 base damage + (2.9x AP) + 40% (+5 per 100 AP) of your Max Health

Which doesn't factor in Voidling AA's during this, of which he will have 1-3 and have decent late-game damage.

For comparison, Annie's combo: 895 base + (2.45x AP)

Which doesn't factor in Tibber's aoe/AA damage