Malphite - A Rock Solid Support?

ZergReap·Apr 14, 2015·5 votes·1,793 views

I have been climbing steadily for a couple weeks and if I can I play either Irelia top or Draven, but if I can't do that I would rather supp than mid/jungle. I almost never support but I usually did ok since I play lots of adc. At least I know what I want out of my supp in lane... I really never played any conventional supports except Annie I guess, but I would always get caught out as squishy caster supports when warding and end up with a lot of deaths. SO I whipped out the Malphite supp and had some success (3-0 in ranked) and even got me my last win for Plat promos.

I go Hybrid Pen Reds, Scaling Health yellows, Armor quints, MR Blues 0/21/9

I usually do standard Targons sightstone rush, although I don't like upgrading Targons for some reason. Then I get locket and Frozen Heart (Iceborne Gauntlet if I'm feeling like the game is already snowballed), and Sunfire Cape/Abbysal sceptre.

It's similar to a Nautilus and Braum. I can Q and run up early game and deal decent damage while taking almost none. They want to focus my adc, but it is almost impossible to ignore me sitting on top of you. Plus His E is actually a very strong attack speed slow. A couple of the games we had the tanky top and Full tank Cinderhulk jungle with Malzahar mid and Lucian adc. Our carries were getting caught and trying to front line, dying instantly every fight. Then us 3 tanks would slowly kill everyone while taking no damage.

Overall it was a lot of fun for me playing an almost pure tank for once. I usaully main anything that is AD with lots of damage.

21 Comments

OrangesilkApr 14, 20153 votes

I find Malphite to be a good but sub-par support, meaning, his initation is fine, but it's his main CC tool and he only gets it at lvl 6. Meanwhile Leona has equally strong initiation, with 2 additional cc tools, and she can start bum-rushing your face as soon as lvl 2.

Malphite CAN poke, but any decent ADC will poke back way harder.

He's weaker at poke than the poke supports and he's weaker at initiating than the hard initiation supports. He's at his best against an aggressive lane where can use his AS slow to turn fights the other way around and then his Q to make winning trades last longer. But when it comes down to a defensive tanky support, Braum is the best there is.

Nauti on the other hand shudders

ZergReapApr 14, 20151 votes

You got a point on Braum and Leona. Their lvl 2 all in is really scary (especially since I main Draven). Being ulti dependent is why I feel I can only rush CDR. I guess thats why I'm so drawn to Malphite. I "think" I deal more damage than a Braum or Leona (with less cc), and I could grab some more AP If I feel like I needed too. Although, the game is usually over by the time I have Frozen Heart and Locket.

LOL I don't like seeing Naut getting more popular because I am countered by all the hook champions... It's like a magnet... Hes strong for sure.

SimplicateApr 16, 20151 votes

Agreeing with pretty much everything Orangesilk said. Leona or Braum would be a better choice though personally I don't really like or play Braum. I also picked up Malphite support maybe about 2 weeks ago and he is a pretty decent support but isn't all that great early on unless the lane is being aggressive. Level 6 of course is when Malphite power spikes and you can make some pretty decent plays for your adc to act on. Usually I only find it necessary to go Malphite support when my team didn't pick any good initiators or tanks and if your adc doesn't get fed or you aren't doing so well you can always build a bit of damage than normal considering your passive is a forever regenerating shield.

M4nTiCoR3Apr 14, 20151 votes

I use this occasionally when the enemy team over commits to AD....even if it's sub optimal during laning...malph can transition to a nightmare for that team late game. Glad to see I'm not the only one who uses this.

Spell thief is a better starting item. Don't bother upgrading it. Just sell it mid game.

Nucleophilic atkApr 14, 20151 votes

He is a little worse in lane since he can be kited fairly easy, and has to extend to do much of anything really...but if your ADC is smart enough to play safer early, he is pretty good once you hit 6. Then he is a monster late game lol.

ZergReapApr 14, 20151 votes

Thanks for replies. Early laning phase is pretty meh for sure. I can spam Q's for decent harass at a heavy mana cost. I feel like I am more effective when I just sit on the enemy adc with the attack speed slow I take very little damage, and deal enough to be a threat.

I am definately going to try Spellthief's edge for sure sounds awesome! A little extra damage and mana regen sounds a lot better than Targon's since I am running full tank Runes/Masteries anyway. And yeh I just never upgrade any support item ever for some reason...

M4nTiCoR3Apr 14, 20151 votes

Yup. With spellthief you can trade poke really well using the tribute passive to proc extra damage and gold on the squishiest of the 2 enemies. It will easily pay for itself by mid game and once laning is over yiu can sell it to complete a core item like Frozen heart. Just remember to recharge your shield each time you poke before going in again. His lack of sustain will kill you if they keep it down, but you can trade like a boss if you disengage between pokes with Q.

Also if you want more damage with your poke and womb combo, spell pen boots are highly underate on malphite.

adkoralmightyApr 14, 20151 votes

i have played malphite support quite a few times my first ever ranked game was using him as a support (won that although i didn't play that great) i tend to go full tank with relic shield start. imo his early game (when going tanky) wasn't that great but once he hit 6 he can become a monster.

i however ran into a couple of malphite supports that went spelltheifs and used magic or hybrid pen marks, and ap quints and glyphs. those q's where dealing a crap ton of damage especially when they would level it up . his early game is a little better imo if you go more of an ap start.

ZergReapApr 14, 20151 votes

I did my first two with a full tank page including armor reds, but I switched to the hybrid pen reds. They help in early all ins bot lane when you need to auto in close fights. Lvl 6 with a gank coming is really potent, and when my adc and I have some synergy its free kills. I prefer rushing frozen heart mainly for more ulti's. Thanks for the input!

OrbvApr 14, 20151 votes

I find Malph and Mao'kai are really good supports. Malph has the element of instant initiation, but Mao has better poke and can setup ganks a little harder early on. He's like a pokey Leona with less initiation.

wwwdotsApr 15, 20151 votes

only thing u can rely on is ur 6, so through out the game in lane or out side malph is useless as support imo.

M4nTiCoR3Apr 15, 20151 votes

I think you may be underestimating his ability to trade poke with the right early set up and his passive shield. Besides, Malphite is not a 1st pick every game kind of support. He is a late pick counter to an enemy team that goes all in on AD because last picking almost always gets stuck with support and he becomes a nightmare for that kind of comp if played well.

Drunk RummateApr 15, 20151 votes

Malphite support seems good on the surface, but let's compare him to another more traditional support, Braum.

His Q is a skillshot. This means you can miss, but it also procs his passive which can easily set up kills and/or peel for your adc. Malphites has more base damage, but Braum's scales with HP meaning he scales later into the game while Malphite does not.

His W brings him to an allied champion and grants them armor magic resist based on Braums stats. Malphites is a personal steroid, and since you're a tanky support this means it's only going to buff your base stats.

His E blocks skill shots and absorbs damage. Malphite does a little AOE damage and reduces enemy attack speed. Useful for sure, but it's not anywhere on the level of blocking a nami wave or anything similar.

His R is an AOE knockup that applies his passive. Malphites is an AOE knockup that does more damage.

So really, as a support, what does Malphite have that Braum does not? More reliable poke? I'd sooner pick Zyra if I wanted a poke support. A stronger aggressive engage? You could always go with Leona who gets free tank stats unlike Malphite.

ZergReapApr 17, 20151 votes

Thanks for all the responses. Going to grab Braum as my next champ. I can still always grab that malph for the Yasuo with no knockups if necessary.

M4nTiCoR3Apr 18, 20151 votes

I just want to reiterate that the reason to take Malphite as a late support pick isn't to pick the best champion to win your lane with...

It's to pick the champion who will have the most impact in the late game against an enemy team that has over committed to melee range AD champions. If they took an AD mid top and jungle, and you last pick support, Malph can become a monster against that enemy team comp that no amount of early lane advantage can overcome assuming you don't throw the game in 20 min.

You hit 30-45 min mark as a malphite with any legit income and he will single handedly swing every team fight in your favor assuming you can keep your team together and make play.

The Objective is to win the game, not just your lane. There are situations where support malph will outshine any other pick due to his unique ability to shut down melee DPS, and his initiation is always welcome for teamfights. Late game teamfights win more games in my experience than early game lane dominance by bottom laners. Maybe it's just me but I'll pick the late game advantage over the early lane.advantage 9 times out of 10 if it's stacked in my favor like the situation I mentioned above.

To each their own...good luck and stay rock solid.

ZergReapApr 19, 20151 votes

Haha nice... I've not the experience on tanky supports to compare him yet. Getting Braum once I can. I guess the general consensus so far is he is situational and traditional tank supports are usually better. I have to say I feel very strong in early lane though. When my adc gets hooked or efficiently focused during an all in, I am a threat and usually get a trade kill and live if he goes down. Of course, sometimes the champion means nothing if you are straight outplaying your opponent.

"The Objective is to win the game, not just your lane. " I feel like this is so true in the current meta. Good post!

M4nTiCoR3Apr 19, 20151 votes

Straight up out playing your opponent is another reason to take him if the situation warrents. Yeah I can take a more traditional melee bruiser support like Leona or Braum, but fact is I have over 1k games played with malphite at every different lane position from top lane to jungle to AP mid to support. He may not logistically be the best pic, especially during the laning phase at many of those roles, but if I can straight up outplay people with good teamfights ults and AD shutdown...I win.

Experience with a champ amd their kit can often trump innate differences in optimal power, especially since most of us playing the game are not playing at a pro level where those subtle advtages take more precedence over flat out being better harder stronger faster Than your opponent.

ZergReapApr 20, 20151 votes

hell yeah, nice man.