Kayle vs Malzahar
Hard matchup
You are stronger late game. Farm safe and avoid early trades.
Build vs Malzahar
Build adapted to this matchup
Recommended items for Kayle: Nashor's Tooth, Dusk and Dawn, Rabadon's Deathcap, Boots of Swiftness, Shadowflame, Rylai's Crystal Scepter, Quicksilver Sash, Guinsoo's Rageblade.
Starting items
Core build
Standard
Summoner spells
Anti CC
Other options
Power Spikes
Strength by game phase
Malzahar's abilities
Passive, spells and ultimate
When he hasn't recently taken damage or been crowd controlled, Malzahar gains massive damage reduction and crowd control immunity, lingering for a short period after taking damage.
Cooldowns
Cooldowns by spell rank
| Level | Q | W | E | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 6s | 8s | 11s | – |
| 6 | 6s | 8s | 11s | 2m20 |
| 9 | 6s | 8s | 11s | 2m20 |
| 11 | 6s | 8s | 11s | 1m50 |
| 16 | 6s | 8s | 9s | 1m20 |
| 18 | 6s | 8s | 7s | 1m20 |
Playing as Kayle
Tips to maximize your impact
- Play safe early
Play safe early on: Divine Ascent (passive) empowers your autos with each level, adding range, speed and waves of fire.
- Save your W for ganks
Save Celestial Blessing (W) to escape a gank or hold your lane: it heals you and an ally, and gives you both move speed.
- Push once you get fire waves
Push the wave as soon as you unlock your waves of fire: Divine Ascent (passive) adds them to your autos, and minions go down much faster.
- Ult the ally they're focusing
Cast Divine Judgment (R) on the ally being focused, at the last moment: they become invulnerable, then the area around them damages enemies.
Playing against Malzahar
How to counter and exploit weaknesses
- Get out of his portals
Get out of the Call of the Void (Q) zone quickly: its two portals fire after a short delay, and their projectiles silence you.
- Break his Void Shift first
If you have CC, hit him first with a cheap attack, then wait a moment: Void Shift (passive) still ignores CC right after the first damage.
- Avoid minions hit by his Visions
Stay away from minions hit by Malefic Visions (E): if they die, the visions jump to the nearest enemy, and his Voidlings follow them.
- Trade before he hits 6
Take your trades before he hits level 6: after that, Nether Grasp (R) can lock you down from range while his team hits you.
- Focus him during his Grasp
When he casts Nether Grasp (R) on an ally, focus him: he channels in place, and any CC interrupts him and frees your ally.
Other Kayle matchups
Patch 16.21.1