Malphite vs Malzahar

Malphite
vs
48.5%

over 171 games

Malzahar

Skill matchup

Heavy CCHeavy AP damageCountered by stasisHigh burst

Build vs Malzahar

Build adapted to this matchup

Recommended items for Malphite: Malignance, Stormsurge, Shadowflame, Mercury's Treads, Hollow Radiance, Kaenic Rookern, Frozen Heart, Thornmail.

Starting items

Doran's Ring
Health Potion
x2

Core build

Malignance
1
Stormsurge
2
Shadowflame
3

Standard

Boots of Swiftness
4vs Slow
Hollow Radiance
5

Summoner spells

FlashTeleport75%
FlashDot24%

Other options

Hollow Radiance
Kaenic Rookern
Frozen Heart
Thornmail
Jak'Sho, The Protean
Bramble Vest
Sunfire Aegis
Randuin's Omen
Zeke's Convergence
Force of Nature
Dark Seal
Rabadon's Deathcap
Hextech Rocketbelt
Zhonya's Hourglass
Unending Despair
Iceborn Gauntlet
11.1% WR9 games
SorcerySorcery
Arcane CometArcane Comet
Manaflow BandManaflow Band
TranscendenceTranscendence
ScorchScorch
ResolveResolve
Second WindSecond Wind
OvergrowthOvergrowth
Attack SpeedHealth ScalingHealth Scaling

Power Spikes

Strength by game phase

Malzahar's abilities

Passive, spells and ultimate

Void Shift (P)

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

LevelQWER
36s8s11s–
66s8s11s2m20
96s8s11s2m20
116s8s11s1m50
166s8s9s1m20
186s8s7s1m20

Playing as Malphite

Tips to maximize your impact

  1. Wait for them to group for R

    Save Unstoppable Force (R) for when the enemy carries are grouped: nothing stops your charge, and the impact knocks every enemy in the area into the air.

  2. Steal speed with Seismic Shard

    Cast Seismic Shard (Q) before engaging or to escape: it slows the target and gives you the speed it steals.

  3. Trade with your shield up

    Take your trades while Granite Shield (passive) is up: it absorbs 10% of your max health, and Thunderclap (W) then triples your bonus armor.

  4. Ground Slam against attackers

    Against a champion who lives on autos, start your trades with Ground Slam (E): it lowers their attack speed, and its damage scales with your armor.

Playing against Malzahar

How to counter and exploit weaknesses

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

Patch 16.21.1