Guide Sections (15)
- Champion Stats
- The Mana-Efficient Trade
- The Malzahar Skin Tier List
- When They Ban Malzahar
- Runes That Work on Malzahar
- Leveling Malzahar's Abilities
- Mastering Malzahar's Kit
- Matchups That Matter for Malzahar
- Positioning Laziness
- When the Poke Doesn't Land
- Zone Control in Fights
- The Scaling Build
- Malzahar's Strongest Moments
- The Combo Nuke
- Recent Patch History
Champion Stats
Low elo players do not understand the 'Space AIDS' (Malefic Visions, E). They stand next to dying minions, letting the DOT jump to them naturally, giving Malzahar free poke without him lifting a finger. In teamfights, spreading E to unsuspecting tanks and letting it melt the entire team via Rylai's slow is devastating. Your Nether Grasp (R) is also the ultimate 'You don't get to play' button. Flash-R on an out-of-position carry ends the game.
The Mana-Efficient Trade
The 'AFK' Start. Start E. Walk to the wave. E a melee minion. Auto attack it to ensure it dies. E jumps to the next. Repeat. Do not interact with the enemy champion unless they walk into the infected wave. You win level 1 by doing absolutely nothing but staring at minions.
Your E restores mana when it kills a target. If you time your Q right, you can keep the E bouncing between minions forever without ever spending extra mana. It's the secret to his infinite lane sustain.
The Malzahar Skin Tier List
'Battle Boss Malzahar' is great. 'Beezahar' is hilarious (Bees!). 'Snow Day' is chill. 'Worldbreaker' looks powerful.
'Hextech' is the ultimate flex. If you have it, you use it. It signals that you're a dedicated Malz main who knows every tick of the E damage. Respect is earned, not given.
'Battle Boss' is great arcade vibes. 'Beezahar' is S-Tier for the bees. 'Hextech' is the flex. Beezahar wins for the ridiculousness.
When They Ban Malzahar
Lissandra locks them down. Skarner drags them away. Warwick suppresses with R. Lissandra is the mage version of 'you don't get to move'.
Lissandra for the lockdown. Skarner for the suppress. Annie for the point-click stun. Lissandra is the AP Mid alternative.
Runes That Work on Malzahar
Summoner Aery (DoT synergy) or Arcane Comet. Aery procs multiple times on E. Manaflow Band is critical. Secondary Inspiration (Cosmic Insight for Flash CD).
Leveling Malzahar's Abilities
Max E for the DoT damage. Max Q second for silence/refresh. W last.
Mastering Malzahar's Kit
Call of the Void. Two portals beam inwards. Silence + Damage. Resets E duration.
Void Swarm. Summon Voidlings. They attack targets with E/R. Multiplies if they attack.
Malefic Visions. DoT. Jumps to nearby target on death. Resets on Q/R hit.
Nether Grasp. Suppress target (2.5s). Deal beam damage (pool under them). Resets E duration. Anti-carry button.
Matchups That Matter for Malzahar
Hard. She Qs your voidlings for stacks and resets. Don't use W.
Easy. Your E and R go through windwall. Break shield with auto then E.
Skill. His E allows him to snap back. R him during E? Cleanse?
Positioning Laziness
Stop feeding Voidlings to Irelia! Void Swarm (W) is powerful, but against champions with resets or AOE (Irelia, Sivir, Smolder), you are literally giving them gold and stacks. Hold your W until they have used their clearing ability. Also, remember to REFRESH your E. Hitting Q or R resets the duration of Malefic Visions. Don't R a target that doesn't have E on them if you can help it—you lose tons of damage.
Stop walking into melee range! You have a suppression that locks YOU in place too. If you R in front of their whole team, you're dead. Position behind a wall or your frontline. Use your Voidlings to block skillshots (like Blitz hooks). Your passive is your only safety—don't waste it on a random minion shot.
When the Poke Doesn't Land
Dodge Gangplank. He eats oranges and removes your R. Useless. Or Olaf who ignores CC.
Gangplank and Olaf are your counters. GP eats oranges to remove your R. Olaf R ignores everything. If you see them, don't waste R on them. R someone else. Malz is about the targeted lockdown—pick the person who CAN'T escape. That's how you win.
Dodge GP (Oranges remove R). Dodge Olaf (R ignores R). You are useless against them. Just dodge.
Zone Control in Fights
In teamfights, peel or pick. Q the group for huge silence. E the frontline. If an assassin dives your ADC, R them immediately. If you have Flash, Flash-R the enemy carry. You are a point-and-click delete button.
You are a persistent burn machine. Liandry's and Rylai's are your soulmates. Your E perma-slows the whole team in a choke point. Q the group to keep them silenced. Use R to catch the diver. You don't need to be flashy—you just need to be annoying as hell.
The Scaling Build
Jungle Malzahar (Off-meta). Voidlings tank camp. Clear is healthy. Ganks are walk up -> R. Funny but slow.
Liandry's into Rylai's into Void Staff. That's the only build. If you're fed, Rabadon's 4th. If you're struggling, Zhonya's. Malzahar is about the inevitability of the burn. By 30 minutes, your E alone will take 40% of a squishy's HP. Just sit back and watch them melt.
Liandry's -> Rylai's. The burn and slow is your job. You don't need Deathcap. You need them to suffer slowly.
Malzahar's Strongest Moments
Level 6 (The Button). Liandry's/Rylai's completion. Rylai's makes E a perma-slow.
Level 6 is your first 'free kill' window with your jungler. Once you have Liandry's, your waveclear is AFK-tier. Malzahar is a late-game monster whose R wins any objective fight. Stay alive, press R on the carry, win the game.
Level 6 (Nether Grasp). Liandry's completion. Rylai's perma-slow. You win by catching people out of position.
The Combo Nuke
The 'Outplayed' button (R). Typing 'Nice QSS' when they don't have one. Watching them die to E while they run away.
Type 'The void consumes' after an R-kill. Using the Beezahar skin and having tiny bees kill the enemy while they're suppressed is the ultimate BM. Malzahar is the king of the 'Outplayed' button—use it with pride.
Flash-R the carry. Type 'Outplayed'. Watch them die to space AIDS (E) while they run away. It's not flashy, but it wins games.
Recent Patch History
Recent Balance Changes
| Patch | Date | Type | Changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| V14.9 | May 1, 2024 | BUFF | Q buffed, E buffed, Base stats buffed |
| V13.16 | Aug 16, 2023 | NERF | E nerfed |
| V12.22 | Nov 16, 2022 | BUFF | Base stats buffed |
| V12.21 | Nov 2, 2022 | BUFF | E adjusted |
| V12.10 | May 25, 2022 | BUFF | Base stats buffed |
