If you are struggling when facing Malzahar in the mid lane, find out which are the best counters you should play in this LoL season.
Image Credit: Riot Games
Malzahar counters in LoL – the top three picks
Malzahar is not a popular champion but he’s always bound to be annoying in the few games he is played in. Whether it’s the suppression from his ultimate or his obnoxious wave clearing, he can guarantee great AoE damage in both small skirmishes and big teamfights. In this guide, we will be going over the best picks that counter Malzahar, providing insights and explanations as to why they are considered so.
If you’re fairly new to the game, check out our guide on how counter picks work in League of Legends. You will understand why counter picks are important, and how you need to take advantage of them to increase your win rate. Make sure to also understand how classes counter one another in LoL so you always know what to pick in each game.
Orianna – the lane counter
Orianna is the typical mid lane mage who wants to scale up and hit her items before starting to heavily impact the games. In one way or the other, she accomplishes similar things to Malzahar. That said, she has a considerable advantage over the laning phase since her short trades’ damage is higher and she can easily blow Malzahar’s passive with just one Q. And given the enemy’s low mobility, hitting Shockwaves is just like eating a piece of cake. A reliable and consistent counter against Malzahar.
Image Credit: Riot Games
Aurelion Sol – more range, more damage
Given that Malzahar also has a fairly weak early game, Aurelion Sol can get away with a relatively safe lane, allowing him to also scale up and hit his item spikes. Once he gets the first two items, his damage ramps up heavily. And considering he has more range compared to Malzahar, the dragon will be able to spit fire to burn the enemies down.
Jayce – the AD counter
While Jayce is not a traditional mid lane pick, he does a great job against Malzahar. All he has to do is get rid of the passive and then proceed to fight heavily with the enemy mid laner. The void mage won’t have the damage to fight him until very late in the game, and by the time he scales up, Jayce should have already a substantial gold and experience lead.
Worst Malzahar counters
Lissandra – the worst matchup
Lissandra doesn’t have enough range to abuse Malzahar in the early game which means she won’t be able to snowball heavily. On top of that, Malzahar will be able to neutralize Lissandra’s aggression with his ultimate. It’s a tough matchup for the Ice Witch and I don’t recommend playing her at any time.
Neeko – a bad choice
Playing Neeko into Malzahar is also self-countering. Just like Lissandra, the Chameleon needs to get into the mix to hit her abilities and ultimate. While that is great and can work out at times, Malzahar can just interrupt her mid-way by casting his ultimate onto her. At that point, there won’t be any chance for Neeko to get away. Not to mention that Malzahar will always use his E to clear minion waves and Neeko will receive damage if she uses the passive to disguise herself.
How do you counter Malzahar with the items?
When going up against Malzahar, it’s recommended to stack a mix of both magic resistance and health. Below is a list of items to build you should consider, based on the class of champion you’re playing:
- Bruisers: Force of Nature, Kaenic Rookern
- AD assassins: Maw of Malmortius, Mercurial Scimitarr
- ADC champions: Mercurial Scimitarr, Wit’s End
- AP champions: Banshee’s Veil, Abyssal Mask
- Tanks: Kaenic Rookern, Force of Nature
What Champion counters Malzahar?
The three best counters are Orianna, Aurelion Sol, and Jayce. Other strong counters are Tristana, Kassadin, and Ryze.
Does Katarina counter Malzahar?
While Katarina has kill threat over Malzahar due to his weak early game damage, the latter gets increasingly stronger as the game goes on. Malzahar can easily shut down Katarina if she gets in his range so the matchup comes down to the two players’ ability to position themselves to cast their abilties in the right place, at the right time.
Read also:Best Yasuo counters in LoLBest Illaoi counters in LoL
This article was originally published here
