Malzahar

Detailed Tips

1. 01

   Level 1 E Start - Try to cheese PTA proc or Conq with E1 > 3 auto's > disengage with E2.

2. 02

   Play For Level 2/3 Kill Angle - Once you chunk out Malzahar you're most likely able to kill him with your W, Dash or Flash up. Look to shove the wave around your kill timer, so you're able to make Malzahar lose a lot more.

3. 03

   Play Around Malzahar Passive - Playing around Malzahar passive is the core element within this match up, as playing around it correctly will allow you to easily one shot him as much as you want. Malzahar passive is around 30 to 12 seconds depending on his level, overall being so much higher within the early stages of the game. Malzahar’s shield provides him the ability to block all CC related ability, while providing himself with 90% damage reduction, lasting up to 0.25 seconds as soon as he’s in combat with an enemy. When playing around Malzahar shield, we can use our E1 to dash on top of him to help us remove his shield. Once dashing onto Malzahar, we must hold our damage until the shield wears off, allowing us to then use our remaining abilities to help hard commit towards an all in, providing malzahar with 0 self peel to survive against our damage. Items such as Tiamat can also help break Malzahar’s passive, providing you another way to remove his passive.

4. 04

   Avoid Malzahar’s E Damage - Malzahar’s E allows him to apply a DoT, allowing him to spread it to each individual target as long as it kills. Malzahar will use this to help him kill minions within the wave, using it to also help him play from range. Malzahar’s E early won’t provide him with the damage and clear potential that he has later on in the game, allowing you to punish him if he walks up close to the minion wave. If Malzahar tries to apply his E, try to stand away from any low HP minions to avoid spreading it to you. When looking for trading opportunities, try to force your fights as soon as Malzahar comes close to E the minion wave.

5. 05

   Play Wave On Your Side - Playing the wave on your side essentially means playing wave states on your side of the map, via abusing wave manipulation tactics or freezing on your side of the map. Simply use this to help you combo on your laner, taking away any space from them being able to trade you back (This also helps prevent the enemy running you down with their extended or sustained movement speed abilities). You can also use this wave state to run down your opponent with your abilities up, helping you obtain kills a lot easier vs stalemate or ranged match ups. Look to do this when your opponents are below 50% HP, or potentially make a mistake to provide you an all in opportunity to run them down.

6. 06

   Abuse Renekton's Early Game - In this match up Renekton is essentially able to do whatever he simply wants. With that said, really hone into your strong early to mid game strengths to help you dominate and win the game. Play to deny your enemy of gold and xp, play to proxy and generally lead any top side skirmishes with your insane lane advantage.

7. 07

   Respect Malzahar R - Malzahar R allows him to suppress his targets in place, removing the ability to move or use any abilities. Malzahar will mainly use his R to suppress targets that are low HP, targets trying to force fights on to him, or using his R around his teammates. Renekton’s high base HP and purchasable MR stats, allowing him to easily tank his R and remove any worries of Malzahar solo killing him. The only worry we have is when he uses it on us within a teamfight. With that said, try to avoid positions where Malzhar can catch you with his team and try to build items like Kaenic or Jak’Sho to help you tank against his incoming damage. Do note, that if you’re 1v1 against Malzahar, you can use W buffering to help cancel his R cast. You can do this by spam clicking on Malzahar just before he’s about to use R, which typically is hard to tell with his instant animation.

8. 08

   Build Eclipse, Stridebreaker or Profane - Go Eclipse for consistent power through mid game and damage mitigation with the shield. / Go Stridebreaker to cripple Malzahar’s mobility and provide teammates with additional utility. / Go Profane for full damage focused playstyles.

9. 09

   Mid Game + Teamfighting Tips - Within the mid to late game, Malzahar’s role is solely focused on locking down any potential threats to him and his team, using his R to completely take his target out of the fight. Malzhar will play to zone off his enemies, using his silence to deny enemies abilities, or use his E to help burn his targets or apply a slow from items such as Rylai’s. As Renekton, typically before any major fights, our objective should be trying to catch Malazhar after he shoves a wave within the side lane. If we are able to take away Malzahar from any fights via crashing waves or killing him, Malzahar’s lack of presence will allow us to easily win fights. Within teamfights, our role is essentially to disrupt the enemy back line by trying to jump onto any carries, or allow ourselves to bait out abilities for our team. Malzahar will typically look to R Renekton if he’s fed, providing his team the set up to help shut him down. Dealing with Malzahar R is usually pretty difficult, hence why I recommend building defensive items after your early snowball phase, as you’re able to front line effectively while removing Malzahar or his team's damage towards you. If Malzahar holds R for any other of your teammates, try to interrupt his cast by using your stun on him, allowing you to free your teammate from his R and furthermore removing his main teamfighting power.