Does Malzahar climb? An honest read
Whether Malzahar is a good climbing pick, judged on what the kit demands and what it hands you for free.
What the kit asks of you
Riot rates Malzahar at 6 out of 3 for difficulty. Blunt, but it tracks something real: how much of the champion's power sits behind execution rather than being handed to you.
500 attack range means Malzahar wins by not being where the fight is. Spacing is the whole skill, not a detail of it.
The kit you are being asked to execute
Void Shift
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.
Call of the Void
Malzahar opens up two portals to the Void. After a short delay, they fire projectiles that deal Magic Damage and silence enemy champions.
Void Swarm
Malzahar summons Voidlings to attack nearby enemies.
Malefic Visions
Malzahar infects his target's mind with cruel visions of their demise, dealing damage over time. Using Malzahar's other spells on the target will refresh the visions. If the target dies while afflicted by the visions, they pass on to a nearby enemy unit and Malzahar gains Mana. Malzahar's Voidlings are attracted to affected units.
Nether Grasp
Malzahar channels the essence of the Void to suppress an enemy champion over a zone of damaging negative energy.
The case for
A mage that can land a cooldown for a burst of damage, then be safe and largely useless until it returns scales with individual skill rather than coordination — and coordination is exactly what you cannot rely on in the lower ranks.
The case against
The counter-argument is holding the key cooldown so carefully it never gets cast — a habit the lower ranks reward right up until they suddenly do not, which makes it hard to unlearn later.
Malzahar is mana-gated, which is the real limit on how often you can contest a wave early.
Where the power actually is
| Stat | Level 1 | Level 18 |
|---|---|---|
| Health | 580 | 2297 |
| Attack damage | 55 | 55 |
| Armour | 18 | 97.9 |
| Magic resist | 30 | 52.1 |
Movement speed 335 and attack range 500 do not grow with levels — they are the two numbers that stay true all game.
Riot's own notes on playing against Malzahar
Worth reading even when you are the one playing Malzahar: it is the list of what your opponent is being told to do to you.
- When Malzahar hits a spell on enemies affected by Malefic Visions, the Visions are refreshed.
- Avoid minion waves that have been affected by Malefic Visions. You never know when they may die and pass the Visions onto you.
- Malzahar is especially dangerous when he has built up his Void Swarm.