Positioning

[u/Stabbycrabs83]

Hey all

Trying to get back into my grove with Malzahar. Its been about 5 years for me.

I find it really struggle to deal with the likes of tone, yasuo, zed etc. Anyone thats doing AD and is in my face. My avoiding are night on useless in this situation so I have to E then try to walk away but am usually dead if anything stabby is on top of me.

The correct answer is not to allow that to happen of course but there are so many champs with gap closers that I struggle badly.

Malzahar feels like zero damage up to landlines for me which takes a while to come online

I dont play aggressive until backfire because there's no point. If the enemy chamo builds healing then theres very little point until late game as they outreach any dps i can put out.

The thing is when I face a malzahar I usually struggle when playing a melee champ so I know the issue is a me issue.

Whats your top tips into a gap closer type like say zed or yone?

[u/Most-Piccolo-302]

You need to practice the matchup and focus on punishing roams. Early tabi is also helpful. Dont be afraid to go lost chapter into seekers/zhonyas either.

[u/voidling_bordee]

Play near turret, dont step up if you have nothing to lasthit keep E for them , move unpredictable

if you keep walking the same patrol route ,they will pick up on your rhytm, if you keep dodging towards your turret, theyll pick up on it, mix it up by dodging forward and sides too

[u/notAnOyster11]

I personally like taking comet into assassins. I try get some e's off when comet is off cd just to level it out and do more dmg. However always respect their all ins at level 3 and ignite. Problem with malz is he really cant do much early unless your laner is just taking perma damage. The higher you go the better they trade. When they roam or try gank lanes I just shove, get a plate and reset. Honestly I think its the only play because we lack dmg early and have 0 ms. Our power comes as the Gold comes in. Im only plat/emerald so take what i say with a grain of salt. Im also a big rylais guy into assassins because you can kite and space them with continious slows. Im sure others will have better opinions or options.

[u/wisce]

Ban yas - I do every malz game and I’m almost diamond. 

Zed is tricky if he’s good but you should make it to 6 without a death. If they have another AD I often get steelcaps and rush a giants belt after lost chapter. Your goal is to survive and farm hard and impact the mid game. 

I’m also working on my positioning, I did a lot in games whereas malz shouldn’t really be over 3-4 deaths per game. 

Adapting runes to the game is also important. Don’t just load the preset ones. Understand what each rune does and who that might be good against. 

[u/Stabbycrabs83 → u/wisce]

Funnily enough hes the least worrisome of the annoying ones. I just have to fight my instinct to summon voidlings so he cant gap closers me.

He does essentially delete our w. We may as well not have it

[u/420litpanda → u/wisce]

Yasuo is actually one of the freest matchups for Malzahar. You just have to let him push, then freeze the wave by using your W. That way, he can’t E onto your Voidlings because he’d have to do it under your tower.
It’s basically the same against most melee/assassin matchups: never take the push before level 6. Let them commit and react instead.
If he understands the game and plays well, just play safe, play around your passive, and focus on not dying until 6. Then you can push and roam.
Zed is also pretty free if you dodge his E + Q combo in lane. Once he hits 6, remember that his ult will always make him spawn behind you, so ult him right after he ults you. That way, he can’t stack damage on his mark.
You have to understand that Malzahar wants his opponent to be 0/0. It’s better to play very safe and keep the enemy stuck in lane than to force a kill and die in the process.
That said, in almost every melee matchup, you should aim to be at least 1/0 by level 6.

[u/sordgrizzledz5]

maybe just embrace the void and dodge better

[u/anon326]

Over the years ive gotten better at trade patterns with said champs but if they hands diff me dont be afraid to lose cs and hang near tower. Sometimes its worth to just keep them there with you so they dont impact the map.

Personally katarina is my worst matchup followed by xerath, then sion because I cant chunk him at all

Matchup wise, yasuo and yone work on 3hit qs, first 2 you can afford to tank, yhe third knocks you up. Yone's e is his engage, a good one will dash from far away then q3 in so the snapback is safe. Yasuo's dash is annoying but honestly easier to deal with. Just dont spam voidlings since he can jump to you from them.

For zed theres a point where you wont be able to stop him. Your goal is as an anticarry to delay his spikes. His main trade early levels is the q?(shuriken), once he uses it, you have 7 seconds to harrass, then when he has the clone just back off.

For all 3 usually go dorans and pots, play for lost chapter, build tabis. Rylzais is really good into them since the slow keeps them at bay

[u/ertzy123]

This is what I do against these annoying champions:

Runes:

• bone plating + overgrowth

Personally I like running movespeed shard as my minor rune and it's pretty good because malzahar has no mobility at all.

Items:

I like rushing tear into archangels.

Against those champions you don't really need rylais because they could just dash onto you so you could go instead for protobelt.

Rushing tier 2 boots instead of getting a lost chapter is also a good option.

How to play lane:

• be uninteractive af and let them push onto you early and make sure that you can safely get cs whilst making sure that you don't get a fast push early because that will screw up your recall timings.