ADC in 2017? LOL!

February 1, 2017 Dr. Bob

After the longest time of ups and downs for ranked climbing, from Top to Mid with the occasional Jungle thrown in, I decided to go back to my comfort and leisure role of Support. There has always been a stigma around climbing in ranked as Support and it hasn’t changed all that much. How could one possibly carry from the role with the lowest gold income, especially being stuck in a lane with an ADC who literally has a huge target on his head the entire match from every assassin and bruiser, Katarina and Riven players alike. I have your get out of elo hell free card with one of the most prominent newly introduced to the role supports. Malzahar. High damage poke mages like Brand, Zyra, and even Vel’Koz have found a home in the bot lane but the purple floating man of the void made his way into most of our hearts recently.

Top Laner is clinically blind in one eye and keeps feeding Riven? Play Malzahar

Mid Laner is watching anime mid game? Play Malzahar

Jungle decided to AFK farm and eat his McNuggets Mommy just brought him? Play Malzahar

ADC wants to try playing the game with his feet? Play Malzahar

So…Why does Malzahar support work? To start Spelltheif’s Edge 3 hit proc is pulled off effortlessly with his Space Aids (E). EASY MONEY BABY! His Space Aids with his Voidling (E/W) Combo can easily chunk a support or ADC down to under half health at level 2. His Silence form his Q is perfect for small skirmishes especially if your jungler ever ganks, drop the Q on the enemy bot lane and make sure they can’t flash away. After level 6 however, your jungler should always be coming bot because the lockdown from his ultimate is a guaranteed kill every time.

My ideal build is to get Spellthief’s and a refillable potion to start. More than half of the time I can pull off some early kills with a half decent ADC and work my way into a Dark Seal and Corrupting Potion, getting Control Wards, finishing the Sightstone and getting a Red Trinket. After that get a Liandry’s Torment and Rylai’s Crystal Scepter and you will not only be 1 v 1ing the enemy ADC, but you can also shred tanks. I tend to get Ionian Boots of Lucidity for the Cooldown Reduction because you want to have your ultimate up for picks or to lock down whoever tries to get to your carries in team fights. After Rylais and Liandrys, I usually work into a Zhonya’s Hourglass and end to build more AP following that. Don;t be surprised if you get more kills than your laners and end up doing the most damage at the end of the game. Some of the most underrated parts of his kit are how well he can leash for the jungler at the start of the game. Start with W, drop the voidlings and they will tan the camp and do a shit ton of damage leaving the jungler very healthy, if not still full health after the first camp. He is also capable of taking objectives like dragons and baron very quickly with all of his damage over time abilities. The ability maxing is up in the air when it comes to many people. I tend to Start W, rush level 2 with the ADC, take E and immediately drop my E/W combo on an enemy laner dropping them under half hp. I usually Max E, Q, then W and taking R whenever available. I also tend to run Ignite/Flash with Thunderlord’s Decree most often, for the extra burst. Some argue taking Deathfire Touch because it scale better, but the idea is to completely destroy the early and mid game so if you haven’t won by minute 30, your team is extremely ahead for the late game.

When should you play Malzahar Support? Honestly, if you can dodge skill shots and get some cheaky cheese plays in bushes done, you can play him against anyone. However, he is much better against low poke, low sustain supports, and mid range ADCs. So pretty much pick him against any support that isn’t Soraka, Nami or Sona. He shreds tanky melee supports like Braum, Leona, and Thresh. The only real time not to play him is if he is banned or they have a ton of poke damage from either Caitlyn or a Brand/Zyra type of support. I have personally been abusing Malzahar Support with over a 60% Win Rate with him in Silver. So I say give him a shot if you are looking to carry from the Support Role.