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By GamGem ResearchLast updated 18 Oct 2026

Malzahar Counters, Build and Runes — Mid Lane · Patch 26.20

the Prophet of the Void

Patch 26.20 · Stats from the 26.18 Master+ sample (1,138 games).

Malzahar, the Prophet of the Void, ignores crowd control and takes far less damage under Void Shift until he is hit, and Nether Grasp suppresses one champion. Deathfire Touch was his keystone in most counted Master+ games, and Blackfire Torch is the first item of the two paths that sold and won the most. Twisted Fate and Ahri gave him the most trouble, on small samples. Syndra and LeBlanc were about even.

Mage

Patch 26.18 · Mid · Ranked Solo/Duo · Master+ · EUW · KR · NA · 1,138 games · Preview sample

Role snapshot (Mid)

CTier
Win Rate
48.2%
Pick Rate
1.7%
Ban Rate
0.6%

1,138

Games

Moderate

Confidence

Most common path

214 games

48.1%Win Rate

Start
FlashTeleport

Highest win rate path

197 games

56.3%Win Rate

Start
FlashTeleport

Other first item

23 games

69.6%Win Rate

Start
FlashGhost

Runes

Patch 26.18

This exact page: taken in 17.2% of games·44.4% win rate over 196 games.

Primary

Sorcery

Deathfire Touch

Damaging a champion with an ability burns them over time.

Manaflow Band

Hitting an enemy champion with an ability permanently increases your maximum mana by 25, up to 250 mana. After reaching 250 bonus mana, restore 1% of your missing mana every 5 seconds.

Transcendence

Gain bonuses upon reaching the following levels:Level 5: +5 Ability Haste Level 8: +5 Ability Haste Level 11: On Champion takedown, reduce the remaining cooldown of basic abilities by 20%.

Scorch

Your first damaging ability hit every 10s burns champions.

Secondary

Inspiration

Magical Footwear

You get free boots at 12 min but you cannot buy boots before then. Each takedown you get makes your boots come 45s sooner.

Cosmic Insight

+18 Summoner Spell Haste+10 Item Haste

Shards

  • Adaptive Force
  • Adaptive Force
  • Health Scaling

Other keystones taken

  • Summon Aery9.2% taken · 47.6% win105 games
  • Arcane Comet7.7% taken · 47.7% win88 games
  • Dark Harvest0.6% taken · 57.1% win7 games

Tree pairs

  • Sorcery + Inspiration69.4% taken · 47.8% win790 games
  • Sorcery + Precision21.1% taken · 46.3% win240 games
  • Sorcery + Domination5.4% taken · 50.8% win61 games

Skill Order

Which ability to max first, and the level each point goes in — Malzahar's most common path.

Q

Call of the Void

Malzahar opens up two portals to the Void.

Cooldown 6s · 60/65/70/75/80 Mana
W

Void Swarm

Malzahar summons Voidlings to attack nearby enemies.

Cooldown 8s · 40/45/50/55/60 Mana
E

Malefic Visions

Malzahar infects his target's mind with cruel visions of their demise, dealing damage over time.

Cooldown 11/10/9/8/7s · 60/70/80/90/100 Mana
R

Nether Grasp

Malzahar channels the essence of the Void to suppress an enemy champion over a zone of damaging negative energy.

Cooldown 140/110/80s · 100 Mana

Max Order

EQW

Max E first, then Q, then W. Take R whenever available (6 / 11 / 16).

Level-up Order

  • Q
  • W
  • E
  • R
Ability123456789101112131415161718
QCall of the VoidQQQQQ
WVoid SwarmWWWWW
EMalefic VisionsEEEEE
RNether GraspRRR

Matchup map (Mid)

How Malzahar performs against enemy mid laners

Levels 1 – 18 · Master+40%60%Malzahar's win rate
≥ 60%Very favorable
55 – 60%Favorable
50 – 55%Even
45 – 50%Unfavorable
40 – 45%Hard
< 40%Very hard

Conditional build matrix

Recommended items by enemy team composition

Master+ · Patch 26.18
Mythic / CoreFirst major item
Core 2Second item
Core 3Third item
BootsBoot slot
SituationalPick as needed

Scaling — minute 10–30

MalzaharMid average

Gold

102030

Damage to champions

102030

CS

102030

Counter plan — how to beat Malzahar

  • Dodge the primary — its rotation is one skillshot; sidestep it and the rest is chip

  • Punish the cooldown — Malzahar is exposed while its rotation is down

  • Ward the flank — vision is what turns its best opening into a worse one

  • Respect the spike — Riot rates the kit 6/10, so a practised player gets more out of it than the average

  • Trade on your terms — take the fight where its damage lands on nobody

Ability details

  • P

    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.

    Passive — never cast

  • Q

    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.

    Cost 60/65/70/75/80 ManaCooldown 6sRange 900

  • W

    Void Swarm

    Malzahar summons Voidlings to attack nearby enemies.

    Cost 40/45/50/55/60 ManaCooldown 8sRange 150

  • E

    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.

    Cost 60/70/80/90/100 ManaCooldown 11/10/9/8/7sRange 650

  • R

    Nether Grasp

    Malzahar channels the essence of the Void to suppress an enemy champion over a zone of damaging negative energy.

    Cost 100 ManaCooldown 140/110/80sRange 700

Malzahar balance history

Riot's notes from patch 25.S1.1 to 26.20 change Malzahar in 1 patch. The latest is patch 25.S1.2, published 2025-01-22.

  1. Patch 25.S1.22025-01-22

    WVoid Swarm

    • Voidling damage now updates when Malzahar levels up
    • Updated tooltip to show total Voidling attack damage
    Why, in Riot's words

    Malzahar has under-the-hood updates to his W and R in this patch in order to open up mode-specific balancing for those abilities. As a result of these ability updates, already-spawned Voidlings now update their damage when Malzahar levels up and tooltip shows their actual damage instead of only part of the calculation.

Malzahar skins (14)

Riot's data lists 14 looks for Malzahar with their own art, the base skin included and 44 chroma variants.

ARAM performance

EstimateA
Win Rate
50.8%
▲ 1.4%
Pick Rate
9.0%
▼ 2.4%
Ban Rate
5.2%
▼ 2.3%
Damage dealt
99.9%
Damage taken
106.5%
Healing
97.3%
Shielding
93.9%
Ability Haste
+9

Best ARAM build

Patch timeline

Riot’s notes

This champion’s win rate on each patch the preview sample spans, over its own games there. What actually changed each patch is in Riot’s own notes.

  1. 26.1949.2% over 360 games · small sample+0.6
  2. 26.1845.8% over 616 games · small sample-1.0
  3. 26.1755.3% over 159 games · small sample—

Malzahar's base stats against all 173 champions

  • Malzahar's base armor of 18 is the lowest of 173 champions on patch 26.20 (shared with 3 others).
StatMalzaharRankMedian
Base health580=141st620
Health per level101=113th104
Base armor18=170th30
Armor per level4.7=42nd4.6
Base magic resist30=110th32
Magic resist per level1.3=93rd1.55
Base attack damage55=120th59
Base attack speed0.625=117th0.656
Attack speed per level1.5%=150th2.5%
Move speed335=74th335
Attack range500=64th175

Malzahar at level 1 and level 18

  • Malzahar reaches 2297 health at level 18 — 580 at level 1 plus 17 × 101, the 40th-lowest of 173 champions on patch 26.20.
  • Malzahar reaches 851 mana at level 18 — 375 at level 1 plus 17 × 28, the 17th-lowest of 145 mana users on patch 26.20.
  • Malzahar reaches 97.9 armor at level 18 — 18 at level 1 plus 17 × 4.7, the 31st-lowest of 173 champions on patch 26.20, shared with 2.
  • Malzahar reaches 52.1 magic resist at level 18 — 30 at level 1 plus 17 × 1.3, the 34th-lowest of 173 champions on patch 26.20, shared with 43.
StatLevel 1Per levelLevel 18Rank at 18
Health580+1012297134th of 173
Mana375+28851129th of 145
Armor18+4.797.9=141st of 173
Magic resist30+1.352.1=97th of 173

Riot Data Dragon 16.20.1. Growth curve: League of Legends Wiki — Champion statistic.

Riot's tips for Malzahar

Playing Malzahar

  • Wait to cast Void Swarm until there are nearby enemies for the Voidling to attack or kill.
  • Use Call of the Void and Nether Grasp to renew the duration of Malefic Visions on enemies.
  • Avoiding damage in lane maximizes the uptime on Void Shift, increasing Malzahar's safety dramatically.

Playing against Malzahar

  • 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.

Quick answers about Malzahar

How does Malzahar do against Twisted Fate?
Malzahar won 44.2% of 43 counted Master+ games against Twisted Fate. Twisted Fate is one of the opponents that beat Malzahar. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Malzahar do against Ahri?
Malzahar won 46.2% of 39 counted Master+ games against Ahri. Ahri is one of the opponents that beat Malzahar. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Malzahar do against Syndra?
Malzahar won 47.2% of 53 counted Master+ games against Syndra. It is close to even. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Malzahar do against LeBlanc?
Malzahar won 50.0% of 52 counted Master+ games against LeBlanc. It is close to even. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
What class is Malzahar?
Riot classes Malzahar as Mage. This site files the champion under Mid.
How hard is Malzahar to play?
Riot rates Malzahar's difficulty 6 out of 10.
What resource does Malzahar use?
Malzahar's abilities spend Mana.
What is Malzahar's attack range?
500 units — the 64th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20 (shared with 8 others).
What are Malzahar's abilities?
Passive — Void Shift, Q — Call of the Void, W — Void Swarm, E — Malefic Visions and R — Nether Grasp.
How many skins does Malzahar have?
Riot's data lists 14 skins with their own art, the base look included, plus 44 chroma variants.
How much health does Malzahar have at level 18?
2297 — 580 at level 1 plus 17 × 101 per level, Riot's own values, before items and runes.
What is Malzahar's ultimate cooldown?
Nether Grasp (R): 140/110/80 seconds by rank, before ability haste, in Riot's Data Dragon 16.20.1.
When did Riot last change Malzahar?
Patch 25.S1.2, published 22 January 2025 — the latest of 1 patch that change Malzahar in Riot's notes from 25.S1.1 to 26.20.

Malzahar at a glance

Malzahar, the Prophet of the Void, is a Mage champion in League of Legends. Riot rates the kit 6/10 for difficulty, 2/10 for attack, 2/10 for defense and 9/10 for magic. Malzahar spends Mana and has 14 skins with their own art. Malzahar's base armor of 18 is the lowest of 173 champions on patch 26.20 (shared with 3 others).

Attack2/10
Defense2/10
Magic9/10
Difficulty6/10

Malzahar's story

A zealous seer dedicated to the unification of all life, Malzahar truly believes the newly emergent Void to be the path to Runeterra's salvation. In the desert wastes of Shurima, he followed the voices that whispered in his mind, all the way to ancient Icathia. Amidst the ruins of that land, he gazed into the dark heart of the Void itself, and was gifted new power and purpose. Malzahar now sees himself as a shepherd, empowered to bring others into the fold… or to release the voidling creatures that dwell beneath.
— Riot Games, Data Dragon 16.20.1. League of Legends Universe

Share cheat sheet

Methodology

Data window
Preview sample — a one-time snapshot of 65,406 ranked games (Master+, EUW/KR/NA, patch 26.18), counted by GamGem while our Riot production key is under review. Figures will update daily once it is approved. Counted 26–27 Sept 2026; patches 26.18 (35,477) · 26.19 (18,580) · 26.17 (11,048) · 26.16 (293) · 26.15 (8); by server EUW 22,382 · KR 21,922 · NA 21,065 · EUNE 20 · TR 17. 642 games without a result — remakes ended by vote in their first minutes, and games recorded with no winner — were not counted.
Rank aggregation
Master, Grandmaster and Challenger, pooled — the three ladders the count read its players from. Splitting further leaves samples too small to separate a real effect from noise.
Role assignment
A champion is filed under every lane that holds at least a tenth of its counted games — the position the match itself reports, not the champion’s class. Its headline win rate is across all of them; each lane’s own win rate and games are counted too, and a lane’s tier list ranks by them.
Counters
The two champions in the same position on opposite teams, over that pairing’s own counted games — ranked on the edge pulled toward zero by its sample size, printed raw.
Minimum sample
None — no figure is hidden for being thin. Every rate prints its games, and the confidence band is its 95% margin: Very High within ±1.5 points, High ±2.5, Moderate ±3.1 (1,000 games), Low wider.
Why a build is not a cause
An item is counted when the match ENDS with it, so late items show long games and an item bought when already ahead shows games that were being won. Correlation is what a rate can show; it is not evidence that buying the item caused the win.
Where the numbers come from
Names, classes, abilities, items and runes are Riot Data Dragon. Win, pick and ban rates, builds, keystones, spells and matchups are counted by GamGem from Riot's ranked match records. An estimate, not a count: this panel is not in the preview sample, and is labelled so.

Malzahar on video

Published by League of Legends on YouTube, 31 May 2010.

16 years old. League of Legends has been patched since, so watch it for how the kit plays, not for numbers — the rest of this page is written for the current patch.

It plays in YouTube’s own player once you press play. Nothing is downloaded or re-hosted here, and nothing loads from YouTube until then.