Mordekaiser/Strategy

Skill usage

 * When health falls below the cost necessary to use a skill, his health will drain to 1 HP. Any subsequent spell casts will bring him down to 1 HP, meaning that he cannot kill himself through his own abilities.
 * It is often a good idea to farm conservatively early game, as your shield is not nearly as effective as it is late game.
 * best defense is maintaining his shield by using his abilities. However, keep in mind that spamming skills will result in low health without enough health regeneration/spell vamp.
 * is a great late game ability allowing you to survive during team fights longer than most other champions, as long as you use your abilities constantly.
 * The damage from a level 2 is a bit greater than the damage from  but  still gives more armor than level 5  . This makes it very effective at farming minions, and during fights. The bonus armor that it gives can also help tanking turrets. You can use it on an ally while staying in the back of the fight at low health to build up your shield and get assists.
 * Leveling up first gives you the ability to poke at a range, but mind its health cost, as it can quickly bring you down below a comfortable amount.
 * is usually the best ability to gain shield health, due to its consistent AoE damage.
 * If you use on their attack damage carry and take down the champion quickly, the ghost's auto attacks will fill your shield up and help you stay alive longer.
 * The combination of and  is deadly to almost any wounded enemy.
 * Like most other secondary units, the soul you've stolen with can be controlled using Alt + Right Click. However, unlike most secondary units, your ghost acts as an allied champion, and will be affected by abilities that can only target champions, such as, , and.
 * can also be used to block, the primary damage/effect of , or.
 * Avoid casting on champion clones or champions with death-preventing abilities (ex. ).
 * Try and wait until your target is fairly low health before casting, as most people will run when they see they have the debuff on them.
 * If you are using, keep in mind that its range is much shorter than , and so you should try to use it first.
 * Additionally, if you have the mastery, using first gives a bonus 5 ability power, causing  to do more damage.
 * Mordekaiser's ghost will attract tower aggro first, but if it attacks a champion while you are in range, you will become the new target. If you cast on the ghost and it hurts an enemy champion, you will draw aggro instead of the ghost.
 * is very capable of taking a solo lane against 2 enemy champions, reaching a higher level than both of them while effectively harassing and farming at the same time. If you harass them enough, you can potentially get a double kill with your ultimate.
 * Take advantage of the fact that many people underestimate damage once he gets his ultimate, when combed with  and his other abilities he can kill enemies who feel safe if he can get in range of them.

Build usage

 * Mordekaiser is best built as an off-tank mage as he greatly benefits from both survivability due to his melee range and shield and ability power because of his relatively high AP scalings.
 * Getting spell vamp from or  is very important for, since it refunds the health cost of your abilities and more, allowing him to recover health.
 * Also, greatly increases the damage dealt on, as it scales off of ability power and Bonus attack damage. In addition, the active is a strong CC, as Mordekaiser has no natural CC.
 * Do not be afraid to build some health items. Armor and magic resistance make your shield more effective, but without the addition a health item or two, remains rather fragile. Common items include  (to add needed crowd control to his abilities while also increasing his magic damage) and  (which stacks remarkably well with, in addition to armor it provides).
 * Focusing too much health is unwise if enemy carries go for.
 * Getting runes, and  allows you to harass better, get more kills early in the game, and even late game against those champions who do not have any magic resist above 30. The full power of your ultimate can be extremely devastating to squishies.
 * Building magic penetration makes your abilities hit much harder, giving you even more shield and letting you stay in the fight for longer without sacrificing damage. It is often more effective than stacking health in most situations.
 * Magic penetration usually is more effective on than flat ability power, as his ability power ratios on his abilities are relatively low.
 * As gives you health, magic penetration, and a bit of ability power, it is a viable item for.
 * has no crowd control, making him very vulnerable to kiting. Buying a or  helps him greatly.
 * Getting a, combined with , can lead to high area of effect damage.
 * Despite having no mana, buying a or  on  can deal amazing damage with.
 * The active from paired with  makes obtaining a ghost easier, especially on targets with low magic resist. Remember to use  active first as it scales off target current health.
 * A lot of magical damage comes from the base damage on his spells. Consider prioritizing magic penetration from items like  and  or cooldown reduction over pure ability power.
 * can grant a lot of sustainability through its passive and its magic resistance will make you much more durable.
 * A has a great synergy with  and with spell vamp, giving him more health and sustainability.

Countering

 * Move away from the minion wave when facing, as his shield generation from makes him a formidable opponent.
 * Be wary of dueling him, as his deals more damage against lone targets.
 * Stack magic resistance to mitigate all of damage.
 * It is also advised not to stack health when facing as it increases the damage of.
 * Take note that is one of the few champions who doesn't have any crowd control.
 * The pet that gets from  is considered a champion. It can not be affected by abilities that target only minions. That also means all abilities that target only champions will work on the pet as well.
 * While does not remove the  debuff, a  will. You can use the active part of the item to remove the debuff and denying  his pet and kill.
 * pet benefits from the items the respective champion buys. Therefore the respective champion should not buy anything before the pet dies.
 * If buys items like,  or  he is a lot more dependent on getting into melee range. Keeping up range between  and yourself will help a lot.
 * If builds mostly heavy damage items such as, , or  he can easily be focused down. If he goes for purely defensive items such as , , and  his damage will remain rather low, making it easy to ignore him with some Magic resistance.
 * Be very careful when hits level 6, as  combines with his other abilities deals massive damage, and the health regeration from  will give him a heavy advantage in prolonged fights.
 * While low level you can counter 's  with health potion.
 * Commit to taking Mordekaiser down. can easily drain away, but will block quick pokes. Crowd control effects such as a silence or stun will also prevent him from growing his shield back for a short time.