Malzahar
Hardest matchups for Malzahar in Mid (Emerald, patch 16.20): 
Fizz, 
Annie, 
Heimerdinger. Easiest: 
Ezreal, 
Lucian, 
Vladimir.
Try it in a draftCountersPower curvesIn the tier listWho wins into MalzaharOn the pro tier list
Malzahar on patch 16.22
- Mid49.5%#60 of 91B11,274 games
- Top49.3%#66 of 103B1,206 games
- steady since 16.21
Malzahar’s main role on patch 16.22 is Mid: a 49.5% win rate across 11,274 Emerald games, #60 of 91 Mid champions on the tier list (grade B), picked in 4.5% of games. Malzahar is also played Top: a 49.3% win rate across 1,206 games, #66 of 103. Since patch 16.21, Malzahar Mid has not moved by more than chance explains: 0.2 points across 97,132 games in 8 ranks.
Emerald games from every region, as of Nov 9, 2026. The tables below load current numbers. Patch 16.22 tier list
Solo queue
Open in the tier listPatch 16.20, the current one
| Lane | Grade | Win rate | Games | Picked | Mains |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid85% of its games | B | 49.9%49.9% raw ±0.5 | 37,231 | 5.3%7.7% banned | 51.7%45.5% first time |
| Top10% of its games | C | 48.3%47.9% raw ±1.5 | 4,219 | 0.6%7.7% banned | 50.1%46.1% first time |
| Bot4% of its games | A | 51.1%51.8% raw ±2.5 | 1,551 | 0.2%7.8% banned | 52.3%46.7% first time |
| Support1% of its games | too few games | 47.0%41.4% raw ±4.3 | 515 | 0.1%7.8% banned | 50.2%46.7% first time |
| Jungle0% of its games | too few games | 49.4%42.7% raw ±10.4 | 89 | 0.0%7.7% banned | 51.4%47.2% first time |
Matchups
Every matchupHow to read this
Malzahar’s win rate against each champion picked into it in the lane opposite: its hardest matchups, then its easiest. The small number is the matchup’s own effect on Malzahar, the part not explained by either champion’s strength.
Hardest for Malzahar
Lane leads and team bans
What Malzahar’s team bans
Champions a team bans more often when it has Malzahar than the other team does in the same games (345,696 games). The other team banned before Malzahar was picked, so the gap is the ban spent because Malzahar was coming — a sign players see these as counters. Riot does not say which player cast a ban, so this is the team’s choice.
Builds
Every buildHow to read this
How Malzahar is built in this lane, most common first, with the items those builds finish and how they win.
- AP sustained
51.1%34,848 games - AP burst
51.5%2,424 games - Mana stack
52.2%574 games - Enchanter
51.1%42 games - On-hit
51.1%2 games
Runes and summoner spells
How to read this
How Malzahar does with each summoner-spell pair, keystone and minor rune in this lane, at the rank and region above. These are the win rates of the players who made each choice, not the choice’s own effect: a page is recommended only when a real share of players runs it.
40,131 games · patches 16.20, 16.21 · Sep 10 – Oct 21
Flash + Teleport49.7% · 33,698 games
Deathfire TouchSorcery + Inspiration · 50.9%
Manaflow Band · Transcendence · Gathering Storm · Cash Back · Cosmic InsightShards: Adaptive Force · Adaptive Force · Health
Start: Doran's Ring + Health Potion · 51.3%
Key items: Blackfire Torch → Rylai's Crystal Scepter · 52.4%
Boots: Ionian Boots of Lucidity · 52.1%Every option, with its numbers
Summoner spells
Flash + Ignite49.8%3,559 games · 8.9% pick rate · same players: +0.7 pts vs the usualRare: not recommended- Flash + Teleport49.7%33,698 games · 84% pick rate · the usual choiceRecommended
Flash + Ghost51.0%1,542 games · 3.8% pick rate · same players: −0.0 pts vs the usualRare: not recommended
Keystones
Summon Aery + Inspiration49.0%3,128 games · 7.8% pick rate · same players: +2.7 pts vs the usualRare: not recommended
Arcane Comet + Inspiration48.8%3,460 games · 8.6% pick rate · same players: +0.9 pts vs the usualRare: not recommended- Deathfire Touch + Inspiration50.9%21,812 games · 54% pick rate · the usual choiceRecommended
Summon Aery + Precision46.9%3,075 games · 7.7% pick rate · same players: −1.5 pts vs the usualRare: not recommended
Minor runes with Deathfire Touch
- Manaflow Band50.4%96% take it
Axiom Arcanist49.7%3.7% take it
- Transcendence50.5%93% take it
Celerity48.3%4.3% take it
Absolute Focus49.1%3.0% take it
- Gathering Storm51.0%21% take it
Scorch50.2%78% take it
- Cosmic Insight50.8%94% take it
- Cash Back51.0%11% take it
Magical Footwear50.8%85% take it
Triple Tonic51.4%4.3% take it
Biscuit Delivery53.0%3.6% take it
- Adaptive Force49.8%91% take it
- Attack Speed49.0%5.3% take it
- Ability Haste49.6%3.6% take it
- Adaptive Force49.6%92% take it
- Move Speed51.6%7.6% take it
- Health50.2%13% take it
- Health Scaling49.8%86% take it
These numbers describe, they do not prove. Each rate is Malzahar’s record when its player chose that option, pulled toward Malzahar’s own rate by 100 games of prior so a small sample cannot look like a discovery. An uncommon page often wins more because experts run it, and they would win on any page, so only a choice taken in at least 10% of games can be recommended, and spells and keystones are ranked by how the SAME players do with them against the usual choice, not by the raw rate; rarer ones are listed with their numbers and labeled. The build line (opening buy, the two key items in the order they are finished, boots or the support upgrade) is advice in the same sense: how Malzahar does when built that way.
The learning curve
Champion pool
On a first game Malzahar wins 47.7%; in the hands of players with the most mastery on it, 52.9%. That gap ranks it 84 of 173 for how much practice pays. It crosses 50% at about 28K mastery points.
Pro play
On the pro tier list
Malzahar in the major leagues and international events this season, across 3,434 games: its record, how often it is picked or banned, whether it is taken blind or saved as a counter, its lane at 15 minutes, and the best pro on it.
| Lane | Win rate | Priority | Blind / counter | Lane @15 | Best pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid | 49.4%2W 6L | 0%0% in any lane | 75% counter | −1,359 gold | — |
How much knowing Malzahar pays
Players on their Mastery band win 5.2 points more on Malzahar than first-timers do: #84 of 173 champions for how much mastery pays.
At 300k+ mastery points, Malzahar players win 52.9%: #50 of 173 champions for where mastery ends up. The fitted curve levels off at about 53.3%, and is half-way up by ~40K points.
MalzaharDots are the six mastery bands, placed at their mastery points. The line is the best-fitting curve that rises and levels off.
This is not a promise about your next game. Players do not reach a mastery band in a random order, and a champion someone loses on tends to get dropped before it reaches the high bands — so the right-hand side of every curve is partly survivors, not only practice.