Malphite has one of the simplest lane games in the top lane: farm safely, survive on Granite Shield passive regeneration, stack armor, and become an immovable wall by mid-game. His strength is entirely in his R engage timing.
Abilities
Skills Overview
P
Granite Shield
Passive
Malphite is shielded by a layer of rock which absorbs damage up to 10% of his maximum Health. If Malphite has not been hit for a few seconds, this effect recharges.
Q
Seismic Shard
Poke + Slow
Malphite sends a shard of the earth through the ground at his foe, dealing damage upon impact and stealing Move Speed for 3 seconds.
CD: 8 · Cost: 70/75/80/85/90
Seismic Shard steals move speed from the target — use it defensively to slow enemies chasing you, or offensively to close the gap before an R engage. Poke with it through minions in lane for free chip damage.
W
Thunderclap
Empowered Auto
Malphite attacks with such force that it creates a sonic boom. For the next few seconds, his attacks create aftershocks in front of him.
CD: 10/9.5/9/8.5/8 · Cost: 30/35/40/45/50
Thunderclap's AoE splash rewards you for fighting near minion waves. Each armor point amplifies your W damage, so rush armor items to make trades hurt more than they look.
E
Ground Slam
AoE Attack Speed Shred
Malphite slams the ground, sending out a shockwave that deals magic damage based on his Armor and reduces the Attack Speed of enemies for a short duration.
CD: 7 · Cost: 50/55/60/65/70
Ground Slam reduces nearby enemies' attack speed significantly. Use it in every trade to neuter AD champions — landing E turns most auto-attack-based matchups into one-sided brawls.
R
Unstoppable Force
Unstoppable Dash + AoE Knockup
Malphite launches himself to a location at high speed, damaging enemies and knocking them into the air.
CD: 130/115/100 · Cost: 100
Unstoppable Force literally cannot be countered by movement — it travels through Flash, Zhonya's, and all dashes. Time it when enemies are grouped and your AoE teammates (Yasuo, Orianna, Miss Fortune) have their ultimates ready.
Skill Leveling Order — Max Q (Seismic Shard) first for increased poke range and slow. Max W (Thunderclap) second for more armor-scaling damage. Take E (Ground Slam) last since the attack speed reduction percentage doesn't change significantly with rank. Always take R at 6, 11, and 16.
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Itemization
Recommended Builds
Starter
Doran's Shield
Sustain in lane against poke. Malphite's passive Granite Shield regens faster with bonus HP from Doran's Shield.
450g
Core
Sunfire Aegis
Best first item — stacks burn damage in extended fights, provides HP and armor for survivability, and rewards Malphite for standing near enemies during teamfights.
3200g
Dead Man's Plate
Momentum stacks while moving, releasing a burst of damage on your next auto. Ideal for Malphite who is always walking toward the enemy. Also provides move speed to help land R from unexpected angles.
2900g
Thornmail
Reflects damage back to attackers and applies Grievous Wounds, countering enemy healing. Malphite's massive armor turns Thornmail into a pain multiplier for anyone who auto-attacks him.
2700g
Situational
Warmog's Armor
When enemies deal mostly magic or true damage, stack raw HP. Warmog's passive regen means you walk back to lane after every trade at full health.
3100g
Force of Nature
Stacks magic resistance per hit from AP champions. Rush against AP-heavy teams to make yourself virtually unkillable from magic damage while keeping your armor stack intact.
2800g
Abyssal Mask
When playing with multiple AP damage dealers, Abyssal Mask reduces enemy magic resistance after you R engage — amplifying your entire AP team's damage on the knocked-up enemies.
2400g
Always build armor first. Malphite's W bonus damage scales directly with armor, making every armor item a damage item simultaneously.
Runes
Resolve Primary
Grasp of the Undying
Every 4 seconds your next auto heals you and permanently increases max HP. Rewards Malphite for farming and trading in lane, building his already massive health pool even larger.
Demolish
Charged auto deals massive bonus damage to towers when near them — Malphite's high HP converts Demolish into one of the strongest tower-taking tools in the game.
Bone Plating
Reduces the first damage burst in trades. Makes Malphite even more frustrating to poke down in lane, stacking with his Granite Shield passive regeneration.
Overgrowth
Permanently increases max HP as minions die near you. Over a full game, Overgrowth adds hundreds of bonus HP, making Malphite's Thornmail and HP-scaling abilities even stronger.
Sorcery Secondary
Nimbus Cloak
Grants a short move speed boost after casting summoner spells — activating right after R means you can immediately chase or reposition during the knockup window.
Gathering Storm
Free AP that scales exponentially into late game. Malphite's R and Q scale with AP, so Gathering Storm gives him meaningful bonus damage on his R knockup damage as the game goes long.
Shards
Ability Haste · Armor · Health
Gameplay
How to Play Malphite
01
Early Game
Early Game — Stack Armor and Farm
- Poke with Q whenever you have mana. The slow and move speed steal makes it excellent for escaping ganks and setting up trades. Don't overextend mana though — you need it for fights.
- Use Granite Shield passive to your advantage: back off when the shield breaks, let it regen over 8–10 seconds, then walk back in for more. This passive alone makes Malphite incredibly tanky to wear down.
- Trade E → W → autos in extended fights against AD opponents. Your E attack speed shred means their damage drops significantly, while yours stays the same.
- Rush Sunfire Aegis as fast as possible. Getting it before 12–13 minutes transforms you from a lane participant into a genuine threat that burns anyone who gets near you.
- Push to tower after trading to generate Demolish charges. Use Demolish procs on turrets whenever the enemy isn't near — your HP makes the bonus damage enormous.
02
Mid Game
Mid Game — Look for R Engages
- Roam to mid lane if you're ahead and look for R engage into the enemy mid laner. Even if you don't kill them, a knockup leads to CC chains and summoner spell burns.
- Q poke in lane becomes oppressive at rank 4–5. The slow is large enough that if enemies try to dodge it, they walk into worse terrain and can't react fast enough.
- Coordinate with your team before using R. Ping 'on my way' or use champion communication pings — Malphite R is most valuable when at least one teammate has an AoE ultimate ready to follow up.
- Dead Man's Plate's momentum means you should always be moving. Walk toward the enemy constantly in lane — you're threatening the R at all times and the move speed lets you angle around minions.
- If you're getting poked down hard, buy Seeker's Armguard or Null-Magic Mantle as an early defensive component. Your lane goal is simply to reach mid-game alive with enough items to be relevant.
03
Late Game
Late Game — Win Conditions via R
- In late-game teamfights, your job is singular: hit as many enemy champions as possible with R. Save it for grouped enemies — a 3-person knockup is almost always a won fight.
- Look for flank angles before R engage. Walk around the outside of the map through side bushes to appear from behind the enemy team, forcing them to be knocked toward your teammates.
- After R, immediately cast E to reduce everyone's attack speed before they land, then W for the empowered auto on the carry. This burst combo chunks carries significantly during the knockup.
- Build Abyssal Mask if your team is heavy AP — the magic resistance shred during your R knockup makes your Orianna, Syndra, or other mages deal massive bonus damage on their follow-up.
- Near Baron and Dragon, Malphite R over the wall is one of the most feared engages in the game. Practice jumping from the river over the pit wall to knock enemies toward your team from an impossible angle.
Teamfighting
How to Teamfight as Malphite
Malphite is arguably the best teamfight initiator in the game when paired with AoE ultimates. Your role is simple: stay alive, find the angle, and launch R into as many enemies as possible.
1
Setup
Coordinate and position
01
Confirm your team is ready — check if Orianna/Yasuo/MF have their ultimates before you R. Burning R into an unprepared team wastes the fight-winning cooldown.
02
Find a flanking path — walk wide around the side so your R lands on the enemy carries rather than tanks. Dead Man's Plate gives you the movement speed to do this efficiently.
03
Use Q to slow any enemies trying to escape from your flank approach before committing to R.
Never use R as an escape tool. It propels you forward into enemies — using it defensively will kill you. Save it for offensive engages only.
2
Engage
R and follow-up combo
01
R Unstoppable Force into the grouped enemies — aim for 3+ targets if possible, prioritizing carries over tanks.
02
Immediately cast E Ground Slam while enemies are in the air to apply attack speed reduction before they land.
03
W Thunderclap your priority target for an armor-scaling empowered auto while they're still CC'd from the knockup.
3
Frontline
Absorb and peel
01
After the initial R combo, position between enemies and your squishy teammates — your armor and HP make you an enormous damage sponge.
02
Q retreating enemies to keep them slowed for your damage dealers to finish off.
03
Sunfire Aegis burn damage continues damaging grouped enemies — don't run away from clustered fights, stay in the thick of it and let the burn stack up.
Dragon and Baron pit has a wall you can R over from the river. Practice this geometry — it produces the most devastating engage angles in the game.
Tips & Tricks
Advanced Mechanics & Hidden Tech
Advanced mechanics for Malphite.
Basic
Armor = Damage
Malphite's W Thunderclap deals bonus damage based on his total armor. Every armor item you buy is simultaneously a damage item. Don't be fooled into thinking you're sacrificing offense by building defensive — you're actually maximizing both.
Basic
Granite Shield Passive Cycling
Malphite's passive Granite Shield regenerates after not taking damage for a few seconds. Trade aggressively, then back off and let it regen before re-engaging. This cycling of the shield makes him incredibly hard to wear down in lane.
Basic
R Cannot Be Dodged
Unstoppable Force lives up to its name — it goes through Flash, Zhonya's, invulnerability (most), and all dashes. Don't hesitate to R if you have a clear angle. The only way enemies escape is if you miss your positioning or they were outside range before you cast.
Intermediate
Communicate Before R
Use the 'On My Way' ping on your carry's position before initiating. Your team needs half a second to prepare their follow-up ultimates. An uncomboed Malphite R still knocks people up, but a coordinated R + Yasuo ult wins teamfights instantly.
Intermediate
Q Through Minions
Seismic Shard passes through minions and terrain to hit the champion behind. Position at lane angles that let you Q through the wave to poke the enemy laner without stepping forward and exposing yourself to jungle ganks.
Intermediate
Ghost vs Flash on Malphite
Ghost is a legitimate alternative to Flash on Malphite. It makes chasing down enemies after R much easier and can substitute for the movement speed R already gives you. Flash remains standard for surprise engage angles, but Ghost shines in chase-heavy metas.
Advanced
Over-Wall R Geometry
Malphite can R over walls from outside Baron/Dragon pits into grouped enemies inside. Practice these angles: river → into Baron pit, top side bush → into Dragon pit. These angles are nearly impossible to react to and produce game-winning engages.
Advanced
Malphite R Timing Against Zhonya's
While most invulnerability cannot stop R, Zhonya's Hourglass activation AFTER Malphite launches (during flight) is the one exception — the champion may land but the knockup doesn't apply if Zhonya's activates before impact. Bait Zhonya's with Q first, then R when it's on cooldown.
Matchups
Counters & Matchups
Malphite's armor stacking is directly countered by true damage, percentage HP damage, and anyone who can strip or steal the armor he depends on for both defense and offense.
Click any matchup to expand tips & how to play against them
Loses Against
Fiora's Vitals deal true damage scaling with max HP and ignore Malphite's enormous armor stack entirely. She also parries his Q with W Riposte and out-trades him in every sustained fight. The more tanky Malphite builds, the more HP Fiora's Vitals hurt.
Poke with Q from max range and avoid prolonged trades. Take Ignite and try to burst her before Vitals proc. Rush Thornmail early — the Grievous Wounds reduces her W Riposte healing and slows her sustain.
Silver Bolts deal percentage max HP true damage, making Malphite's HP stacking and armor irrelevant. Vayne also kites him with Q Tumble and E Condemn, preventing him from using E Ground Slam effectively in extended trades.
Stay behind minions to block Condemn wall pins. Accept that this matchup is about getting to level 6 and R engaging before she outscales. Take Ignite and look for all-ins early.
Trundle's Subjugate ultimate literally steals a percentage of Malphite's armor and magic resistance. Malphite's core identity — being an impenetrable armor wall — is completely dismantled when Trundle ults him. He goes from unkillable to melting while Trundle becomes equally tanky.
Avoid extended fights when Trundle has R available. Q poke from range, save R for teamfights where Trundle isn't directly on you, and build HP-heavy items (Warmog's) so even losing armor doesn't kill you outright.
Wins Against
Malphite's R Unstoppable Force provides the knockup that instantly activates Yasuo's Last Breath for free. Malphite + Yasuo is one of the strongest two-champion combinations in the game — landing R into a grouped team gives Yasuo a near-guaranteed kill combination.
Communicate before engaging — ping 'On My Way' so Yasuo knows to position near enemies before your R. After R, Yasuo's Last Breath does the rest. This synergy alone makes Malphite a top-tier pick when Yasuo is on your team.
Like Yasuo, Yone's Fate Sealed (R) activates from airborne enemies, and his E Soul Unbound returns him to his origin point after knockups — Malphite R into Yone R is a two-man wombo combo that demolishes teamfights. In lane, Malphite's armor tanks Yone's physical damage easily.
Rush armor and you'll win extended trades in lane. Save R for coordinated teamfights where Yone's ult can land on the knockup for a guaranteed multi-kill setup.
Zed deals physical damage that Malphite's armor completely absorbs. His R Living Shadow ignores armor resistance but Malphite's HP makes the burst insufficient. Malphite R into Zed mid-shadow means Zed can't escape the knockup, and Malphite wins the sustained fight easily.
Build armor and you essentially become immune to Zed's entire damage profile. In teamfights, R into Zed's Living Shadow position knocks him up before he can profit from the ult marks.