I don't like the idea of there being more than 3 at a time max, and subsequent casts should replace/recycle 'old' voidlings. I also don't like the idea of their attack or HP being based off of any of Malzahar's stats because being able to create a creep wave by yourself is already extremely effective even 1v1ing another fed champion. Voidlings, once they hit their frenzied state, are VERY powerful, but the fact that they drag back contagious debuffs, give away position and there's not more than one of them visible really limit their usefulness in a way that it doesn't have to. Having the passive work as I described does not change AP stacking Malzahar's playstyle at all.

To the folks that say it's not a solution to a lack of escape mechanism, it isn't meant to be. And it's not going to provide enough extra exp/gold in the early game to create the problem of him helping the opponent to farm.

And it's not like you can stack Aegis, Starks and Locket to be viable. You could only afford 1-2 of those items because you would undoubtedly need Warmogs, Lichbane and a CDR item, probably Soul Shroud or Nashor's Tooth.

If you have an army of voidlings tower diving becomes a more appealing idea *when you want to do it* because of the extra damage from the voidlings, but you will have the inherent hazard of pulling all the aggro (hence you need to stack HP)

Some other thoughts about how other champions would perform against this playstyle.

Champs who dominate it:

Warwick (lifesteal voidlings and Malz)
Mordekaiser (lolshield)
Nunu (consume)
Ranged champions that aren't Ashe or Ezreal.
Heimerdinger with a nest and creep wave at the later levels would be weak against the voidling horde + creep wave but it would be a hard and long fight involving lots of spamming.
Stealthers.

Champs who do bad against voidling horde:

Tanks. (ult + lol attack speed + aura items + null zone)
Other casters.
Melee DPS that don't take minion dmg redux masteries.
Other support that don't fall into the above categories with the exception of Zilean.
Skillshot-based champions that would ordinarily stomp burst Malzahar now have a living wall blocking him from being hit and making it tricky because frenzied voidlings will be ALL OVER THE PLACE.

etc.

Note: The fact that Malzahar's cooldowns aren't condusive to focusing on this passive at level 1 is intentional. This is why you need CDR and why the duration should be buffed to 30-45 seconds. It won't become obvious what kind of Malzahar you're playing until at least level 8.

bump

Since I'm still getting upvotes every time I bump this, it seems to be an all around interesting idea that doesn't make the original playstyle OP. Bumping again until some greens or blues comment.

Awesome idea and does wonders in making malz a far more versatile caster while requiring very few changes to malz overall.

Well, consider this: Since the passive almost doesn't affect AP Malzahar at all or affects him negatively, only very occasionally last hitting a runner that he otherwise would lose, you can tweak the numbers on the passive alone without affecting normal AP Malzahar at all.

Thus, if he pushes *too* well, then you can lower the voidling damage or attack speed or tweak how they interact with aura items. I suppose you could lower duration again but duration and aura items ought to be the last thing you should touch, the voidlings don't last long enough as it is and are only useful for about 11 seconds until/unless they draw turret aggro to you.

I would play Mal if he was able to do this.

Its what I originally hoped the passive was like when he first went onto PTR.

now that I think about it this would be a nice buff for AP malz as well, with CDR/18 glyphs 6% cdr mastery and nashors tooth alone ensure a steady stream of voidlings while only sacrificing 1 item slot that could be a more ap heavy item. I think the key still lies in voidling scaling....

Turn Malzahar into a true summoner.

I love this idea.

Needs better formatting