He's a subpar tank because he's not a tank, although he does it better than some other tanky dps.

I usually go Tabi, Glacial Shroud(FH when needed), Sunfire, Abyssal Scepter, Atma's Impaler,

That 6th spot I like Trinity force best but I've gone with wit's end, aegis, or thornmail depending on the situation. Mallet+Atma's is nice too. Just make sure every item contributes to damage output.

I also use magic pen marks and get the 15% penetration in the offense tree.

The biggest probelm with Malphite is defining his role. He has such a versitile skill set, with lots of skills and items that can work on him, but it almost feels like the old adage "Jack of all tades, master of none".

One of the biggest pitfalls with him in my opinion is trying to play him as a full on honest to goodness tank. The reason being is that he lacks the one thing that every tank must provide his team, a reliable way to mitigate incoming damage to himself AND his teammates. Sure he can make himself very hard to kill, but his lack of ability to keep his team alive in most real game situations just makes him less than ideal in teh role of a true tank as i have defined it.

There are exceptions to this, like when the other team stacks lots of rmelee rightclickers, but those games are rare...though no one can likely shut down a team of that nature better than Malph. The AS redux from his GS, Frozen Heart, and Omen are epic.

One thing he does excell at however is being a very strong Anti-DPS champion. When used in this fasion he acts like a battering ram more than a shield for his team, and smashes his way right on top of the enemies biggest DPS threat. His ult is perticularly well suited for this, and he has an unparrelled ability to disrupt channeld DPS ults from the likes of Kat, MF, Twitch, and others. If built properly he can decimate the other teams strongest DPS threat, either killing it outright, or forcing them into a position to flee and die on the run. He can usualy survive long enough to wreck enough havok that his team wins, and he may even be able to escape alive if they join quickly enough. This only works with a team that is johnny on the spot once you dive in...otherwise its feed city, and thus makes him an unrelaible choice in normal solo que as good teamwork isnt always easy to find.

If you focus on this as your ultimate late game roll in team fights, you will defintly make a positive impact. To this end it pays to build a little tanky so you can survive the intital retaliation of the enemy, but it also pays to build items that give you the most burst damage possible. Here are some items that i have been using to great effect when playing this style of Malphite.

Early game:

-Haugnting Guise + Sorc Boots: Early game i like to pick up one or both of these items depending on my prey. The magic pen along with maxing shard as early as possible makes for a very powerful nuke that you can deliver at will to the squishiest enemy in your lane. You will need something to mitigate your mana, and i use runes and masteries to for mp5 myself.

Mid Game:

-Glacial Shroud-->Frozen Heart: This item is key because it gives you mana, CDR, and AR for a decent price and makes your GS a very disrupting skill when paired with the aura of FH.

-Abysal Sceptar: This along with my passive scaling and MR/lvl glpyhs is usually all the MR i need, with Mercs being thrown in if i need them. The AP and MR redux is gravy for adding DPS to your burst.

Late game:

Hourglass: This item provides a double dip in DPS, giving you both AR for your GS, and AP for your ult and Shard. The active can also keep you alive long enough after engaging for your team to save your rocky butt.

Sheen-->Lichbane/Trinity Force: Either of these items provides a solid chunk of burst damage to Malphite as well as several other defenisve stats, and sheen is great if you can afford to grab it earlier for the burst it provides you in your opening combo. I belive lichbane with Hourglass and Sceptar actually give you more damage in my final build, but its pretty close until you get my last item.

Void Staff: In order to pick this up you need to sell HG. It will easily replace the 20 Mpen you lose by upgrading you to a wooping 49% MR redux if you paired it with the 15% mastery. This is only to be had in extream late game where most champions will have some investment in MR. It also makes your Lichbane hit like a truck giving you somehting like +350 AD a pop.

Situational items:

Malphite excels in dealing magic damage, so it makes sense to grab items that enhance this. A few items i would consider for thier synegry with this playstyle include...

Thornmail: Deals magic damage back to enemies and give you cheap AR.

Sunfire Cape: Deals magic damage aura and pairs well with Abysal sceptar, while giving you more durability.

Wits End: Deals a solid magic damage proc and grants MR, a stat thats often in need. It also grants a very nice chunk of AS, and a little known fact is that Malph is one of the best champs in the game when it comes to how well he scales per point of increased AS. This makes dropping towers much easier and makes your Burtal Strike active bonus damage more effective since you get more swings in during the duration.

Conclusion:

This build has been working wonders for me if i can manage to get to the mid/late game. Laning can be rough against the wrong enemies, and getting zoned has been an issue when i get stuck in a double melee lane against too strong ranged champs. However, late game i really shine if all hasnt been lost and my team is with it. Good luck on finding a playstyle for malph that suits you and works well.

Stay Rock Solid,

-gap81

Malphite: Raduins + Frozen Heart + Ground Slam.

Autoattackers will see the matrix.

He works alright as tanky DPS. At least, his damage scales better that way than with an AP or armor build. Pick a damage item like Trinity or Youmu's, then get some magic resist item, since you're naturally resistant to AD champs. After that build towards your enemies.

gap, thanks so much for your input. I'll give it a try. Your build actually seems pretty well suited for a Junglephite. I honestly hadn't considered hourglass, but it fits perfectly with his initiation capabilities and scales with all of his abilities. Brilliant idea. Your build seems to sacrifice his strong midgame for a strong endgame. I'll try it and see what I think.

I'm not sure I agree with getting both HG and Sorc Treads. Most champs early game won't have more than 30 magic resistance, and you can't penetrate MR below 0.

I typically play him with items to buff/debuff team and enemies. I start off with 2 fairy charms 2 health pots 1 mana. It gives me enough regen to start harassing at 3 with shard. I then go for 2 philo stones since i play malphite as a ganker more im roaming more. Then its time to decide whether merc treads or not but i usually merc treads since i get little mr in the build. after that i go for randuins or shurelya fever. The 40% movespeed increase is amazing. It also gives 15% cdr. after that i get randuins to slow everyone once i ult them. Basically this uses 3 gold per 10 second items. So that your lane can be farmed by other heros while you still keep up with income. Does not mean you shouldn't still farm.


By now you have 1 philo stone 1 shurelya fever, 1 randuin, merc treads/tabi Now u decide what to get for more tanking if your the dedicated tank. Or more damage if your not the primary tank. I usually play him as primary tank and get FoN then Ga to finish it out. You can squeeze in Glacial shroud before finishing randuin, or subbing shurelya but i really like that item its underrated for sure. Still FH is a good item for him and i find myself getting it if they are very ad heavy.

Btw i never pick malphite unless i have other aoe ults to coordinate with on my team. Since i feel his talents are wasted without followups from teammates. Malph ulti combined with fiddle+annie teamwipes almost every time.

Edit:Btw never do ap malphite ever. Just... no..

Thanks for the compliment. As for your comment above, let me clarify. Usually you will only need one or the other. If you have to take just one, i like to grab HG because it makes your early game pokes hit harder and the HP make your shield bigger to counter their pokes. This also frees up a slot for more defensive boots like Mercs, or more CDR from Ion boots.

Sometimes however, i need a quick pick me up to my DPS and am getting zoned badly, thats when sorc boots help me poke harder but avoid things like brands skill shots better.

Then there are times when you face a champ who has scaling MR, either naturally, through glyphs, or both. This is where both items can be effective. It also works well against some like Galio who grabs early MR, or Soraka who has naturally high MR due to her Aura. I really like grabbing both when a squishy champ thinks they can counter my nuke by coming back to lane with a null mantle. They scratch their head when my nuke hits them even harder than when they didn't have it.

All in all this build will grant you ~70 flat MR reduction (with my runes), and a further 49% Reduction after that (with mastery). This means that even a tank like Galio who stacks 250 MR will be below 100 MR from your attacks. If you find that you dont need that much feel free to swap in other items in place of the Mpen, any good build has to be fluid enough to adapt to your foe.

This, with that combo you rape before lvl 12-13, get fed and keep doing it.

Tabi
Randuin/Sunfire Cape
Force of Nature
Thornmail
Warmog
Banshee

More armor = more damage

Your job is to shut down ad carries and you can do it easily. One of the best tank imo.

I love Malphite!

His ulti alone makes him probably the most valuable assist\initiate in the game imo.

You actually don't even need to start the fight. Hiding then letting a battle start then flipping them all up in the air and E them then Q the one that runs and\or ignite runners and its gg for that entire group once your other teamates start hitting back as well. You really cant stop it because you don't see it coming till it's too late most times. Just outta nowhere BLAM in the air 1\2 health gone by the time they land, then easy finish off.

malphite from 6 on.

R into the fight at the right time to let your team slaughter them. press E on AD carries. Q the target/runners so the dont escape. this is it. if your team does not explode them after your (W) R+E+Q then you kinda sit there wacking at people and maybe get a few Qs off but generally you do nothing. Malphite has probably the best initiator in the game. thats about it.