malzahar is the only character in this game i dont find threatening in the least

Malzahars ultimate is amazing and isn't as easily canceled as you think. In the ebb and flow of a not-quite-battle you should be able to snap up the guy who is a little to far out on the front. It also takes people awhile to realize Malzy is once again melting your face off, and in 2.5 second he does almost 1k unavoidable damage.

Malzy's ultimate also helps when attempting to kill champions such as Kayle, Zilean, or Alistar. THe massive damage coupled with a 2.5 second suppression means that these champions will not be able to use their own ults to save themselves.

I agree wholeheartedly, after the recent buffs Malzahar must be the most underrated champion in the League right now. He does ungodly damage in a teamfight to even the tankiest of teams and his ult/spell combo basically one-shots the enemy carry if performed right. He's light on CC but that's because he's not an Annie clone, and that's great. He's a caster that's meant to deal raw damage and he does that exceedingly well.

I would disagree about his lane presence. His autoattack is quite strong, and ALL of his spells are good for harrass. The big circle thingie, not so much, but you still can put it on a huge group of mobs. If you are smart about it, you will not run out of mana, but you can always pack mana runes or clarity.

I don't feel threatened by malzahar though i've gotten royally ganked by him before, but i feel like he is quite powerful. Idk what the OP means by melting tanky characters. I'm never able to do that...