Malzahar

Malzahar is an AP mage in the top, and on patch 16.17 they grade out as a solid mid-tier pick — a 51.8% win rate, 0.5% pick rate, 5,852 ranked games sampled. On the power curve, Malzahar holds a fairly even power curve, staying relevant at every stage rather than relying on a single timing.

How Malzahar wins: winning the wave and turning push priority into map control, and grouped 5-v-5 teamfights, where Malzahar tips the fight. The kit grades 9/10 waveclear, 7/10 teamfighting. Play around where Malzahar is thin, disengage and mobility (3/10, 1/10), and the enemy loses their angle.

The most-played core build is Blackfire Torch, Liandry's Torment, Rylai's Crystal Scepter, which holds a 54.2% win rate across 535 games this patch. Set the enemy team at the top of the page to see how the path shifts against that comp.

The matchup to respect is Yone, where Malzahar sits at just 44.4%, the lane swings the other way into Ezreal (59.6%), and on the team side, Malzahar gains the most from a Sylas (+9.3% pair win rate).