Guide · Top

Malphite Guide

Shard of the Monolith

Tank

Mage

Tier C Top

Malphite, Shard of the Monolith, is a tank and mage champion that is easy to pick up. Across our 898 analysed ranked games, Malphite is mostly played in Top (84% of its games), with a 46.2% win rate in that role: tier C among Top champions (#40 of 51, ranked by win rate). Malphite's damage is mostly magic (71%): magic resistance items are therefore effective against this champion. Win rate varies with game length: 49.8% in short games (under 25 min, 239 games) versus 42.9% in long games (over 35 min).

Averages measured over 758 Top games played with Malphite, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

Combos and how to play

Malphite is a tank-mage whose rock shield absorbs 10% of his max health and recharges if he is not hit for a few seconds. Seismic Shard steals movement speed from the enemy, Ground Slam deals magic damage based on his armor, and Unstoppable Force sends him charging at high speed and knocks enemies up: it is a team-fight engage.

The lane trade

Q › W › AA AA › E

When: An enemy is within shard range.

Seismic Shard steals their speed for 3 seconds and brings you closer, Thunderclap makes your attacks produce shockwaves, Ground Slam reduces their attack speed.

The team engage

R › E › W › AA AA

When: Several enemies are grouped.

Unstoppable Force sends you charging at high speed, damaging the enemies and knocking them up; follow with Ground Slam and your empowered attacks.

Harassment

Q › E

When: You want to hinder a carry.

Seismic Shard slows by stealing speed; Ground Slam briefly reduces attack speed: you greatly reduce their effectiveness.

Laning phase

Seismic Shard brings you closer to your opponent by stealing their movement speed for 3 seconds. Your Ground Slam damage rises with your armor: stack armor to strengthen your defense as much as your damage.

Common mistakes

• Casting Unstoppable Force with no target to hit in an area.
• Getting hit for nothing: your shield recharges if you take no damage.
• Neglecting armor: it strengthens your Ground Slam damage.

Riot's official tips for playing Malphite

• Armor naturally reduces the rate that attacks go through Granite Shield, so Brutal Strikes will strengthen the shield against physical damage.
• Despite his abilities scaling on Armor, some games require Malphite to get Magic Resist. When those games occur, try getting Aegis of the Legion, Mercury's Treads, and Guardian Angel.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Sunfire Aegis, Thornmail, and Frozen Heart (72 games, 55.6% win rate).

Sunfire Aegis+Thornmail+Frozen Heart

72 games · 55.6%

Kaenic Rookern+Sunfire Aegis+Thornmail

38 games · 50.0%

Sunfire Aegis+Thornmail+Jak'Sho, The Protean

24 games · 41.7%

Summoner spells

Flash + Teleport45.9% · 603 games

Flash + Ignite46.2% · 132 games

Most-played runes

Arcane Comet + Resolve

46.9% · 461 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Manaflow Band99%

Transcendence98%

Scorch99%

Secondary tree · Resolve

Overgrowth93%

Second Wind86%

Shards

Attack speed77%

Health scaling77%

Health scaling86%

Grasp of the Undying + Sorcery

49.3% · 152 games

Primary tree · Resolve

Shield Bash92%

Conditioning88%

Overgrowth97%

Secondary tree · Sorcery

Manaflow Band100%

Transcendence91%

Shards

Attack speed93%

Health scaling89%

Health scaling90%

Arcane Comet + Inspiration

42.3% · 78 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Manaflow Band100%

Transcendence100%

Scorch97%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Cosmic Insight96%

Biscuit Delivery85%

Shards

Adaptive force95%

Adaptive force96%

Health scaling96%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Malphite's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team45.5% · 235 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Kaenic Rookern 52.3%

Thornmail 46.3% ▼

Sunfire Aegis 41.6% ▼

Malignance 41.6% ▼

Hollow Radiance 49.3%

Frozen Heart 58.2% ▲

The item that stands out most is Frozen Heart: 58.2% win rate, +8 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team54.4% · 195 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Sunfire Aegis 54.5% ▲

Thornmail 60.7% ▲

Frozen Heart 54.0% ▲

Malignance 56.8% ▲

Randuin's Omen 60.0% ▲

Kaenic Rookern 63.6%

The item that stands out most is Malignance: 56.8% win rate, +10 points versus its usual win rate.

Balanced enemy team41.8% · 328 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Sunfire Aegis 44.2%

Frozen Heart 44.0% ▼

Thornmail 50.4%

Malignance 46.8%

Kaenic Rookern 42.2% ▼

Hollow Radiance 44.3%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Malphite in Top

Nasus Malphite: 47.4%19 games

Nasus has the edge in 53% of the 19 Top duels against Malphite. See the Nasus guide.

Jayce Malphite: 60.0%30 games

Jayce has the edge in 40% of the 30 Top duels against Malphite. See the Jayce guide.

Yone Malphite: 66.7%21 games

Yone has the edge in 33% of the 21 Top duels against Malphite. See the Yone guide.

Who Malphite is strong against

Yone66.7% · 21 games

Jayce60.0% · 30 games

Nasus47.4% · 19 games

How to play against Malphite

• If you're a physical damage character stay behind your allies when fighting Malphite. Ground Slam can significantly reduce your damage output.
• Malphite is one of a couple tanks who are capable of jungling. Watch out if he gets Smite.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Malphite's matchups.

Abilities

PassiveGranite Shield

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.

QSeismic Shard

Malphite sends a shard of the earth through the ground at his foe, dealing damage upon impact and stealing Move Speed for 3 seconds.

WThunderclap

Malphite attacks with such force that it creates a sonic boom. For the next few seconds, his attacks create aftershocks in front of him.

EGround Slam

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.

RUnstoppable Force

Malphite launches himself to a location at high speed, damaging enemies and knocking them into the air.

Frequently asked questions

Full Malphite page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides