Background Image
How to Win Malzahar vs Riven Counter MatchupMalzahar is in the a tier of champions

Malzahar vs Riven

How to Beat Riven as Malzahar in LoLMalzahar is in the s tier of champions
MageAssassin
FighterAssassin

How to Beat Riven as Malzahar

based on 3,412 Malzahar vs Riven matchups
Win Rate
51.9 %
K/D/A
2.2
Pick Rate
2.8 %

How We Analyze LoL Champion Counters

We get our counter statistics from the millions of rated League of Legends matches that we get from Riot Games each week. Our guide on how to beat Riven as Malzahar came out of an analysis of 3412 ranked games where both champs fought each other. This counter matchup is fairly rare. Malzahar has to counter Riven in only 2.8% of his matches.

Malzahar vs Riven Matchup Summary

Malzahar does a decent job of beating Riven. Normally, he wins a acceptable 51.9% of the time the champs face one another in. In Malzahar vs Riven rounds, Malzahar’s team is 0.2% less likely to obtain first blood, implying that he most likely won't get first blood versus Riven.

Best Malzahar vs Riven Counter Build

Items

Starter Items

Time Target
Health PotionTear of the Goddess

Early Items

~5 Mins
Amplifying TomeFiendish Codex

Core Malzahar Items

~22 Mins
Rylai's Crystal ScepterMalignanceZhonya's Hourglass

Optional Items

Rabadon's DeathcapLiandry's TormentSeraph's EmbraceShadowflame

Summoner Spells

summonerflash summoner spell D
summonerteleport summoner spell F

Skill Order

First skill for Malzahar to level upe
>
Second ability for Malzahar to level upq
>
Last skill for Malzahar to max outw

Runes

SorcerySummon AeryManaflow BandTranscendenceScorch
InspirationMagical FootwearCosmic Insight
Adaptive ForceAdaptive ForceHealth Scaling
Malzahar's passive ability p
Malzahar's q ability q
Malzahar's w ability w
Malzahar's e ability e
Malzahar's ultimate ability r
1
E
2
W
3
Q
4
E
5
E
6
R
7
E
8
Q
9
E
10
Q
11
R
12
Q
13
Q
14
W
15
W
16
R

Guide to Countering Riven as Malzahar

Tips for Playing as Malzahar against Riven

Use Call of the Void and Nether Grasp to renew the duration of Malefic Visions on enemies.

Wait to cast Void Swarm until there are nearby enemies for the Voidling to attack or kill.

Avoiding damage in lane maximizes the uptime on Void Shift, increasing Malzahar's safety dramatically.

Advice to Win Against Riven

All of Riven's damage is physical, prioritize high Armor if an opposing Riven gets out of control.

Riven has a great deal of mobility but she cannot move very far with any one skill. Rooting or silencing her during her combo will greatly reduce her effectiveness.

Riven excels at dueling multiple melee attackers at once, as she will be on an almost equal footing damage-wise. If pairing up against Riven, don't go in as double melee until she has expended her full combo.

Malzahar vs Riven Counter Stats

Malzahar Image
Win Rate
51.9 %
VS
Win Rate
48.1 %
Riven Image
4.9
< Kills >
7
5.6
< Deaths >
5.8
7.4
< Assists >
4.6
1.12
< Killing Sprees >
1.57
198
< Minions Killed >
177
0.1
< Dragons Killed >
0.07
0.59
< Inhibitors >
0.42
588
< Physical Damage >
18,418
19,158
< Magic Damage >
58
411
< True Damage >
1,090
20,157
< Damage Dealt >
19,566
18,118
< Damage Taken >
25,181
11,982
< Gold Earned >
12,183
2.35
< Towers >
2.21
0.03
< Baron Takedowns >
0.02
1,476
< Total Healing >
5,420
15,050
< Experience >
15,078
20
< Vision Score >
16
10
< Wards Placed >
8
404
< Time Dealing CC >
128

How to Counter Riven with Malzahar in LoL

The stats shown here clarify several significant Malzahar against Riven counter statistics that can help us realize the differences and similarities between the two. For instance, Malzahar’s KDA ratio ([kills + assists] / deaths) of NaN is more than Riven’s ratio of NaN, showing that Malzahar may be more central to his team's team fighting capacity than Riven..

Malzahar typically has a slightly smaller longest kill spree than his opponent does. On average, he receives less damage than Riven. This often reflects differing health capacities, yet it can also illustrate that the champ with increased health has less mobility and thus is not able to flee from additional damage when engaged or poked.

Differences between Malzahar and Riven

Damage Types Compared

Malzahar
Riven
Physical Damage
Magic Damage
True Damage

Champion Playstyles Compared

Malzahar
Riven

Who is Better, Malzahar or Riven?

Both LoL champs are great champions. Both champs have their pros and cons. In the game's current meta, Malzahar usually wins when facing off against Riven, with a 51.9% win rate. As a result, Malzahar makes a good counter to Riven.

While Malzahar does have a higher win rate compared to Riven, when they face off with one another, Malzahar also has a lower difficulty level that makes him a less challenging champion to pick up and master. You should be careful when picking Malzahar into Riven.

Additionally, Malzahar also has a good amount of utility and CC, a similar amount to Riven. This makes her just as valuable during team fights, especially when trying to counter champions with a lot of burst damage.

While there isn't one best champion for every situation in League of Legends, in Malzahar vs Riven matchups, Malzahar is the better champion with a higher win rate, less champion complexity, and a similar amount of utility to help out your teammates during teamfights.

Malzahar is a decent counter for Riven. Focus your play on maximizing your gold and cs and destroying objectives. If you are able to do that, you should be able to stand on your own as Malzahar against Riven.

Additional Information for Malzahar Players

How We Calculated Our Malzahar vs Riven Build and Stats

For this guide on countering Riven as Malzahar, we analyzed 3,412 matchups from recent LoL games. We use rigorous data cleaning and processing methods to ensure that our counter stats are of the highest quality. You can rest assured that the recommended build to counter Riven as Malzahar comes from real data and is not the fabrication of some random LoL player, as some other sites provide. You can use the filters at the top of the page to view the most relevant stats and items to your rank.

Other Useful Resources

Further Insights to Win this Matchup

To learn all of the intricacies of Malzahar in order to counter Riven during both the early game and mid / late game phases of League of Legends, you should continue reading to learn a few extra tricks and insights into this matchup. If you mind the build and suggestions shown here, you will grow your win rate by a lot and be that much closer to League of Legends pro players.

Malzahar on average picks up a similar amount of CS as Riven. Champions who on average don't earn much CS typically don't require much CS to be effective, such as supports. These kinds of champions are capable of scaling well off of their skills, stats, and first items alone. Yet, champs with large amounts of CS, such as hyper-carries, typically have to have several high cost items to be effective. In either situation, try to exceed the numbers displayed here to do well.

The ideal items to use in your Malzahar versus Riven build consist of Rylai's Crystal Scepter, Malignance, and Zhonya's Hourglass. When Malzahar incorporated at least these three items in his build, he did much better vs Riven than with most other commonly used builds. In fact, Malzahar boasted an average winrate of 51.9% when countering Riven with this counter build.

To have the greatest probability of coming out on top against Riven as Malzahar, Malzahar players should equip the Summon Aery, Manaflow Band, Transcendence, Scorch, Magical Footwear, and Cosmic Insight runes from the Sorcery and Inspiration rune sets. Of all the runes players chose for Malzahar vs Riven fights, this sequence of runes resulted in the best win rate. Notably, these runes provided a 51.9% winrate overall.

If you want to get Malzahar versus Riven tips and builds for a a distinct division, feel free to choose one from the selection menu above. At first, the stats and build suggestions displayed are calculated using all matches played with these champs.