Morgana Build Guide

Morgana Build

Table of Contents

Intro

1

Abilities

2

Masteries + Runes

3

Summoner Abilities

4

Skilling Order

5

Items

6

Watch out for Veigar

7

Lane Choice

8

Making Use of Terrain

9

Quasi Stealth Detection

10

Creep Jungling

11

Working in the team

12

• Intro

  Nunu isn't the only caster who can tank. I mean, come on, Morgana is wearing an Iron dress!!! And with her puny auto-attack range you will be taking more damage than the average caster anyway. So why not build on that?
  
  So if you want to PEW PEW and kill people in 2 shots, this is not the guide for you. If you want to absorb all the damage directed at your team while still dealing admirable damage, then you've come to the right place.

• Abilities

  Soul Siphon

  The extra regeneration is a little low, but it lets you stay in the lane for a long time, even after heavy harassment.

  Dark Binding

  Skill shot snare spell. Projectile speed is rather low, almost as slow as Anivia's Flash Frost, making it somewhat easy to dodge at long range. This spell also suffers from Mercury's Treads. Not only is the snare time reduced, but the damage gets cut off as well. [Update April 30 2010] Now has a much shorter cooldown and duration. The duration reduction is a little painful, but it also reduces the problem from Mercury's Treads.

  Tormented Soil

  This is your farming spell. While not a bad AoE DoT Nuke, it is difficult to even land it on an entire minion wave. Works well after hitting a target with Dark Binding or Soul Shackles. If you are laning with a long duration stunner, like Sion, you can drop this under his target, then snare them over it with Dark Binding. [Update April 30 2010] The new Magic Resist debuff is wonderful. Allows Morgana a greater supportive roll as a team debuffer.

  Black Shield

  The best anti-magic spell in the game. Period. Being completely immune to magic is incredibly valuable in a game with so much CC. Very easy to frustrate your enemies if you have fast enough reflexes to block their spells.

  Soul Shackles

  Basically this is your "Hey everyone, shoot ME!!!" button. However, it is also the best AoE disable spell. You can stun the entire enemy team with this, making them all take large amounts of damage in the process. Casting Black Shield on yourself is a necessity. If your sister Kayle is on your team, she should consider dropping her Intervention on you when you cast this. Between the 2 of you, you become completely immune to all forms of attack. [Update April 30 2010] Ninja nerf/tweak >.< The AP coefficient was rearranged. It is now much more important from a damage perspective to land the second part of the spell, as most of the AP was put into the second half.

• Masteries + Runes

  Masteries
  
  Standard 9/0/21 caster build. "Tank with Caster masteries? O.o" Yes, Caster masteries. Without them, you will not have enough mana to keep your damage output, making you an ignoreable Tank. Without, you will also fall short of the cd redux cap, which you need to be at because of your long cooldowns.
  
  Runes
  
  All Glyphs as Greater Glyph of Celerity. All Seals as Greater Seal of Clarity. All Marks as Greater Mark of Insight. All Quints as Greater Quintessence of Clarity.
  
  This gives you 8.5 Spell Pen, 8.10% cooldown redux at lvl 18, and 29 mana regen per 5 at lvl 18. "Scaling runes? O.O Those are horrible xP" If you say so. They give larger bonuses overall. I only wish there were Spell Pen per level runes >.>

• Summoner Abilities

  I use Teleport and Clarity. If Teleport isn't your thing, you can take something else, like Ghost or Flash.
  
  Since you have Black Shield, Cleanse is redundant, so please don't.
  
  Clarity is non-negotiable. Your spells cost lots of mana. Even with all the mana regen from runes and masteries, you will find yourself coming up dry until you finish your Rod of Ages.

• Skilling Order

  My skilling order looks like this:
  
  
  
  Dark Binding can get you and your lane parter First Blood if they are a high damage dealer or a stunner. After that, focus on Tormented Soil. It is your farmer and, with Soul Siphon your primary means of regeneration. Take a point out for the one point wonder Black Shield. Either level 3 or level 4 is a good time to get it. Depending on your reflexes, you can drop it on your lane parter AFTER hostile spells have been cast and still prevent them (thank you instant cast).
  
  From there, put a point in Tormented Soil whenever possible, and in Dark Binding otherwise. As always, you ulti is your best spell. Put a point in Soul Shackles at every opportunity.

• Items

  Start with a Sapphire Crystal and one of each potion. Usually I can stay in the lane until I can afford Catalyst the Protector at least. Depending on how good a game I'm having, I can get Sorcerer's Shoes or even complete my Rod of Ages in one go. Once you have the Rod of Ages and Sorcerer's Shoes, start working on Frozen Heart. If possible, I get the [item=Sage's Ring] first, since it is more expensive (thank the gods of LoL it will soon be replaced with 2 Sapphire Crystal).
  
  If it is either a really good game or a less than ideal one, the game is almost over at this point. If it is still going, then we start getting more into the tanky part of the build. I get Guardian Angel next. Armor, Magic Resist, and a Revive all in one item. Even better, if you have already cast Soul Shackles and you enter Guardian Angel's pseudo-death, you will still get the stun and second damage from Soul Shackles.
  
  Now comes the part where we analyze the enemy team. If they are Caster heavy, you will want Banshee's Veil. If they have Phys Carries, get Thornmail instead. You have no idea how satisfying it is to watch Twitch come out of stealth and kill himself on your Thornmail.
  
  The last item slot is pretty much up in the air. I haven't had a game last long enough to get anything more than a basic item into this slot. An Aegis of the Legion wouldn't be too bad. More health, with an Armor, Magic Resist, and Damage aura is never a bad thing. An Archangel's Staff wouldn't be bad, since you will have a lot of mana from the Rod of Ages and Frozen Heart. [item=Force of Nature] would be good vs fast teams, or Caster heavy teams. Haven't tried a Sunfire Cape, but the magic damage it deals would most likely benefit Soul Siphon, healing you just for standing there.
  
  My personal choice for the last item slot would be [item=Zhonya's Ring]. The AP will make your spells hurt that much more, and with the new active it has, you don't need to burn your Guardian Angel charge to stun the entire opposing team.
  
  Overall, the end result of any Tankgana build should look like this:
  
  [builder=Morgana/d641636b9debf2cb05479abb0cfc7952]
  
  The last 2 slots, as I said, are up to you, and should be based on an analysis of the opposing team.

• Watch out for Veigar

  This item build gives you a huge mana pool rather than regenerating mana as fast as you use it. With that in mind, it would be wise to avoid Veigar and his Primordial Burst; it deals extra damage to you equal to 25% of your maximum mana. Be VERY cautious when he gets to level 6 if you are laning against him. Most people aren't ready for 400+ damage then, which is about average for a good Veigar.

• Lane Choice

  Tankgana really has no preference whether to go solo or with a partner. As a solo, you should focus on farming with Tormented Soil first, placing it in such a way as to force your opponent to move around to reduce their gold income. After a few levels, go ahead and try to gank them, leading in with Dark Binding. When laning with a partner, you should again be harassing with Tormented Soil, but also coordinate with your partner when to initiate.

• Making Use of Terrain

  Morgana has very long cast ranges. When ganking, or even just harassing, make use of them! Since Dark Binding goes through terrain, you can literally catch pushing/farming champs completely by surprise. Between Dark Binding and Tormented Soil you should have anything other than a tank under half health. Go ahead and pop your Soul Shackles and run with them until you get the stun. Then, Dark Binding and Tormented Soil all over again! Most champions on their own cannot survive a double combo.
  
  One of the other great uses of terrain is firing Dark Binding from brush. Since it is a skill shot, it does not reveal you're location. You can play some mind games in a few places around the map. "Is she here? No, she's there! Wait, no..." *squish* "Oh, she was over there..."

• Quasi Stealth Detection

  Here's a good thing to notice if there are stealth champs on the enemy team. If one of them is within the range of Soul Shackles, it will become available to use, despite the fact that you can't actually see what is around you. If your team is pushing, and this comes available, you should probably let your team know so they don't do something stupid when they push to the tower...
  
  If you cast this while a stealthed champion is in range, the "energy chain" will go to their position at the instant you cast. If you're lucky, they were about to jump out and attack you, and aren't moving. You should immediately fire Dark Binding and drop Tormented Soil where the chain is linked to. If Twisted Fate is on your team, have him cast Destiny right after you use Soul Shackles. This way, you will not miss with Dark Binding and Tormented Soil, saving you mana and potentially guaranteeing a kill, since stealth champs are squishy enough to die from Dark Binding Tormented Soil 2 part Soul Shackles combo in rapid succession.

• Creep Jungling

  I don't really see the point to be honest. Assuming you aren't stuck with a ranged DPS who obsessively last hits everything you weaken with Tormented Soil, you should have no problems harvesting the gold for your expensive items. The Golem Buff can be useful, but you shouldn't really need it.

• Working in the team

  Once the Team Fight phase begins, your job is to pick off enemy champions with Dark Binding for your team's DPS to go eat alive, while you shield them from magic with Black Shield. If that initiates a fight, run in and cast Soul Shackles, leaving your team free to dismantle the enemy team at will. Drop Tormented Soil at every opportunity. Since it will only have a 6 second cooldown at this point, you should be dealing considerable damage with it. Try and hit any runners with another Dark Binding, drop Tormented Soil under them. Beyond that you just need to sit your great big iron dress between your squishies and their DPS and trust your team to be good at what their champions do.