Skill Order

Normal Order: R > Q > E > W

Take Q, W, and E early, then max Q first. Mordekaiser needs his full basic kit online before he can play the lane properly: Q gives the reliable damage pattern, E gives him a way to pull or punish bad spacing, and W lets him absorb poke before committing. After that, Q is the main max in a normal Mayhem game because it is the spell you actually land most often during trades, wave fights, Death Realm duels, and short front-to-back brawls.

  1. R whenever available. Your ultimate changes the fight more than any basic spell. If a carry steps too far forward, if a diver is about to blow up your backline, or if the enemy team depends on one champion to kite the whole fight, R gives you a clean answer. Do not delay it for a basic ability rank.
  2. Max Q first. Q is your default damage button. In ARAM: Mayhem, fights break out constantly, and you need a spell that converts every slow, pull, Snowball hit, allied crowd control, or Death Realm setup into real damage. If you delay Q, you often reach the enemy but fail to finish them before they kite out or get peeled.
  3. Max E second in most games. E second gives better threat when enemies are spacing just outside your passive range. The pull is your punish tool against mages, marksmen, and enchanters who walk up to cast. Even when it misses, the threat of E changes how they position, which lets your team walk forward more safely.
  4. Max W last by default. W is still important, but in a normal order it is not your main way to win fights. You want it available for the moment you are being focused, not as your primary scaling button. If you max W too early without needing the extra durability, you may survive longer while dealing too little damage to force enemies off you.

Standard Practical Sequence

Open with all three basic abilities, then follow Q priority. A clean normal priority looks like Q > E > W after your first three basic points, with R taken whenever it appears. If you are unsure what the game needs, this is the safest order: Q first for damage, E second for access, W last for backup durability.

Augment-Influenced Order

Most augments still keep Q first. Unless your augment clearly changes how Mordekaiser is supposed to win fights, do not overreact. Q is still the spell that rewards you for landing E, following Snowball, fighting inside R, and standing in the middle of the enemy team. Many damage, ability haste, area pressure, or brawling augments simply make Q-first better because they give you more chances to force repeated trades.

  • If your augment improves sustained fighting or repeated spell casts, use R > Q > E > W. This is the default Mayhem-style order. You want Q maxed so every extended fight has real pressure, then E second so enemies cannot freely kite the edge of your range. This works best when your team has at least one other champion who can start fights or slow enemies for you.
  • If your augment makes you a true frontline or rewards surviving burst, use R > Q > W > E. Choose this when the enemy team is heavy poke, heavy burst, or stacked with champions who want to dump everything into you as you walk forward. W second is not about becoming passive; it is about buying enough time for your passive damage, Q casts, and allied follow-up to matter. The trigger is simple: if you are reaching fights but dying before your second meaningful action, W second is better than E second.
  • If your augment strongly rewards picks, displacement, or engage follow-up, use R > Q > E > W. E second becomes even more valuable when your team can immediately punish a pulled target. If your side has burst mages, long-range crowd control, or champions that thrive when one enemy is dragged forward, you want E ranked earlier so your catch attempts have more impact. Missing E still creates a punish window for the enemy, so throw it when they are locked into a cast, slowed, trapped near minions, or forced to dodge another threat.
  • If your augment pushes you into pure durability and your team already has damage, use R > Q > W > E. This is the “hold the line” version. You still max Q first because enemies must respect you, but W second lets you take the first wave of spells and keep standing. Pick this when your carries are strong but need someone to absorb engage, not when your team is already low on damage.
  • If your augment is unclear or does not directly change your job, stay with R > Q > E > W. Do not invent a new order just because the game mode is chaotic. Mordekaiser loses a lot of value when his first max does not help him convert contact into kills. Q first keeps the champion honest.

When to Adjust the Second Max

  • Choose E second when enemies are kiteable but punishable. If they have backliners who step up to poke, low-mobility carries, or champions that must stand still to deal damage, E second gives you more control over the lane. Your job is to threaten the pull, not throw it randomly. Hold E until they use mobility, walk into a narrow angle, or get pressured by your team.
  • Choose W second when enemies are killing you before you can play. If every engage ends with you losing most of your health before passive pressure or Q follow-up happens, E second will not solve the problem. W second gives you a better recovery plan: absorb the opening burst, keep walking, then turn with Q, E, Snowball, or R after key enemy spells are down.
  • Stay Q first when you are the main damage threat. If your team lacks consistent damage or the enemy frontline is hard to cut through, delaying Q makes fights feel unwinnable. Mordekaiser can be durable, but he is not useful if enemies can ignore him. Q ranks force them to respect your zone.
  • Do not max E first just because you are missing pulls. Missing E is usually a timing or angle problem, not a ranking problem. Use allied crowd control, minion pressure, brush control, Snowball threat, or R positioning to make E easier to land. Ranking it first while Q stays weak usually lowers your actual fight impact.

Cost of the Wrong Order

Wrong first max costs kills. If you delay Q in a normal game, Mordekaiser often gets close enough to matter but lacks the damage to punish the target. That is the worst version of the champion: visible, slow, committed, and not scary enough. Enemies will kite backward, wait out your passive pressure, and re-engage after your cooldowns are gone.

Wrong second max costs either access or survival. If you take W second when the problem is enemy spacing, you may live longer but never reach the carries. The enemy backline gets free casts because your pull threat is weaker and less punishing. If you take E second when the problem is burst, you may have better catch potential but die before your team can follow. Pick the second max based on what is actually stopping you in fights.

The safest rule is simple: max Q first unless an augment very clearly says otherwise, rank R whenever possible, then choose E second for reach and pick pressure or W second for surviving the first enemy rotation. Mordekaiser wins Mayhem fights when he gets to stay in range and make every Q matter. Build your skill order around that.