Mal'Ganis Build Guide “I am eternal!”

Mal'Ganis is a Tank who relies on a really good amount of self-sustain to stay alive when deep within the enemy backline. The extra survivability is provided by Vampiric Touch which causes him to be healed for a portion of all damage he deals, and his Heroic Abilities that can give him a good chunk of his Health back. Due to his mediocre amount of mobility, he is very susceptible to being kited (by Hanzo for example). Since his engage does not have a lot of range, it is advised to rely a lot on flanking when playing him, however, some Heroes can play around that strategy by giving vision (say Chromie with her Time Trap) and some Tank players can predict this strategy and position on key points to nullify it. Although he is easy to pick up and play for those who are new to the Hero, his kit leaves enough room for showcasing high level mechanical skill and good decision making. Be careful while playing him because most of his Abilities can be interrupted by crowd control effects (say Raynor using his knockback to mess up Night Rush), something that can easily become frustrating, especially if you do not pay enough attention to it and/or not adapt your playstyle accordingly.

Strengths

• High survivability
• Decent damage output
• Good crowd control
• Decent waveclear

Weaknesses

• Weak to kiting (e.g. Lunara)
• Vulnerable to interrupts, especially on his Heroic Abilities
• Not able to peel from high mobility Heroes (like Illidan)
• Weak to Root (e.g. Deckard Cain)

Necrotic Embrace Build

Recommended

Level 1 ?

Level 4 ?

Level 7 ?

Level 10

Level 13 ?

Level 16

Level 20

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Mal'Ganis's Necrotic Embrace Build is designed to get as much value as possible from the Hero by increasing his survivability. Talents that increase his damage contribute to this plan as well because Vampiric Touch heals Mal'Ganis based on damage dealt.

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Mal'Ganis synergizes with

Mal'Ganis performs better with a Mage (such as Kel'Thuzad) that can follow up on his crowd control or with some Bruisers (like Sonya) or some Melee Assassins (such as Illidan) that can dive on a given target Hero while the rest of the enemy team is Sleeping.

Mal'Ganis is countered by

Mal'Ganis is susceptible to enemy Heroes that can quickly Displace him away during Night Rush (such as Raynor with Penetrating Round) or lock him down with crowd control to deny him any chance to use his Heroic Ability (like Garrosh with Warlord's Challenge) while he is getting focused down to death. Heroes with a lot of mobility (such as Zeratul) are hard to hit for Mal'Ganis, so he will not be able to provide any peeling from them. Heroes with a lot of range (such as Hanzo) can easily kite Mal'Ganis, rendering him quite unimpactful. Another weakness he has is the fact that Heroes with Roots (such as Deckard Cain) can stop Mal'Ganis in place during Night Rush.

Mal'Ganis's stronger maps

Mal'Ganis's average maps

Mal'Ganis's weaker maps

Mal'Ganis is good on Maps that have narrow passages and corridors, allowing him to get amazing area of effect value from most of his Abilities, and/or where the Objective does not spawn too often because he really needs his Heroic Ability in order to be a complete Hero, but he is bad on Maps that do not have good places where to flank from.

• Since his engage tools have a limited range, it is better to flank enemy Heroes.
• Using Night Rush immediately after the third activation of Fel Claws will make it hard for the focused enemy Hero to react between the Stun and the Sleep.
• It is advised to crowd control nearby enemy Heroes before using your Heroic Ability, so that they cannot interrupt it.
• Sometimes it is useful not to use Fel Claws three times in quick succession to keep its Stun ready, to use the next activation for mobility, or to maximize your damage output by using Basic Attacks in between.

Even if he has a decent kit to be occasionally played as Solo Laner—but only on a few Maps where it is not crucial to win the solo lane—and he has been played as such for a few days after his release, Mal'Ganis is currently being played as Tank only. He excels when paired with Heroes that can easily follow up on his engage with burst damage and/or additional crowd control. During team fights, he is able to survive in the enemy backline for a while, wreaking havoc in the enemy formation while providing distraction for his allies to do their work.