Malzahar, League of Legends champion
Win Rate
49.9%
Pick Rate
4.5%
Ban Rate
20.5%

Malzahar vs Irelia

Malzahar B TierMage
Patch
26.20
Games
5,949
Lane
All Lanes
Tier
All Tiers
Last Updated
Oct 11, 2026 UTC
Methodology
Data Methodology

Malzahar vs Irelia is a moderate matchup in LoL patch 26.20. Irelia wins with a 51.0% win rate (+2.0%) over Malzahar based on 98 games. Irelia wins the early laning phase while Malzahar scales better into the late game. Below you'll find the best Malzahar build, runes, laning stats, and strategies for the Malzahar vs Irelia matchup.

Malzahar Matchup Breakdown

Use the dropdown to select an opponent and see a detailed breakdown of how Malzahar performs against them. You'll get head-to-head win rates, laning stats, the best build and runes for the matchup, and early vs late game analysis — all based on real ranked data.

Compare against an opponent
Malzahar
Malzahar
51.2%
VS
Irelia
48.8%
Irelia

Who wins Malzahar vs Irelia?

Even matchupLow confidence

Malzahar wins 51.2% of these games. With this many games the true rate is most likely between 40.6% and 61.7% (95% range).

Expected
51.9%
From both champions' overall Mid win rates
Matchup effect
−0.6 pts
Observed minus expected
Sample
82 games
Lane: Mid
vs patch 26.19
+6.4 pts
Within normal patch-to-patch noise

Lane: Mid · Ranked Solo/Duo & Flex · North America server · All ranks · Patch 26.20 · Oct 9 – Oct 11

They also met in another lane (Top): 11 games, Malzahar won 27.3%.

Key takeaways

  • Malzahar vs Irelia is an even matchup: Malzahar wins 51.2% of 82 games, and the 95% range (40.6–61.7%) comfortably includes 50%.
  • Both champions' overall Mid win rates predict 51.9% for Malzahar; the result is within the margin of error of that, so this matchup mostly reflects the two champions' general strength.
  • Irelia usually wins the lane: 926 gold ahead of Malzahar at 15 minutes on average (80 games with a 15-minute snapshot).
  • Malzahar players pick Summon Aery much less often against Irelia: 22.6% of their other Mid games, 11.0% here.
How we calculate this

Games: ranked Solo/Duo and Flex games on the North America server from the patch shown. Remakes (games under 5 minutes) are excluded.

A game only counts when Malzahar and Irelia played the same position on opposite teams, so roaming, lane swaps within a team or a champion merely being in the same game never count as this matchup.

The 95% range is a Wilson score interval. Confidence comes from how wide that range is: within ±3 points is very high, ±5 high, ±8 moderate, anything wider low. Below 20 games a matchup is not classified at all.

Expected win rate combines both champions’ win rates in this lane (same games and filters) with the log5 formula: E = A(1−B) / (A(1−B) + B(1−A)). Matchup effect = observed − expected.

"What changes" compares Malzahar's choices in this matchup with the same champion's other games in the same lane, and lists a change only when it is at least 3 points and statistically significant (two-proportion z-test, |z| ≥ 2, 20+ games).

Results are not split by rank: the sample per rank is too small for honest per-rank matchup numbers.

Malzahar vs Irelia Laning Stats

MalzaharIrelia

At 15 minutes

Gold difference
−926
Irelia ahead
95% range −1,317 to −534
XP difference
−245
Within the margin of error
95% range −589 to +99
CS difference
−10.8
Irelia ahead
95% range −16.9 to −4.7
2.09
Kills before 15 min
4.09
3.19
Deaths before 15 min
2.89
0.98
Solo kills before 15 min
2.06
3.7%
First blood
18.3%

Whole-game averages

7.2
CS / min
7.5
825
DMG / min
788
12,075
Gold / game
13,365
56
Heal / min
433
504
DMG Mitigated / min
1,209
1.7
CC / min
0.5

Malzahar vs Irelia Win Rate by Game Length

Malzahar's win rate against Irelia by game length. The dot is the win rate, the bar its 95% range and the dashed line the champion's usual win rate at that length. Lengths with fewer than 25 games are left blank.

Too few games
Under 20 min
14 games
Too few games
20–25 min
6 games
Too few games
25–30 min
22 games
Too few games
30–35 min
24 games
Too few games
35+ min
16 games
Malzahar vs Irelia95% rangeMalzahar usual (Mid)

No game length stands out: Malzahar's results against Irelia in short and long games are within the margin of error of each other.

Malzahar vs Irelia Power Spikes

Who is ahead at each stage, measured from these games. A stage reads "Even" when the difference is inside the margin of error, and "Insufficient data" when there are too few games to tell.

  1. Lane (15 min)IreliaMalzahar gold at 15: −926
  2. First itemEvenMalzahar: 10.5 min · Irelia: 10.7 min
  3. Games under 20 minInsufficient data
  4. 20–30 min gamesInsufficient data
  5. 30+ min gamesEvenMalzahar wins 50.0% of 40 games

What Malzahar Changes Against Irelia

Choices Malzahar players make noticeably more or less often in this matchup than in their other Mid games.

  • Summon Aery
    Summon AeryKeystone
    Usually
    22.6%
    vs Irelia
    11.0%
    −11.7 pts
  • ExhaustFlash
    Exhaust + FlashSummoner spells
    Usually
    1.1%
    vs Irelia
    6.1%
    +5.0 pts

Best Malzahar Build vs Irelia

Usual Malzahar build (Mid)

66.1% win rate · 59 games

Against Irelia

Not enough matchup-specific build data: only 13 of 55 Malzahar games against Irelia carried a complete build, which is too few to recommend an item path from. Use Malzahar's standard build instead.

  • Malzahar usually completes Blackfire Torch first, at 10.5 min (median of 55 games).
  • Irelia usually completes Blade of The Ruined King first, at 10.7 min (median of 76 games).
  • Skill priority: E > Q > W — the same as usual.

Builds are ranked by the lower edge of their win rate range, not the raw win rate, so a build seen in a handful of wins never outranks a proven one.

Best Malzahar Runes vs Irelia

Usual Malzahar runes (Mid)

Deathfire TouchDeathfire Touch
Sorcery
Manaflow BandTranscendenceScorch
Inspiration
Magical FootwearCosmic Insight
Adaptive Force (offense)Adaptive Force (flex)Health Scaling (defense)

51.4% win rate · 893 games

Against Irelia

Deathfire TouchDeathfire Touch
Sorcery
Manaflow BandTranscendenceScorch
Inspiration
Magical FootwearCosmic Insight
Adaptive Force (offense)Adaptive Force (flex)Health Scaling (defense)

41.7% win rate · 24 games

MetaBot Desktop

Plan your Malzahar draft in Draft Lab

Draft Lab lays out both teams lane by lane with live matchup win rates, damage profiles and game-phase lean, and suggests picks and bans from current meta data.

  • Full 5v5 draft board
  • Lane matchup win rates
  • Pick and ban suggestions
Draft Lab in MetaBot Desktop

Malzahar matchup data for League of Legends patch 26.20. The table below shows Malzahar's win rate, gold difference, and performance stats against every champion in the current meta. Click any champion name to see a detailed head-to-head breakdown including the best Malzahar build, runes, laning stats, and early vs late game analysis for that specific matchup.

Other Malzahar Matchups

Win rate and games for each matchup. Lists are ranked by the edge of the 95% range so small samples cannot top them; matchups with at least 50 games only.

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Malzahar vs Irelia FAQ - Patch 26.20

Who wins Malzahar vs Irelia?

Malzahar vs Irelia is an even matchup: Malzahar wins 51.2% of 82 games, and the 95% range (40.6–61.7%) comfortably includes 50%.

What is Malzahar's win rate against Irelia?

Malzahar wins 51.2% of 82 Mid games against Irelia on patch 26.20 (95% range 40.6–61.7%). Based on both champions' overall Mid win rates, 51.9% would be expected.

Does Malzahar counter Irelia?

Not clearly. Malzahar wins 51.2% of 82 games against Irelia, and the 95% range (40.6–61.7%) includes 50%, so neither champion reliably counters the other on current data.

Who wins lane, Malzahar or Irelia?

Irelia usually wins the lane: 926 gold ahead of Malzahar at 15 minutes on average (80 games with a 15-minute snapshot).

Does Malzahar outscale Irelia?

There are too few games of each length to tell yet.

When is Irelia strongest against Malzahar?

Irelia is measurably ahead in: Lane (15 min).

What should Malzahar build against Irelia?

There are not enough games for a matchup-specific core, so use Malzahar's usual Mid core: Liandry's Torment, Shadowflame, Morellonomicon.

What runes should Malzahar use against Irelia?

Deathfire Touch with Sorcery and Inspiration — 41.7% over 24 games against Irelia. The biggest change against Irelia: Summon Aery (22.6% usually, 11.0% here).