Malzahar vs Sion Counter Pick
Matchup Summary
What the Data Means
Two very different profiles meet in the Mid lane: Malzahar the mage, Sion the tank/fighter hybrid. Over 642 ranked games on patch 16.13.1, Malzahar closes out 42.2% of them. A deficit of 7.8 points is what earns Sion its counter flag in this matchup.
Malzahar threatens Nether Grasp; Sion counters through Soul Furnace. Level six shifts things: Nether Grasp on one side, Unstoppable Onslaught on the other.
Range decides much of the early game: Malzahar attacks from 500 units, Sion from 175. That forces Sion to play around cooldowns and pathing rather than raw stats.
Both Malzahar and Sion threaten mainly magic damage, so one resistance covers the lane. Starting health splits 655 to 580 in Sion’s favour, with armour at 18 against 36. That 18-point armour gap favours Sion in the first all-in. By level 18 that becomes 2297 health and 98 armour for Malzahar against 2134 and 107 for Sion. On autos alone the numbers read 55 AD for Malzahar and 68 for Sion. Movement speed: Malzahar 335, Sion 345.
Treat 642 games as the confidence attached to 42.2%. The Malzahar versus Sion numbers rebuild from current Emerald and above games.
FAQ
No — current data marks this as a counter matchup: Sion has the statistical edge. Malzahar wins 42.2% of the recorded games.
42.2% from Malzahar's perspective, measured on patch 16.13.1.
642 ranked games at Emerald rank and above, across all regions.
The current Malzahar build — items, runes and skill order from the same data set — is on the Malzahar build page.