I watched T1 GenG and I want to pick up Caitlyn again— after seeing a post of a cait having a really unfun game vs brand Mel bot I was thinking it’s Caitlyn Mel is a good combo especially in fearless

or naafiri ezreal

Norms or ranked, I’m iron-bronze

Ok so like basically get rod first item because its very cheap yk and like Catalyst is a good item for like trading and getting mana back right. Basically the HP makes it easier to play more aggressively and gives you a cushion if you mess up your W for escaping while also giving mana back from taking damage. Your passive and ult already do quite a bit of damage so lacking some AP early aint that big a deal and she already has great wave clear.

Item 1.5: CDR boots/sorcs depending on the enemy team, if more tanky go with sorcs

Second item (you really gotta hear me out) Riftmaker which is great because more HP, ability haste and every second in combat you get 2% more damage aswell as some omnivamp which makes ult do more damage after waiting till the last second to use it. While Shadowflame technically is better for making your ULT do pure damage, this gets you more HP and ability haste which makes you much more survivable and you still do quite a decent bit of damage.

You can also run an archangels staff second if you do well early or you start with a tear, while it gives a shield it lacks HP but both are quite good.

Third/Fourth item Shadowflame/Liandry's for max HP damage and burn or more ult damage, thats it

Okay now for defending this whack ass build I will give some benefits to using this over the normal builds like Seraphs and Luden's first item. I've been playing this champ more than any other mid laner since launch and my main problem with her is that the W is a high risk high reward endeavor that basically leaves you with a death sentence if you fuck it up. But with this extra HP as well as healing/omnivamp from this build you can hold your W in a fight without getting absolutely shredded and getting CC'd to death while keeping some pretty decent damage in the mix. I've slowly moved away from the meta build and started using this basically every game and my win rate has shot up alongside it.

This build really lets you play more aggressive in lane as well as team fights and lets you get off your W while not being concerned about dying the second its over, its quite nice. It also allows you to get much more Overwhelm stacks without dying in order to really make your ult pack a punch without having to worry about dying very easily due to being full AP with like Luden's, shadowflame, death cap, ETC. It's also very good into meta picks currently like Ahri, Yasuo, Leblanc, Syndra etc. The only matchup I've really struggled with is Azir because you really cant reflect his poke.

Be sure to raise any questions/concerns if I was too vague on anything, I've been using this for a few weeks so I've become quite good with it.

TL;DR: Tank makes getting W and Overwhelm off easier allowing you to trade/frontline more easily while giving quite a bit of mana back from Rod.

Build: Rod of Ages -> CDR/Sorc's -> Riftmaker/Seraph's -> Shadowflame/Liandry's -> Zhonya's/Void Staff/Cosmic Drive

https://x.com/riotphroxzon/status/1909489739893555689?s=46&t=Jl3oqg4TYCBGQo-ghYaSsw

Speculation as to what it’ll be? My guess is overwhelm numbers.

question for the league game! i’m just curious

I'm a Malz/Vlad 2 trick when it comes to my efforts in climbing and this champ is the most fun i've had in years playing this game. In my mind she almost registers as a Malz/Vlad hybrid. Plays lane like a control mage but has the burst of a burst mage. Stuffing people with their own spells brings me so much joy. The yasuo I just played against did not have fun trying to land a tornado on me. Anyways thats all I got, just wanted to say this champ is so much fun.

song is Red Flags (ft. Montaigne) by Tom Cardy

If Mel Medarda gets a battle queen or battle princess skin, which kingdom will she represent since Ambessa would be the oldest battle queen?

I'm a fairly new league player and usually play Mel mid in swiftplay matches. I struggle a lot against tankier/juggernaut team comps like galio support, darius jungle and hecarim top. I'm wondering if I can improve my build in these sort of situations and if it would be best to build items with magic pen like void staff or ones with health like liandrys tournament. Hopefully this makes sense lol.

Ignore the messy and ugly PILTOVER please 🫣

Here is a mockup for a music-inspired skinline for Mel (along with Karma and Senna) called The Sound that Uplifts People (or S.U.P) This is not the actual skin but more of a visual idea of Mel in a girl group in her youth.

How do you guys deal with this lane? she has two stun abilities and you can only reflect one, so unless she waste the one you cant reflect on the wave, you can't face her and can only poke her with q keeping distance. It's hard to get e because she has a lot of movement speed with her abilities and after level 6 it gets pretty much unplayable. If she manage to get close enough to cast her r she burst you too much so you either die or have to recall. I guess you need some ganks to be able to do something and wait for teamfights mostly. What do you think?

I am planning to design a shirt based on mel's tatoos, do you have any reference photos that I could use? Perhaps clearer ones?

https://reddit.com/link/1jn3r8v/video/knrto00gxqre1/player

I personally need her to get a star guardian, feerie court or battle academia skin. Preferably star guardian if I had to choose.

since her release, how many times have you managed to kill enemies with only her W? (No ult or passive needed)

Mine:

Jhin - 4th ult shot, 3 times Teemo - Q, 1 time Panth - Q, I time

https://x.com/zureiil/status/1884608185568485838?t=Nf1PAxv4d2S7LUiMf4_Vrg&s=19

i was queueing and saw this mel with an icon? does anyone know how they got it cause i asked and they didn’t answer

I was watching some Arcane clips and had some thoughts on how well Mel is represented in the game, and how to potentially make her more fun to play and (hopefully) less frustrating to play against.

It's surprising to me that Mel doesn't make much use of one of her most interesting design elements in-game - her glowing tattoos! So, why not make that her ult?

New R: Empowered State - For the next 10 seconds Mel casts empowered versions of her base abilities. I won't comment on Q or E for now.

I also think her current R is boring, cheap and uninspired, but it could be kept as an R recast finisher in this rework.

W: Base W now casts a 300 unit barrier around Mel which blocks all damage from enemies outside of the barrier (like Xin Zhao ult), and destroys incoming projectiles for 1.5 seconds. - This means the spell would be more focused as purely a ranged counter, making her more vulnerable against melee aggressors. - Could potentially allow for a more supportive playstyle as this version of the spell is more conducive to protecting allies. And if powerbudget permits, she could also extend the damage immunity to allies within the barrier.

Empowered (R) W: Functionally the same as the base version, but now reflects projectiles instead of destroying them (similar to live) for 1.5/2/2.5s. - With this change, the ability reflect is essentially now an ult with a sharper strength/weakness profile. - This version of the spell could also be further balanced by not allowing her to cast spells whilst channeling the barrier if necessary.

I realise most mains won't want her changed, but do you guys think something like this could work?

Dude why does this champ have such a high ban rate she is so much fun all I want to do is play her. Are the players delusional she has a shocking win rate its such an annoying low elo skill issue. LIke its literally not that hard to play against her, just dont throw damage into her w its not that hard. I dont see hows she more op than literally any other mage ever. LIke wtf rito when can we get buffs.

So sick and tired of it.

Mel’s W is currently too frustrating to play against, even after nerfs. It heavily counters skillshot-based champions like Seraphine and Lux, with no real conditions for use—just a long early cooldown that becomes oppressive late game. The ability is instant, requires no skill, and limits counterplay.

Instead of removing it, a healthier approach is to make it skill-dependent while keeping its identity intact. The W should only be available after reaching a certain number of passive stacks. Mel will have a clear indicator showing when it’s ready, both for herself and for enemies. However, the ability will only be usable for a short duration before expiring, requiring her to restack her passive to access it again.

This change rewards skillful play—if Mel lands her spells, her W is more impactful in teamfights. If she misses, she loses access to it. It also removes the frustrating scenario where she holds W indefinitely to shut down a champion, forcing her to use it or lose it. This design makes Mel less oppressive, lowers frustration for opponents, and should help reduce her ban rate. It functions similarly to Yasuo’s tornado mechanic, adding a layer of skill expression while keeping the core ability intact.

By adding a skill requirement to her W, Mel's overall power budget can be adjusted more fairly. This change creates room to strengthen other aspects of her kit, allowing her to have more impact in areas beyond just her W.

The exact numbers—such as the stacking requirement, spell reflection damage, and other values—would, of course, be adjusted by the devs to a level they deem fair. This post is simply meant to share the core idea, which I believe is a meaningful and healthy adjustment to Mel’s design.