Gangplank vs Malzahar Counter Pick

A 167-game sample is thin, so the 55.1% Gangplank posts against Malzahar on patch 16.13.1 is best read as a direction rather than a settled figure. The mechanics underneath it are straightforward enough to be credible.

• Nether Grasp suppresses one champion inside a zone of damaging energy, and Remove Scurvy eats citrus to break that control while restoring Health, which is exactly the moment the ability was built for.
• Void Shift grants heavy damage reduction and crowd control immunity while Malzahar has not recently taken damage, so the periodic burn from Trial by Fire is worth spending before any real commitment.
• Stats favour the melee side: 580 HP and 18 base armor rising to 2,297 and 97.9, opposite a 630 HP, 31 armor start that finishes on 2,568 and 110.9, with 500 attack range that is short for a mage.

Malefic Visions spreads on kills and Void Swarm covers the wave, so the farming contest is not one-sided; Parrrley answers it by plundering gold from every unit it finishes, which keeps item timings moving even from behind. Difficulty reads 9 against 6, meaning the side carrying the heavier execution cost is also the one ahead. His 335 Move Speed against 345 leaves little room to walk out once Cannon Barrage covers the retreat, and 30 magic resistance against 32 reads as wasted stat weight opposite a physical kit, so armor is the only defensive purchase that changes the exchange.