How to win lane as Sion against Malphite · 55.47% win rate over 4,525 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Sion | Malphite has only a passive shield and a Q slow at level 1 — your charged Q is a grounded slam he cannot sidestep, and he has no burst to trade back before the knockup lands. |
| Level 2 | Even / skill | Both champions have their full basic kits but neither has a power spike — Malphite can Q-slow to reduce your engage window, and careful footwork lets him regenerate his passive shield, keeping it genuinely even. |
| Level 3 | Even / skill | Your W-shield absorbs his Q poke for near-zero net damage, and detonating it immediately after a charged Q stun means every trade cycle is positive — but his armor scaling is ticking up and he isn't far behind. |
| Levels 4-5 | Even / skill | Malphite's armor itemization begins suppressing your Q damage noticeably here, and neither champion has a decisive kill window — the stage is a farm-and-wait corridor until his R comes up. |
| Level 6 | Malphite | Unstoppable Force is instant, undodgeable, and knocks you up with zero telegraph time — Malphite owns the all-in threat the moment this cooldown is available, and you must play off the wall and track its timer. |
| First item | Even / skill | Heartsteel's HP compound makes your W-shield enormous, your E-shred strips his armor before every trade, and his AP damage output hasn't scaled to match your bulk — the lane tilts back your way off first item. |
| Two+ items | Even / skill | Your E armor-shred negates his stacking, your W-shield scales with your HP pool, and your zombie passive forces him to disengage or absorb free damage — but his R remains an instant teamfight-winner so he retains map threat even if the 1v1 is yours. |
At level 1, Malphite is one of the weakest duelists in the game — his only tool is a Q slow, and he has no burst, no engage, and no escape. Use brush or fog angles to charge your Q early; when it's full, he has no ability to sidestep a ground-slam that covers half a corridor. W-shield absorbs his Q poke for free, and detonating it back immediately makes every trade positive. The only thing to respect at level 1 is that his passive shield regenerates when he hasn't taken damage — try to deny it by threatening every few seconds rather than trading in long windows that let it regenerate.
The full Sion vs Malphite report continues with the mid-game plan, the late-game and teamfight plan, every power spike to play around, and the win conditions for both sides — plus cooldown tracking and the live enemy-jungle tracker inside the app.
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Playing the other side? Malphite vs Sion guide →
All Sion top lane matchups →