Your Win Condition
Your primary win condition revolves around establishing a massive early lead and converting that into consistent damage output and mid-game survivability. Firstly, you want to play around Blade of the Ruined King (Bork). Since Mordekaiser tends to build tanky items like Rylai's or Riftmaker, the sustained damage and shredding capabilities of Bork are excellent. This item's consistent DPS helps significantly in the longer fights that Mordekaiser sometimes tries to force. This pairs perfectly with a W Max playstyle, allowing you to utilize Renekton's passive more effectively for significant one-shot damage. Secondly, you need to achieve a perfect Level 3 power spike. That is your initial kill window in the lane. If you secure an early lead, you must maintain your health bar high at all times; otherwise, Morde will run you down and grab kills. Finally, once you are fed, you transition into carrying the mid-to-late game team fights. This often means being adaptable and building Bruiser/tankier items, like Black Cleaver for armor shred and haste, and potentially items like Sterak's Gage or Randuin's Omen to become a "raid boss" that enemies cannot out-damage. However, remember that Renekton is a single-target damage champion, so once you have the lead, enabling your teammates by helping them get gold will also help win the game.
General Strategy
The core strategy focuses on respecting Mordekaiser's key abilities while abusing Renekton's mobility and speed. You must always be focused on dodging his Q and his E. If his Q hits you while you are isolated, it does significantly more damage. You must continuously try to stand near your minions to mitigate this damage. A crucial point is playing around ultimates. When Mordekaiser has his ultimate available, you must also have your ultimate available. If you try to take a sloppy fight when he has his ultimate and you do not, his statistics will be overbearing, overpower you, and destroy you, leading to a massive gold swing in his favor. A good tip is to use your ultimate after he uses his, so he cannot steal your additional stats. When trading, you need to make sure you return damage quickly but safely. If you see Morde buy early defensive items like Cloth Armor, remember that your Empowered E shreds armor, which is crucial for maximizing your follow-up W damage. You must never throw your lead away for no reason by going for strange or risky plays. If you are ahead, keep the wave on your side and force him to approach you.
Trading Patterns
Trading with Mordekaiser requires quick bursts and precise use of your dashes, ensuring you avoid long, extended engagements, as those can backfire heavily. Renekton is often too fast for Mordekaiser to consistently out-trade. 1. Level 1-2: If you start Q, use it to poke and hit the wave. When his Q is on cooldown, you can look for small fights and be more aggressive. Try to keep your health up while waiting for Level 3. 2. Using the Minion Wave: Always stand near minions. This drastically reduces the damage you take from his isolated Q. 3. The Double Dash Combo: Your goal in a solid trade is often a Double Dash into your combo. If Mordekaiser uses his E to pull you, you can actually use that to your advantage, as you land on top of him, allowing you to follow up with an empowered W, Auto, and then E out. 4. Executing the Trade (with Fury): Look to engage with an Empowered E to shred his armor, or if you can't land the first E properly, dash in, Auto-W (Empowered), Auto-Q, and then dash out with your second E. The crucial part is getting in, getting your damage, and quickly disengaging to avoid Morde's retaliation. Wait for him to use his E before your final disengage if possible.
Wave Management
Wave control is arguably the most critical factor for snowballing this matchup once you have an advantage. When Ahead: You must keep the wave on your side. If you are fed, having the wave on your side means you can force fights, deny him XP and gold, and create guaranteed kill windows because he has to walk up to you. If he pushes the wave into your tower, he cannot run you down, and you are safer from ganks. Letting the wave push back towards you gives you all the opportunities in the world. When Dealing with Pushing Power: Be wary that if you are following a W Max build path, your pushing ability with Q is quite weak. This means if you commit to constantly shoving, you might not get the best tempo advantage, especially if the enemy jungle or mid are missing. Pushing the wave when you have no information can lead to overextending and dying to ganks. Utilizing Morde's E: If Morde uses E on the minions while you are near them, you can often still get pulled, which benefits you by closing the distance and allowing you to reach him with your E.
Their Win Condition
Mordekaiser's path to victory relies heavily on Renekton making mistakes, especially in positioning and health maintenance. His primary win condition is capitalizing on volatility. If you drop even one death, he can start to feel horrible to lane against until two or three items. Even when you are ahead, if you make a mistake, he can capitalize heavily because of the pure power of his ultimate. Mordekaiser wins by isolating you. If you stand away from your minions, his Q will execute way more damage, softening you up for an all-in. He is constantly looking to win the 1v1 by forcing an engagement when your health bar is low, using his ultimate to run you down and overpower you. If Renekton attempts to go for greedy plays or stays too long after a skirmish, Mordekaiser can lock him down, take your stats with his ultimate, and secure the kill.
!["](https://lolmatchups.net/Renekton".png)
!["](https://lolmatchups.net/Mordekaiser".png)
