Merlin go to guide for Mid Laners and Arena

About Merlin: Merlin is a very ability based god , and arguably one of the best stance switching gods . He can switch between 3 different stances (Arcane, Fire and Ice)in order starting with arcane then Fire and lastly Ice ,using his fourth ability Elemental Masteryto switch between them.

Because Merlin is a stance switcher I’ll start with his fourth ability: Elemental Mastery.
Elemental Mastery, is a stance switching ability which causes Merlin to explode with energy of the stance he was using before activating the ability, and implode with the energy of the Stance he is switching to. Both the implosion and explosion have different effects . To help you out I had all three effects written down:
Arcane:causes enemies with in the area of the explosion/implosion to get knocked up.
Fire: gives enemies with in the area of explosion/implosion a burning effect for a short duration.
Ice: slows enemies caught in the explosion/implosion for a short duration.
However, switching between stances causes both an explosion and an implosion around Merlin with each depending on the stances he is switching from and to. All three effect combos are down below: Arcane to Fire : explosion of Arcane energy causes enemies around
Merlin to get knocked up followed by an implosion of Fire energy which does damage and afflicts enemies around him with a burning effect damaging the enemy over time .
Fire to Ice: an explosion of Fire energy afflicts enemies around Merlin with a burning effect damaging them over time ,followed by an implosion of ice energy which damages enemies around Merlin and gives them a slow effect for a short duration.
Ice to Arcane: an explosion of of ice slows enemies around Merlin, followed by an implosion of Arcane energy that deals impact damage and knocks enemies up.

Now that we are done with his fourth ability we will talk more in depth about each stance but Before we do that let’s talk about his third ability and his only getaway Flicker.
Flicker: Merlin teleports a short distance in front of him.
Flicker stays the same in all of Merlin’s stances and shares the same 15second cooldown between all of them . Therefore you must use it carefully and always have it ready before going into any team fight unless you are very sure your team can win said team fight. Without this ability Merlin is very immobile, and can be picked off very easily.

Now, for Merlin’s main abilities .
Eclipse/Radiate/Frost bolt
Merlin’s first ability changes depending on the stance.

Arcane Eclipse:Merlin fires a ball of condensed arcane energy that grows in size till it reaches its maximum size at maximum range. The ball damages all enemies with in a certain range of it and marks them . Marked enemies take additional damage from the orb
Notes:
Marked enemies that walk outside the range of the orb will lose the mark and will not gain another mark for the rest of the ability’s duration
Enemies that walk into the range of the orb after it gained maximum size will not be damaged or marked by it unless they touch the center orb but they still will not be marked by it.

Fire Radiate:Merlin starts shooting a a beam of Fire energy that damages enemies overtime and applies a burning effect on them.Merlin can still move while using this ability but is slowed.

Ice Frost bolt: Merlin shots a Frost bolt that damages enemies. Enemies that are slowed gain additional damage from this ability.

Merlin’s second ability:vortex/dragon fire/blizzard:

Arcane Vortex: Merlin summons a vortex at a ground target which damages and pulls enemies towards the center of it.

Fire dragon fire: Merlin summons two dragon heads that shoot fire towards each other damaging enemies caught in the fire overtime and applying a burn effect. If enemies are caught in the center of it their protections are reduced every time they’re hit.

Ice Blizzard: Merlin summons a blizzard at a certain area that deals damage overtime to enemies within the area and slows enemies.

Arcane : for arcane you want to be quick with your combos you want to use your Eclipse at an enemy location and quickly use Vortex to pull them towards the center of your Eclipse and to deal some more damage . Now if this is late game and you have one of the builds I specified above , you should anticipate a blink from your target ( if they have one ). If he does blink, is low on health and is alone ,then by all means feel free to use Flicker to get up close and personal switching to your fire stance to finish him off.

Fire: Fire stance is one of the best stances and can literally melt your opponents . Start with dragon fire and follow it up with Radiate. Gem of isolation will make your Fire even deadlier.

Ice : Ice stance is the best for poke damage .Start with Blizzard at your targets location and follow it up with Frost bolt which will deal extra damage because of blizzard’s slow effect.

Pros: A wide range of combos. Very effective in both early and late game. Can provide some cc with his arcane and ice stances.

Cons: Very mana hungry . Very Immobile . . . . . .

Wards are very important in conquest.As they prevent you from getting ganked by showing you the locations of enemies whom are around it.
As a mid laner you should place 4 wards , one on each of the paths that lead to the mid lane.
However, if you like being aggressive; you can place your wards a bit further into the jungle so that you can know what your enemies are planning , just in time to stop it.
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