Mganga: 50% Voodoo, 50% Jester, and 100% Crazy

Build and Guide Mganga: 50% Voodoo, 50% Jester, and 100% Crazy

Cheat Sheet
Skill Build

Pick up Toxic first before choosing Fortunate Gift second. Throw most points into Fortunate Gift before focusing on Toxic for added group fight usability. Always prioritise Detonate above all else.

Items

Apocalypse

Enchanted Kicks

Frosty's Revenge

Hecate's Diadem

Zweihander

Holy of Holies

Arcana

Use red arcana slots for Ability Power with a slight amount of Attack Speed. Purple slots for equal amounts of HP and Magic Life Steal. Greens are great for Magic Pierce and Armor. Replace with Attack Speed / Cooldown Speed in later tiers and use reds for pure Ability Power.

Talents

Heal

Sprint

Daze

Introduction
If you're scared of clowns, Mganga probably isn't for you. A cruel jester with plenty of voice lines a little too long for his moves, Mganga appears to be one of Arena of Valor's only healers – but he's far more than that.

Technically not even that great a healer at all, we're led to believe Tencent is doing all they can to avoid each Arena of Valor match going on far too long by limiting the effectiveness of healing at all. Considered a dual-role mage/support, Mganga's main two skills heal nearby allies while dishing out considerable pain to those on the other side. He's the kind you'd pair with another support – like Alice – in team fights, but he's perfectly capable of going toe-to-toe with a champion or two on his own with enough forward thinking. When it comes to healing your allies, you're not stuck to taking on one role or the other, either. You can exist as both at the same time if you're willing to play it safe on the backside of battle.

Skill Descriptions
Mganga's passive ability – Voodoo – is what makes the magic happen. Simple enough, it causes each of his auto-attacks and abilities to add a stack of Voodoo Mark to enemy players hit. With a single stack causing continuous damage over time for a short period, reaching the stack max of 5 will multiply that by an appropriate amount. But it isn't just a way to see enemies die off once they think they're safe – Mganga's poison stacks are used for something  a little more flashy down the line.

Toxic is Mganga's primary cast. It hurls out a small circle of poison that slows encroaching enemies and, you guessed it, adds more Voodoo Marks the longer they're in there. Its overall damage is tick-based – much like the stacks – so your aim is to have your opponent stay in there as long as possible to accumulate more over time.

Fortunate Gift will be one of your most spam-friendly abilities. The frontal projectile can hit any number of targets along its trajectory healing any allies hit and damaging anything else. Again, it'll add a Voodoo Mark thanks to Mganga's passive ability – except these can stack on your allies, too, for a reason we'll explain below.

Mganga's coup de grace is Detonation – a move that's as powerful as it sounds. It may not look like much when used in a low-key situation, but popped in the vacinity of an enemy suffering from a full stack of Voodoo Marks and the pain becomes obvious.

Once used, every ally and enemy champion in a wide area around Mganga will take damage multiplied by the amount of Voodoo Mark stacks floating above their heads. With enough Ability Power, this has the potential to cripple multiple targets in a teamfight or quickly finish off a bunch who are attempting to retreat. Allies caught in the blast will be healed by an amount multiplied by the Marks accumulated by recent hits of Fortunate Gift. Thanks to its short cooldown, it's a move that can quickly turn the tide of a team battle or slaughter any opponent who dares stick around with too many Voodoo Marks above them.

Skill Order
Choosing when to level up specific skills varies between rounds when it comes to Mganga thanks to his dual-role personality. If the team is clearly in need of a Support type, it's best to work on reducing the cooldown of Fortunate Gift; this way you're more likely to hit enemies from the back while potentially healing your team at the same time.

If you find yourself running a lane all by yourself, however, Toxic is probably the way to go. Pick up Fortunate Gift as a way to heal yourself and quickly add another stack of Voodoo Mark to your enemy from time to time, but try to focus on making the most of Toxic's tricky placement and opening possibilities. It'll be your best friend once you're able to pick up Detonation as a few seconds in the Toxic field paired with a Fortunate Gift and auto-attack in just about any order will quickly pile up the 5 stacks needed to see their health drop to an uncomfortable amount through your Ult. Enemies rarely have time to react to the sharp decrease in health, leaving room for a plenty of follow-up opportunities.

If you're in a sticky situation before then, you can even start your retreat before triggering Detonation. Just pop it whenever you're looking to end a fight while running away. It'll be up again before you know it. 

Talents
Plenty of talent options are more than viable with Mganga; but just like any character, there are a few stand-out choices.

Heal is a preferred choice for many – especially if you're the only one taking the Support role in a match. Mganga's healing abilities may be frequently used, but they're not always guarenteed to land. Even then, your healing output is mostly down to the timing of Detonation considering Fortunate Gift doesn't heal all that much in one go. It isn't designed around keeping an ally alive for too long in a head-on collision, so having Heal ready for more hectic situations is a lifeline worth having.

Sprint is another decent choice that can even be used by newcomers who spend their first lot of coin on unlocked the cruel jester. Why? Because Mganga's getaway toolset is virtually nonexistant without a little extra help. Taking on the role of burst damage and healing means Mganaga is a shoe-in for being sniped by the enemy team. Toxic can be used to slow down the advances of a potential killer, but its small size means your chances are slim if it misses. Sprint can really help here, but only if you're not getting singled out too often.

Daze can be considered for those looking to get a little extra crown control going. It'll help with Voodoo Mark accumulation and even ensure enemies don't quickly retreat out of the range of your Detonate once you've gone ahead with setup. If nothing else, it could help remove the threat of an assassin and increase your chances of survival in a gank situation. It's a versatile skill, but there are way too many options to deem it a worthwhile solutuion for most players.

Items
Mganga benefits from a host of different stats, but it's clear Ability Power is where he shines. Unlike other mages his auto-attacks can still greatly affect the usefulness of his other abilities. It's best to grab a little Attack Speed along the way so that you're not always relying on aiming to stack Voodoo Marks. Similarly, Cooldown Speed is a big deal for both damage and healing potential.

Starting the game with a Spell Tome is usually recommended for building into Orb of the Magi. This is all well and good thanks to the bonuses occurred over time, but upgrading into Apocalpyse for similar money will give more raw power and even play into auto-attack damage used to conjure up more Voodoo Marks. Pick up Enchanted Kicks for the bonus Magic Pierce and look into grabbing Hecate's Diadem – although picking up Frosty's Revenge will be a safer bet for those still toying around with Mganga's tricks.

Holy of Holies is your end-game wish for its colossal +400 Ability Power and 1400 HP boon. Before this, however, look to Zweihander if you're having trouble stacking Voodoo Marks through your abilities. Its auto-attack speed boost and AP scaling should help. Basically, pile on as much Ability Power as possible while boosting your survivability. With high damage and support potential, the longer you're out in the field, the better off your allies will be.

Arcana
When it comes to Arcana it's best to consider the Red slots as your raw killing potential. Fill them with Ability Power upgrades with the occassional Attack Speed to increase your likilhood to attaining that all-important fifth Voodoo Mark from a distant swing of your stick.

Purple slots are a little more open-ended. HP+ can help in a variety of situations – especially in the early game when 1v1 bursts are the main plays – while Magic Life Steal can massively increase your time on the battlefield in well-fought team fights as well as increasing your survivabiltiy in unfavourable matchups whether you're running for the hills or facing the challenge head on. Remember; these are only minor increases. The stat bonuses of any Arcana slot will rarely net you a kill you otherwise wouldn't have achieved. They just remove a little guesswork from guaging the effecivness of your opponent. Balancing between the two would be best for most players, but you're free to prioritise one over the other depending on the habits you notice in your matches.

As for Green slots, pile in the Armor and Magic Pierce in the Tier 1 days. Higher level players should be dodging most of the situations that call for these choices and can instead bolster Attack/Ability Speed through Tier 2 and 3 Arcana that should help with their harrassing capabilities. 

Early Game
The laning phase is really where Mganga makes a life decision. If laning on his own, he's perfectly capable of killing off any opponent who stays within his Toxic zone long enough. Typically those retreating in these favorable situations will die to the Voodoo passive poison along the way – so don't worry too much about chancing them into situations where you're susceptible to Jungle ganks or Tower mishaps – unless you feel like suprising someone by picking Silence and shutting off their tower to continue the assault.

You're essentially looking to out-pace your opponent's strength if laning on your own. Go for harrassment if laning against a single opponent, but try to focus on growing your income with creep if you're in a 1v2 lane for whatever reason. If it's a fair 2v2 matchup, attempt to keep the enemy at bay with frequent puddles of Toxic while dealing additional minion damage and healing your ally with Fortunate Gift. Again, you're looking to outpace your opponent. One early death could set your growth back further than you think as your burst capabilities will deminish if your survivability does. You're no good against towers, either, so focus on keeping allies safe by keeping your enemies away.

Mid Game
This is where Mganaga really starts to demonstrate the fruits of the fight. If you've been laning alone, you're probably becoming strong enough to start traveling around a little. Rather than focusing your miniscule attack power onto a turret , use the downtime of your own lane to help your allies push out another.

By using the river or the opposing Jungle, you're typically able to sneak into the midlane and land Toxic right underneath the enemy; two or more targets is even better. If your allies join in for the fight, try to line up Fortunate Gift so that you accumlate an extra stack on everyone involved. Pop 'Heal' if  you have it to prolong the fight and allow for more Voodoo Mark accumulation time. Then once enough stacks have piled up, set off your Detonation. Hopefully you'll secure the kills yourself or give your allies enough extra health to finish the job.

Even if you spent most of your time acting in the Support role as Mganga up to now, you'll begin to notice how his unique skillset allows him to play both roles perfectly fine. You can certainly focus on one over the other, but the  thought process brought on by his abilities affecting allies and enemies in opposite ways means you're typically better off just scaring your opponents with massive damage and seeing your teammates heal up because of it.

Late Game
It's really time to start sticking to the back of your group like glue now. Though your powers are likely as strong as ever, Mganga's lack of natural defenses will start to show.

Mganga's toolset shares a common range, meaning each of his abilities are just as effective close-range and they are at a distance. You can use this to your advantage by keeping yourself out of harms way while still dishing out the damage and healing your allies by throwing Fortunate Gift through them and into enemy territory.

As mentioned earlier, Mganga suffers with lower mobility compared to most other champions. Toxic can be used to slow approaching enemies as a secondary bonus, but a slim radius reduces the chance of it performing its job. Throwing it out there and hitting nobody means your assailant is likely still hot on your tail while you have virtually no way of fighting back thanks to a wasted ability. That's why it's best to stay within range of both sides in a teamfight so that your allies are on hand to help out against a ganker while you're still able to use your abilities to rack up stacks on both friend and foe.

But don't focus on pure damage at this point. With a fairly unique way of healing the team, Mganga's low cooldown and massive reserves of mana mean he's easily capable of extending the whole team's time on the battlefield. Grabbing the Blue Buff from the Jungle helps further, with Red Buff adding another extra sting to his frequent AOE hits if you've pushed far enough ahead to annex the enemy Jungle. Don't always aim for a full stack of Voodoo Marks before triggering Detonation, either. If your alllies are in need of health, popping it after a couple Fortunate Gifts can make all the difference. Besides, you'll be able to use it again in around 12 seconds, so it's really something you should learn to keep on cooldown. Just play it safe and be there for the team. Your presence alone is enough.

FAQ/Tips
Healing marks are noticably harder to stack than Voodo Marks. You can afford to be generous when detonating these for the good of your team's health.

Try to hit as many characters with Fortunate Gift as possible. It doesn't travel far, but it makes a difference to everything it hits.

Use the slowdown effect of Toxic to sneak a few auto-attacks into the enemy. This will help accumluate Voodoo Marks even quicker.

Detonate affects everything with a stack in a wide circle around Mganga. Focus on what's around you rather than simply in front.

Don't be afraid of triggering Detonate without a fully marked player around. Any damage or healing is helpful. You'll usually be able to use it again before amassing full stacks.

Matchups
Mganga is more than capable of tackling most opponents in a 1v1 scenario if played well, but there are certainly plenty of champions capable of stopping him short.

Known for his burst damage, anyone capable of out-running Mganga's barrage will give him a rough time. Tanks will typically shrug off most of his attacks, too. Champions like Butterfly and her incredibly fast movements will typically dodge most of what makes Mganga' a formiddable opponent thanks to his reliance on accumulating Voodoo Marks as quick as possible. Without them, he's essentially useless to all but his allies. Rush in from a safe place and silence his abilitiy to send out Toxic underfoot. If you're a true assassin type, you may be able to burst him down before your follow the same fate.

When playing Mganga, however, look at targeting any ranged attackers; these are the types typically standing still to make use of their own attack power. They're sitting ducks for your Voodoo Mark abilities. Stack 5 with an auto-attack for good measure, Detonate and see them scurry away. Sneak in another auto-attack to apply poison once more and there's a good chance they'll succumb to their injuries along the way. Pair with Alice to make solid use of her damage amplifying Hissy Fit for some real Ace potential.