@Riot: Viktor's problem from someone who used him for many years

I used to main this champion. After he got nerfed around the end of Season 5, i kind of stopped playing him. No, it was not because he felt underpowered or no longer an overpowered champion. Mostly, it was because by the end of season 5, he really became popular. Since then, Viktor has received indirectly, or direct nerfs to his play style to the point that he now is in a horrible spot.

So Riot, please listen to a person who played this champion for many games and has a mastery 7 on him

During season 5, Viktor excelled for these following reasons. Some will and definitely were OP.

1. Rylai's was a good item then. Viktor used this item to near perfection thanks to his kit. He was a nightmare to deal with for champions that couldn't stick to targets. A Darius even with ghost wouldn't be able to catch you. You can literally force even ADC champions into trading thanks to this items.
2. Viktor's E (Death Ray)'s augment ability really did give him a nice burst. Unless a champion was really mobile, the secondary ray would almost always land on the target.
3. Viktor's ultimate had high upfront damage while low damage over time. It meant that champions he can force into trade with his Rylai's were also likely going to take a full hit from his ultimate and likely his E. You weren't rewarded for sticking to a target, you were rewarded for bursting a target.
4. Viktor's E (Death Ray) as soon as you picked it up with a doran's ring was able to instantly wave clear non cannon minions.
5. Viktor's first upgrade was 1,000 gold.

Since then, each one of these things were nerfed which effected him.

1. Rylai's was nerfed
2. The secondary ray is now delayed that everyone's grandma can now dodge without any mobility
3. Viktor's damage was on his ultimate was heavily nerfed (50%+)
4. The Ray now cannot wave clear an entire minion way unless you are massively ahead
5. The first upgrade cost was increase by 250 gold

There were no actual buffs to him to compensate for so many nerfs. Mind you, Viktor wasn't the best in lane. He was strong because he can stall the lane if he was losing to the point that he can scale. Once he scaled (mid and late game), he can easily kill ADC's and kite many melee champions.

Today, is a different meta. LCS casters talk about 2 items spikes on ADC's. Hell, just this week, the LCS caster said the magic number for an ADC to spike is **2 F****ing items. **. Most mid lane champions are all in champions (assassins) or long range champions (Zoe, Xerath, Azir) who Viktor doesn't do well again. More importantly, the champions he used to deal with decently (ADC) can now out trade him because they actually spike harder than he does. Trying to trade against a Vayne/Trist with 2 items is very hard since they will crit you for more than you can do to them. It only gets worse as the game continues. The other types of champions he performed well against was bruisers (Darius) aren't seen much lately.

So Riot because you start buffing Viktor, don't just start reverting things that will make him a problem again. Instead, build on what Viktor really needs. it's quite apparently, you don't want him burst champions or stalling games anymore. With that in mind, I propose the following changes

1. His W (AOE slow/stun) should work similarly to what Ahri's charm does. Amplify damage to targets that got stunned. Give him a window to actually burst someone down. His burst is horrible now. Playing Viktor now, you are almost guaranteed to get hit hard if you even try trading with the silly Q.
2. His Q/W should also grant damage increase for his ultimate. This way, if a Viktor player can land W into Q/E, and then his ultimate, he can get higher burst numbers.
3. LOWER THE DAMN COST OF THE FIRST UPGRADE. 1,250 is a huge cost for upgrade when majority of mids get an upgrade at 850.