@ZenonTheStoic: Congrats on Taliyah pt. 2 [Gameplay Design]
Pt. 1 here, where I discuss her theme
So the mage update just came out, and has been met with mixed-to-negative reviews, from what I've been reading on Boards (personal theory: Riot deliberately undershot this update given how overtuned the past two class updates were. EDIT: Called it). In any case, some of those reviews seem to have attached to our newest (yet-to-be-released) mage, Taliyah, where I've seen a few threads and comments come up saying she's weak/underpowered/a copy of other champion's abilities, and few-to-no threads or comments saying the opposite. So let's get into it:
First off, let's get the numbers issue out of the way (if you don't care about this part and just want to hear me gush about how cool her design is, skip to the next section). This is not meant to be a balance discussion, more illustrative than anything, because 1) her numbers are still subject to change, being on PBE for about a day so far, and 2) there are a ton of variables that go into how much damage she actually does, which I'll go into in the next section.
As a bench-mark, let's take everyone's least favorite bear mage, Annie. Currently, a full rotation (Q + W + R, in whatever order) of a lvl 18 Annie's spells does 870+2.3AP damage, Tibbers will do 20+0.1AP damage per second, plus 100+0.15AP per auto attack at 275% AS when enraged. By comparison, Taliyah's rotation (E -> W + full Q + E detonation) under the absolute-best-case-scenario maxes out at 1280+3.3AP. Her full Q alone does 420+1.2AP, which is slightly more than a max range Nidalee spear (390+1.2AP). If you factor in some Tibbers DPS, based purely on numbers, total damage will roughly equal out.
What most people saying Taliyah has low damage point to is that her Q on worked land only does 140+0.4AP damage, and her initial E cast only does 180+0.4AP damage, and where her Q circles take over space for a long time and her E takes a long time to proc, her damage seems to fall off. Again, this isn't a balance thread, so I won't go further into number crunching. My point here is that, given the right circumstances, Taliyah absolutely deals damage. But that's the key: "given the right circumstances."
Now to the actual thread, the part where I gush about her gameplay. As with the previous thread on her theme, I'll focus mostly on her Q, but for different reasons: 1) I think a textual understanding of her EW combo is pretty straightforward (you shove people into your E for tons of damage) and the in-game nuances are hard to explain without pictures, 2) her R has a ton of intricacies that I have yet to understand, and 3) her Q is just so freaking cool.
A TL;DR of my thread on her theme is that she's an earth mage, and the way she interacts with the map is really what defines her gameplay, rather than any superficial cast paradigm of her spells. In that way, she is deceptively complex, and relies much more on strategy and spatial awareness than raw mechanical skill. As a control mage, she, like Heimerdinger, establishes a zone of control, but, unlike Heimerdinger, she is actually "weaker" while she's in that zone. While she gets great utility in the MS buff from her zone, her Q damage is markedly weaker, becoming more of a farming/light harass tool thanks to the mana refund. To maximize her damage, therefore, you'll want to venture to "un-worked" ground and cast your Q from there. Unlike Heimerdinger and many other control mages, Taliyah is encouraged to constantly expand and modify her zone of control, giving her a very dynamic interaction with the terrain and the map, as an earth mage should. The map becomes a resource for her, where, just as you try to maximize your mana, you'll want to maximize your land-use and space-efficiency. As an earth mage should.
This is the brilliance of this spell. This is what will make-or-break a Taliyah player. It's not just knowing when and what direction to cast your ability, it's from where you cast the ability, and how that cast will affect your overall zone control in the future, which will either leave you dancing circles around your opponent, or scrambling to find some untapped land. (@ZenonTheStoic: if you're reading this far, and haven't seen my comment on the PBE, this is where a timer for your circles is so necessary). This is where the MS boost on worked land comes in; it's there to help you transition to un-worked land, to modify and manage your zone control. If you stretch your control too far or use your space inefficiently, you'll either be outputting poor damage for a while, putting yourself in increasingly dangerous positions, or simply out of range of your spell. Manage your space well, and your reward is immense.
Here's why I'm so excited about Taliyah. My favorite champion is Orianna; she's a walking chess board, and one of the most beautiful and elegant examples of champion design in the roster. I see something similar in Taliyah; a chess board, except in an entirely different way than Orianna. With Orianna, you have two points of control, where you use the two to force your opponent into losing positions, "checkmate", if you will. With Taliyah, you have one point of control, but you're creating and controlling the chess board. It's beautifully subtle, deceptively complex, and oh so rewarding. And that's just her Q.
So. Zenon. Bravo. I look forward to the many losses while I learn this marvel of a champion.