The geniality beneath the gameplay design in Mordekaiser´s rework (large post)
Until now i had considered Yoricks rework to be the best Riot had done when addapting a champion to modern times or make him really work in his role by fixing his design.
Now, with 
rework, im happy to say its the second time they do this.
A lot of people is pledging about his skins not having different particles, being unseized potential in some themes (wheres the concert in pentakill skin when morde ults..?) or his lore, wich has been turned into something just worse... well, you are right. And i expect some upgrades there until he comes to live game.
But im talking about gameplay here. The design of the abilities.
Mordekaiser´s moveset just makes him fun, a real juggernaut (his role), usefull in the correct situations and tributes the both old versions of the champion. All at the same time.
Lets begin by quickly remembering how old mordekaiser (pre 2015 and after) used to work.
As for the passive, i think we all know it. You deal damage, you get a temporal shield. That was core for both versions. Our beloved IRON MAN.
Then we got 2 version of the Q. The first was an empowered autoattack wich dealt damage to the objetive and transpassed damage to nearby enemies. If the objetive was alone, he got additional damage. The other Q was 3 empowered autoattacks dealing magic damage (a lot, btw)
W was iconic as well. Unleash a metal shards storm dealing damage to all nearby enemies. After 2015 it could also be used in allies and reactivated to heal mordekaiser.
At last, but not less important, we have the E. A cone dealing magic damage. For those werent here or cant remember, this was the first abilitiy to level up in the first version of mordekaiser, used to harass the enemy in lane. After 2015 remained the same (except for a balance change in the damage and its hitbox)
Now lets see how riot managed to get all of this into the new mordekaiser at the same time they made him a real juggernaut and funny to play.
The problem Q had its mordekaiser was supposed to be a juggernaut. That means DPS. However, this abilitiy gave burst. How is this fixed? making the ability deal less damage but with all autoattacks. Whats the problem? this has no interaction. The player doesnt have to do anything except autoattack. Its nonsense put an ability you just activate (or not even that) and just works. At least 
W needs 3 autos to trigger, and i perfectly understand why they didnt want to pass that to melee version and be blamed for copying Leoric from Hots.
Thats why they putted it into the actual passive, so its always active. Also they had the detail to make Morde´s autoattack animations so its actually satisfying and confortable using it.
They did the same with the W, in a way its activated by fighting and actually hitting your abilities. You can activate it only with autos, but will be faster, so more effective, if you land your abs correctly. This both effects give mordekaiser the DPS he needed to be a juggernaut, by recycling 2 old abilities with poor interaction into one being a passive with fair activation.
Then lets talk about the Q. Look at it. Doesnt it look similar to something? its hitbox, damage numbers, extra damage to one single objetive... scroll up to mordekaiser´s old E and his first Q. Yes. Mordekaiser´s new Q is basically a modernizated version of his old E with a detail that makes it tribute the original Q. And its so well done most players, even the ones who played old mordekaiser, may not realize. The best part is That this is the ability we are supposed to level up most of the time. Just as first mordekaisers upgraded their E and then W, we come back at the E but changed to the Q button. Maybe its just me being a moron, but i see actual genius here.
As for W, theres no much to say. They just made old passive to be activable manually, better for his role and more "fair". The fact it scales with both damage dealt and recived makes it more usefull for a character that deals and gets damage in high numbers (yep, a juggernaut), and they even made it so mordes unique heal is in this abiliy reactivation just like old W. Good one.
Then is E. Well, this ability is completely new, so not much to say. Except...
Except...
WHY ITS NOT CALLED DEATHFIRE GRASP???? I mean, the reference is MORE than clear. Are you thinking of recover the item in the future or..? really hurts to see that opportunity lost.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be1waE9myCU
And then we come to the ult. Look, i understand why you prescinded of the ghosts (and drake), and i like the new ult. However, theres a detail i want to share.
If mordekaiser kills his enemy in ult, instead of keeping the stats until respawn, why not give him some kind of untargeteable ghost that helps? Like 
, the same doesnt matter who died. I mean, one that stands by your side always like a slave and does different actions when you use your abilities until the enemy killed to get the ghost respawns. For example, when ghost is up, your Q also damages entities near to impact zone (like original Q), W creates a circle and after a second heals you a bit for every champ in it (like old W) and E, dunno, produces a slowing effect in the area where the grasp ends after using E.
Just wanted to share this last thoughs cause its the only thing i dont see completely clear in the rework.
I expect much more from the creators of this rework for future projects, and really expect to see the problems it has (skins effects...) fixed.
Thanks for reading!
