Azir Rework Direction
What follows is not my own writing - credit goes to Mekanis, link is provided - , I'm just posting here for the sake of visibility. It sums up my own opinions perfectly anyway, so here is:
The way they say it, it seems that they're trying to at least diminish one of the trinity of Mobility, Range, and Burst. So let's try to think of what can happen.
Kept : Range, Burst. Most likely option is that they rework the E to either remove the Shurima Shuffle, or rework it entirely. We now have a fairly standard long-range, alla Vel'Koz, Lux or (ironic, considering their mutual hate in the lore) Xerath. Advantages : Azir would keep his hypercarry status ; Azir would become more vulnerable in lane (especially to ganking), but keep his lane pressure ; Skill floor would be lower, which is a rather good thing. Disadvantages : The Shurima Shuffle may very well have been a bug at the beginning, but it's now a central part in Azir's identity ; it would remove flashy plays (Shurima Shuffle -> Divide is a central part of "da playz" with Azir) ; Azir would be put in a relatively crowded niche, even if he keeps his specificity (AA-AP based).
Kept : Burst, Mobility. Most likely option here is a reduced range on the Q, maybe on the E and on Soldier's AA. That would put Azir in a weird spot, in a way at the opposite of where he is now. It would put him in a caterory similar to Cassiopeia. Advantages : Would provide counter-play options for the enemy team in late game ; would keep the power plays we all love. Disadvantages : Gutting his range would dramatically affect Azir's power all over the board, possibly removing his Hypercarry status ; laning power would be down, especially against long range champ ; a rework going this way would need huge amounts of work and tweaking (on survivability for example) for our favorite bird not to melt down at the first spell once in range.
Kept : Range, mobility. Most likely option here is the removal of Q damage. Azir still keep a largely similar profile to the present one, with a playstyle much more similar to AD carries. Advantages : Would remove his "lane bully" status, which Riot expressed dissatisfaction with ; would keep him an Hypercarry ; extremely good way to sharpen his identity as THE AA-based AP carry ; would keep the power plays. Disadvantages : During the laning phase, some match-ups would be straight-up nightmarish, and loosing Midlane is highly punishing ; would generally make Azir unable to effectively 1vs1 without his ult ; would probably become incredibly fragile against Assasin's.
**Conclusion **: Of the 3 options, I would prefer his burst to go, but I still have concerns about his viability in Midlane without it. Removing Mobility would make Azir lose a defining part of his identity ; and removing Range would be IMHO only a possibility in a large rework.
I agree wholeheartedly, and definitely think the issue with Azir is his Q damage. For those who aren't aware, there's a build specifically designed to abuse this that is growing in popularity. It invests no attack speed from items or runes until 6th item, if at all. I think that removing Q damage, while not the only change that would be necessary, is the key to fixing Azir, and the follow on possibilities created by this change would make balancing and tuning him infinitely easier,while preserving the core thematics and playstyles we know and love, and the ones he was/has been balance around since creation.