AZIR + TALIYAH: Ideas/Discussion to improve the health of DZK's Shurima Mages!

Alien Kink VR·12/2/2016, 5:20:39 PM·5 votes·904 views

Hello, friends! It's no secret, nor does it go without discussion that Azir and Taliyah are in really rough shape right now. As my two favorite champions in the game it really sucks to have them in such weak spots, but I'll admit practicing Azir and getting solid bearings on him in his prime gave me entirely too much power and for the most part free LP. With the impending Ryali's nerf, I don't even see them as picks I can take into ranked without receiving mild hostility from my allies. I do have a few ideas/heard an idea that I'd like peer reviewed.

AZIR DZK himself planted this idea in my head during a brief discussion on twitter and I actually thought it to be a great idea, but I'm gold NA garbo so we will take that with several grains of salt. The idea was diminished Attack Speed rewards, not too different from what Jhin experiences. With the coming small W CD buff, it would be fitting. You get less DPS, but each attack from a sand soldier is worth more. Thematic to a zone control mage, a tad less of a nightmare to lane against, but enough power to be relevant in the first 20 minutes. This would mean a Morello's opening would likely replace the Nashor's and the Mana pool to supplement using W more frequently wouldnt feel terrible against enemies with a substantial amount of mobility.

TALIYAH Also on the forecast for some serious pain in the wake of the Ryali's nerfs, Taliyah is already weak enough as it is. My proposition is very simple. Give threaded volley a bit of a dmg buff, nothing too serious, and give a bit more movement speed while casting Q+while traversing worked ground.

Azir Taliyah Two of the lowest winrates in the game, but always #1 in my heart. Build some walls and make Shurima great again!

6 Comments

Kharn Skyshatter12/2/2016, 5:43:43 PM3 votes

I'd argue that Azir should move the power off his Q and into his W. He's healthier if he was about sustained damage and a monster if late game hit, but right now most mages hit a mid game power spike that keeps them stronger than Azir was (Syndra and Viktor). Orianna currently does Azir's zone control better than he does right now while providing a lot of utility and high burst in AoE formats.

Leo102412/2/2016, 5:26:32 PM2 votes

if taliyah got movement speed on her Q like Ahri, i'd be happy

Rockm Sockm12/2/2016, 7:39:38 PM1 votes

Azir:

Passive-worthless. Riot is buffing to placate people but it's actually a Nerf if you put even more of his power budget in it. Q-fine W- I like the changes, remove mana cost. Increase scaling of soldiers late game auto damage. E-fine R- revert size and time nerf so he can be that anti dive, zone control mage

No mana cost on W means he can last through lane phase easily. He can't build mana early.

R revert is necessary because they are dumpstering his core item Rylai. He is severely limited in in build paths.

He can't make use if any of the new hextech items effectively.

inplane12/2/2016, 9:44:07 PM1 votes

Taliyah's E and W need the most help. Her Q and R are already very powerful if she can scale well into mid game. Her E and W become progressively useless as time passes. E becomes a joke against anyone with moderate Magic Resistance. W is just frustratingly hard to aim with against competent players mostly due to the click-and-drag input delay of Vector Casting.

Her E needs meaningful CC. Riot Zenon specified that he does not want E to punish through high damage, so let it punish through powerful CC. Something like a heavy slow or a Poppy W effect once a mine is triggered. Something that makes enemies go "Oh shit. I can't go there." and not "Lel wtf is this shit. Dashdashdashdashdash." This would make up for the Rylais nerf since Taliyah lacks any hard CC besides her unreliable W.

Her W just needs a minor tweak. Make it cast when the arrow is being dragged instead of when it is dragged and released. This gets rid of the obnoxious input delay and allows the vertical knockup once again.