Riot, Please Don't Do to Ekko What Was Done to Azir

It took a day and a half, but I finally managed to get access to the PBE client to test out Ekko. Only played him in two custom matches, seeing as I knew there was zero chance of being able to play him in co-op, but he brings to the game something that few champions do, at least for me: sheer fun. The last champion released that I felt that way about? Azir. Before the nerfs. He's still fun now, don't get me wrong, but now I'd only choose him for that reason alone, as I'm certainly not doing it with a win in mind. Even prior to the nerfs, he was boom or bust for me because, like with many champions rage about, it's one thing to play him effectively and another thing entirely to "master" him, given the complexity of his kit.

Ekko reminds me a lot of LeBlanc and Zed, and so I'm expecting similar discussions of him being "OP" and in need of nerfing once he's gone live. His ult is similar to the most hated part of Zed's kit, his ult, in that he can overextend with relative safety. With boots, your past self trails behind you far enough that you could run up mid lane, ult upon reaching the second turret, and be transported back behind your inhibitor turret. That's not even taking into account the increased distance he could travel if an E was thrown in there as well. Moreover, his ult can conceivably be more deadly than Zed's if he ults back to grouped enemies who are also low, and if he also leads off with a W prior so they're also stunned and at point-blank range for his Q (which will only keep them locked down longer), an E, and/or AAs to utilize his passive.

The rest of his kit I don't see being as controversial. His Q is Ahri's, but with a longer return time and an 80% slow. His W takes 3 seconds, making it easy to dodge. You almost have to combo it for it to land. Q to slow, W, then dash in with E. Or just W+E. And his E is basically Ezreal's Arcane Shift with some slight modifications. Nothing stands out, at least not to me, as "broken" or "OP." It's his kit combined that makes him both deadly and fun to play. You can pick up basic combos like the rapid fire QWE pretty easily, but I know stuff like that only scratches the surface, just like I know that it'll take me forever to come anywhere near mastering a champion like Zed.

Or, for that matter, any of the champions I find most fun, as they all tend to be along those same lines (ex. Lee Sin, Zed, LeBlanc, Shaco, Azir). And Ekko is a sure bet to join them. So please, if you do end up nerfing him somewhere down the line, at least be kind enough to give him the Lee Sin/Zed/LeBlanc treatment instead of the Azir treatment. Those three have all gotten nerfed in some fashion without falling off the map like Azir did, going from one of the top bans (briefly) to one of the worst win rates in the game. LeBlanc had her silence removed, Zed's going to have a 1 second delay on reactivating his ult, and Lee Sin has had a nerf here and there, and all 3 are still big enough pests for people to complain about them constantly despite their win rates not really being that scary. So please follow those examples.

EDIT: I await all the downvotes, especially since I invoked the names of Zed, LeBlanc, and Lee Sin...