As a Vel koz player I can assure you he is in a disgusting state
Since Malzahar is unenjoyable and unplayable for me nowadays I started playing the champ who resembles him the most: Vel Koz. And just WOW! This champs is ridiculous!
Compared to Malzahar:
- I farm the lane effortlessly with my W with low mana costs.
- Better at zoning and trading.
- Almost impossible to punish. The more the game proceeds the more impossible it gets to ever catch me. If I get catched it just because I was terribly out of position.
- I can miss literally all my spells and just press R and still deal 1k true damage to multiple targets while slowing them.
- There is no need for set up or spell combo. Just spam Q and when your opponent is low press R.
- I have no needs to build Rylai since I have 2 slows already.
- I have no need for magic penetration. This means I can skip
and go straight to Rabadon. It also means I scale incredibly well. - I can also skip
and get more utility like 
or 
- Insane AoE damage
- Great at poking and kiting with his Q
- Can still 100-0 anyone at any stage of the game so you can actually roam with him and be a threat.
He is disgusting to play against. He will be my new freelo champ to diamond next season.
