Zilean's New Passive: Dope or Nope?

I don't know about anyone else, but after making a Dope or Nope list (or a pro and con list for you business types) it's been really hard to look at 's new passive in a positive light. In case, my fellow Summoners, you are not a Zilean buff, here's a knowledge bomb for ya. In the very recent past, before patch 5.20, Zilean's passive has always been some variation of the following: "Allies close to Zilean gain +8% EXP." This made him a good choice as a Support champion to regain some of that EXP split in the bot lane. However, this ability was recently changed (in patch 5.20, I believe). The new name of his passive is "Time in a Bottle", which will be shortened to TB for the remainder of this discussion. Now Zilean instead stores EXP over time with seemingly no maximum limit, and after 120 seconds, Zilean can right click on a nearby ally and give up to the amount he's stored to them. After his ally receives their bonus EXP, Zilean also receives the same amount of bonus EXP that was given. However, this ability cannot be used during combat. That's about everything you need to know about Zilean's passive, at least for this discussion. Now let's get a little opinionated.

DOPE

So what's Dope about the shiny new TB? It's FREE EXP! Who doesn't like bonus EXP just for being there? It's also pretty useful in calm situations.This makes TB somewhat useful at the start of a game. For example, if Red Team's bot lane is leashing Gromp for their jungler (unless he's ), Zilean and his ADC are spending 4 to 7 seconds fighting a neutral monster that they aren't going to recieve any EXP for while Blue Team's bot lane is already making progress in lane and getting EXP from minions. This would normally put Red Team at a mild disadvantage since Blue Team would level up first, but TB will balance this out a little bit. After leashing, 120 seconds will have passed, meaning TB will have cooled down and some EXP will be available to Zilean and his ADC on the way to lane from the Gromp camp, making the difference in EXP between teams a little less worrisome.

Suppose Zilean and his ADC both go back to base (or Zilean goes back and another teammate is there shopping), and TB is up. Well howdy-doody, that's free EXP Zilean and his teammate get just for buying swag.

NOPE

There's a lot of not so good things to say about TB, and from my perspective a lot of them stem from the inability to use it during combat. Whether Zilean or his nearby teammates are attacking or defending, being in combat will put a stop to TB for a short time. The cooldown for TB is already 120 seconds, but Zilean's teammates can actually extend the cooldown time by several seconds each time they attack or are attacked by an enemy champion. Each time Zilean or an ally in TB's range uses any spell or gets in a fight with an enemy champ, TB immediately goes on cooldown for 10 seconds. If Zilean or an ally were to attack or be attacked while he was casting TB, the cooldown for TB will again be 120 seconds whether he gave them 2 or 200 EXP. I have personally had games where I had nearly 1K EXP stored up (it takes about 15 to 17 minutes to store that much, so it's not that OP), but throughout the game I gave out less than 100 EXP because of how interruptable TB is.

I already gave TB a bit of praise on how it can be used early game, but I use the word "useful" a little loosely. I mentioned it can be used in base, but that's pretty much the only place it can be used without interruption. Even then, the amount of EXP Zilean has to offer is usually insignificant. The rate at which TB stores EXP throughout the game is about the equivalent of 1 to 2 minions every 120 seconds, so even if Zilean can cast it every time it becomes available, the amount of EXP he can give at that point won't do a whole lot, especially if he tries to give some to other teammates (not just his ADC).

Zilean's old passive was great because it was just that, passive. It wasn't something the player had to actively set up an opportunity for away from the fight. It's hard enough setting up moments like that even in duo queue, but to have to set anything up with a stranger communicating only through chat whose play style may not agree with that plan is another challenge added on top of the challenge of TB's interruptablility. I kinda touched on how the EXP bonus every 120 seconds will be about the same as the EXP of a single minion. This makes TB less usable than Zilean's old passive. In the brief history I gave in the introduction to this discussion, I mentioned that the EXP bonus used to be passively +8% for nearby champions. What if I told you that - wait for it - . . . . The 8% bonus EXP from each minion at each level amounts to an extra .6 to 1.9 minions from levels 1 through 17. What does that mean? In number terms, the extra 8% of EXP from each minion will, at level 1, add up to be 60% of the total EXP gained from a single minion, and the extra 8% of EXP from each minion will, at level 17, add up to be about 190% of the total EXP gained from a single minion. That means TB will optimally give out the same amount of bonus EXP as Zilean's old passive, however the usability has gone down. Unlike before, TB can be interrupted, put on hold, and possibly gone for a whole game without being cast. Now Zilean's team has to coordinate and cooperate with him in order to receive a bonus that is now basically a 5th spell with a long cooldown.

Zilean is a pretty powerful champion who can do a lot more than most Summoners give him credit for. He can support his teammates, push lanes out, and even carry a game all the while making sure his team gets rewarded for the efforts. I understand that some champions need nerfing (cough cough ahem) from time to time, but a nerf should be something that slightly lowers base stats or makes someone think twice about diving under tower alone for a triple kill (ahem cough ahem). But when when a passive ability is taken away or made less usable in a game where every champion has their own unique passive talents, all that does is put that champion at a disadvantage. A 5th spell is not the answer for . The answer Chronoshift; use Chronoshift on Zilean's old passive. Make him do less work than he already does for the team.

END

So what are some of your opinions on this, fellow Summoners? Do you think Zilean's new passive is a good balance, or do you think the old passive is where it's at? Be sure to vote down below, and leave any questions or comments you have in the section below. I am Isaac Trace Hawk, and peace out.