New Karma Players Need to Understand Why Old Karma Was Better
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l59mZOi0NBc
I know New and Support Karma players are very stubborn and do not want anything to be done to her. What you guys need to understand is that, despite the constant removal of actual gameplay identity abilities by Developers, Karma is nothing without her number buffs. If I champion has to be buffed so much for the past 5 years, there is a problem with the work that was done on her. The proof is in the exact state of Karma right now. Yet again, Developers had to buff her numbers to get Karma to a place where she isn't oppressive in worlds and is still playable. How can Karma do that as a Mage when she is outclassed as a Mage and only has one damage move? How can Karma be a successful and Unique Support when the entire function of her Mantra E already exists in the game as item actives and there are Supports that outclass her? No matter how you look at this champion, the problems lie down to a gameplay identity level. Karma just gets outdone in everything she tries to do by other champions. Zyra does more damage and poke damage. Nami and Lulu are better at protecting their allies than Karma. Janna and Sona are better with CC and disengage than Karma. Karma is just really not good at anything and she isn't unique at all. The problem is she has NO gameplay identity to do that.
Karma's old kit she could deal damage with basic Q but in a fight also heal with Mantra Q if need be. Paired with her old Passive, Karma could make extremely tactful plays to bait enemies into fights. Karma's old W and Mantra W was by far better than the abused mess we have now. It is actually better than the new ally Mechanic that Mantra W will have, for similar over powered ally mechanics Ryze, Sejuani and Kalista have that puts them constantly in a nerfed state. Karma's E was protection but it also could deal damage with Mantra E. There was a damage component but also a protective component to Karma's basic abilities and Mantra abilities. Current Karma is 10x worse than old Karma because there is just one usage with Mantra now and it's just an upgraded version of the basic ability. Before there was her basic abilities but Mantra abilities that did the same thing but also added something unique to the Mantra like healing, damage, or more an ally function with CC. That's gone with Karma now and she is outclassed by so many champions that do her basic abilities and Mantra abilities much better.
What was unique about Old Karma is she was a champion that could combo different Mantra and basic abilities into one another. If she had this identity today, minus the passive, Karma wouldn't be as strong as a Soraka healing or Lulu protection. What Karma would be good at though is having the ability to combo a Q, healing Mantra Q, with a damage Mantra E to make flashy and interesting plays that no other champion could do. That is because she could use her Mantra to combo into different effects her Mantar abilities have with basic abilities.
The new rework Karma is getting more front loaded damage on to her Mantra Q that is blocked by anything first hit, will most likely be nerfed because of how powerful the new Mantra W will be, makes the explosion of Mantra Q useless now, and makes her even more unbearable to play against. The issue was never having the ability to damage as Karma. The issue was always the functionality of her only damage option and having only one damage option. Instead Karma could have a Mantra Q that is not inflated with so much damage, is ground targetted, and remove the healing from Mantra W and place it on the explosion of Mantra Q instead.
The Mantra W will be broken and dicate all future nerfs and complications with Karma. On top of that, the new Mantra W mechanic makes entirely no sense on a champion like Karma when it makes more sense on a champion like Zilean. For similair champions like Sejuani, Kalista and Ryze who all have parts of their kits that require allies to be useful and is overpowered in coordinated teams, Karma will have this new Mantra W that requires her to have an ally and use the new mehcanic in coordinated and useful teams. There is no and, if or buts about the ability. This ability will single handedly making Karma broken, unfair to play against, and dictate what is, again, nerfed on Karma. Karma will be in the never ending state Kalista, Ryze and Sejuani are in. Just give her an ally mechanic that has to deal with redirecting damage back at enemies from allies.
Mantra E is the most unorginal and bland excuse of an ability in the game. Meddler is very gunhoe on keeping this original and iconic ability on Karma, but he fails to see that is offers nothing else that another champion already does and what an item actives already does. Every champion can do what Karma's Mantra E does. Bringing back her old Shield Bomb is not the answer too. Shield Bomb was removed for no reason and placed on a new champion. It pains me to see something that was much better and more iconic on Karma taken away and put on something new and flashy. There are so many direction the Developers could take with Mantra E like a massive shield place don the floor that increases ally and Karma damage in the field, allowing Mantra E to only speed up allies but destoy, damage and explode all shields active on the field, or even use old Shield Bomb but sperate the stats of it so it does more damage when AP is buit but less strength of the shield if she doesn't build shield enchancing items. Remember, abilities that already exist in the game from champions and two item actives means that Mantra E is the best ability on Karma. It was also buffed and nerfed more than once for the past 5 years and remains the single reason why Karma is ever relavent in the game. If an ability has to be buffed to the point that it makes Karma relvanet in the game, there is a problem with the ability and kit.
