I like the Trend Towards Conditional Mobility :)

Hello everyone! Today I want to share my thoughts on a pretty controversial topic:

Recently I've noticed numerous complaints about "mobility creep" and how it has a tendency to push out immobile champions or limit viable strategies. Many also believe this problem is only amplified by the recent releases of hyper-mobile champions like Yasuo, Rek'Sai, and Kalista. However, these recent releases trend towards "conditional mobility" which has much healthier influence on the game as it can be played around.

Yasuo's Sweeping Blade requires him to be near enemy units and the dash will always travel the full distance, regardless of where he wanted to end up. Like many other dashes, it can be interrupted by airborne or knock-back statuses and, unlike other dash skills, can even be stopped by stuns, snares, and suppression. This causes him to make meaningful decisions about how he interacts with his opponents and how his opponents can outplay him. This type of conditional mobility offers a great combination of strategic and technical counterplay. For example, choosing to stand away from the minion wave limits his ability to engage, otherwise, a player with quick reflexes can abuse the fact that he must complete the full dash to run him straight into crowd control effects.

Rek'Sai's ability to move around the map is due largely to her tunnels and the speed she gains while burrowed. These tunnels can be cleared out by the opposing team. Increased movement speed, while powerful, is much easier to deal with and kite than instant relocation or targeted dashes/blinks. Players can take advantage of her burrowed vision's mechanics to ambush her or bait her into unfavorable fights.

Kalista's Martial Poise, while admittedly a little over the top, does follow similar design restrictions in that her mobility is largely dependent on having a target to auto-attack. That doesn't mean there aren't any countermeasures that one can take when fighting her! The wind-up for her attacks is slow early-game and her opponents can take advantage of the delay to land important skill shots.

The upcoming champion, Bard, is another great example of this trend in conditional mobility! While the ability to create a passage through terrain obstacles for his entire team is an invaluable tool, its use is quite intriguing! Magical Journey offers enemies the ability to chase, could potentially prevent the fleeing team from turning on their assailants should the opportunity arise (considering the passage's one-way nature), and, when used as an engage, leaves those who venture through without a way to safety. Even Caretaker's Shrine, which provides a speed buff, requires some level of forethought to make the most use of it. Drop it right at the base of the tower to use it solely for sustain? Leave them throughout the jungle to help yourself and your allies roam around the map and replenish health? You could even drop them in the middle of the lane behind you for a speedy escape should the enemy jungler show up.

Now, this wasn't intended to be a guide on how to deal with these champions (I'm sure the majority of you are fully competent players), but I just wanted to highlight the inherit counterplay with these forms of conditional mobility and try to explain to everyone that (in my opinion) mobility creep may not be all that bad as long as there are sufficient limitations in place or trade-offs made for the extra power. Honestly, I like this trend, and, while I don't know what lies in store for older champions (and I disagree with some of the recent changes), I applaud Riot for their efforts and hope to see what they'll bring in the future!

I'll be happy to discuss this with all of you so please leave your thoughts on the matter! What are your ideas of fair design? How much power do you really think mobility provides? In what scenarios or combinations of effects is mobility healthy (for example, some mobility, like Talon's Cutthroat, is used almost exclusively for the mobile aspect and less for the secondary effect, whereas a champion like LeBlanc might have to choose between using Distortion as a part of her burst combo or as a gap-closer/relocation tool)?

Also, by extension, what are your thoughts on mobility's timeless counter, crowd control? Does an overall increase in mobility require a balancing increase in crowd control, or do you think that would further stifle less mobile champions? With the trend in conditional mobility, is a change towards less reliable crowd control a decent compromise (think Soraka's Equinox vs. Infuse, Veigar's delayed Event Horizon vs. its previous functionality, Sion's point-and-click stun vs. his new telegraphed attacks) that provides immobile champions better options for defense?

Thank you for your time, and remember, this is just my opinion! :D