The Garen Rework vs. The Mordekaiser Rework
I think it's safe to say that most players wouldn't argue in favour of live-server Mordekaiser's kit; this is of course the entire point of reworking him. So when you do take his kit to the workshop, draft up some significant conceptual changes and balance tweakings, and present your work to the PBE and whomever reads Surrenderat20 and ReignofGaming, is not the next step in this process responding to the community's feedback? Juxtapose Repertoir's and CertainlyT's journeys through this Juggernaut cycle and you will see how depressingly stark the difference is between their attitudes on champion redesign.
On one hand there's Repertoir, who from the very inception of Garen's change-log foreshadowed both his modesty and openness. On an early complaint he replied:
If there's any part of the changelist that's too much, I'll be happy to reel it in.
The first iteration of Garen changes had some bizarre and uncomfortable novelties, namely the self-slow on E and the pointlessness of W. There were plenty of visceral and frustrated responses to the changelist, but concerns were met with the assurance that these changes weren't infallible and written in stone. The following days only got better, as the man went so far as to directly consult with MarineRevenge, a well-known and long-standing Garen main:
"[MarineRevenge and I] talked a few times, before and after his post yesterday. One thing he did really well in his post, and in his conversations with me, was make it very clear which changes were most upsetting to him as a Garen player and why. That makes it much easier to come to solutions to identified problems, rather than having to filter through a ton of white noise." --from Reddit http://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/3fz7ov/pbe_juggernaut_thread_updates/
And then we have CertainlyT. I don't wish for this post to be or attract more senseless, ad hominem wastes of time, but there are some serious criticisms that may be made here. You can certainly argue for him; perhaps it's fundamentally unfair for changes to Garen's straightforward play pattern to be compared to drastic changes on Mordekaiser's currently broken kit. I almost want to defend him considering all of the ridiculous, immature flak that he's consistently showered with. But I don't think that either of those points justifies the unwarranted stubbornness and subsequent radio silence that he's presented us with.
When you think "Mordekaiser" what comes to mind? If your first thoughts were "rampaging, pizza-footed ethereal suit of metal death" then you're on the right track. What I don't think anyone would visualize is a meek metallic slug incapable of venturing outward through the deep dark jungles of Summoner's Rift without his babysitter support alongside him. And yet that is what he's been **reduced **to. He's had his already laughable mobility slashed with the reduction of his base movespeed, he's had his W completely stripped of him in solo scenarios, and he's had his E reduced to a shield-acquiring parry. And all for what? A ghost dragon out of left field that prevents you from using your ultimate when present? Completely arbitrary experience advantages that further pigeonhole him into duo laning?
Harvesters of Sorrow (W) is not castable without an ally champion present. If you are alone as Mordekaiser, you'll have to do without it unless an ally ganks/roams for you.
I just can't get over the sheer absurdity of this change. Let's call to mind other champions that have ally-dependent abilities: Shen, Kalista, and Soraka. That's it. Most supports, you may say, are basically ally-dependent champions, but there's a level of independence that you feel casting Braum's W on himself/a minion for example. You don't NEED an allied champion nearby to gain that bonus armor and MR. Imagine how horrific playing Morgana would feel if suddenly you were only allowed to spell-shield an ally; never yourself.
So Shen, Kalista, and Soraka: the ninja grants to his ally a tremendous shield and teleports to them; Kalista soulbinds to an ally, dealing bonus damage with their accompanying auto-attacks and gaining the ability to be a pokemon master; Soraka of course provides heals on wheels. What these three champions have in common is that they were conceived with the notion of ally-dependence. It's innate, not forced. Foundational, not superficial. Superficial is exactly what Mordekaiser's ally-dependency feels like. You can't cast Creeping Death on yourself or minions anymore because you should just shut up and go botlane, that's why. All for some movespeed, sustain, and damage. I'd much rather have less in the ability for the liberty of actually using it in a solo lane.
It just feels awful. It feels completely and utterly awful to suddenly and arbitrarily need an ally to cast one of four spells. And when this statement resounds again and again through both PBE boards and Live boards alike, and is met not with openness but with this frustrating silent arrogance, the rework becomes more than awful. 6 days of consistent complaints and this is what is seen when the PBE updates today:
Mace of Spades (Q) first strike base damage increased to 4/8/12/16/20 from 3/6/9/12/15 Mace of Spades (Q) total AD ratio increased to .25/.2625/.275/.2875/.3 from .23 --from Surrenderat20 http://www.surrenderat20.net/2015/08/810-pbe-update.html
You're joking, right?
