I seriously question some of Azir's design choices

Going to repost this here as I keep forgetting Riot doesn't even remember the old forums exist.

I feel the need to preface this post as I know people are going to take this the wrong way, and if they do I can point to this first paragraph to prove they're just blindly reacting to a title, but I love Azir conceptually. I love the idea of this ancient emperor bringing his armies back from beyond the veil of death and commanding them in a flurry of sand and steel to conquer lands that are rightfully his. I love the base concepts of basically all of his abilities. I like his unique interactions with towers, his high mechanical complexity, his bizarre hypercarry potential, and how wonderfully bizarre his is.

But I have to admit, his current design is so haphazard and rushed I feel like all of us should be immediately and completely offended at how much of a waste this champion is going to be. Just...why? Why? Why did nobody look at this kit and go "Hey, can we not disappoint everyone playing our game? Please?" I mean...Christ, the cardinal design sins that make up this champion are just staggering.

1. At level one, Azir has no Q and E. None. He has two abilities that do absolutely nothing by themselves. That's...that's abysmal design. Just completely atrocious. Imagine if Syndra could only us her W and E to effect her spheres. Imagine Jarvan was forced to get his flagpole before his lance or shield. There's no choice in his kit. You have to play him the way Riot wants you to play him from minute one. That's antithetical to your design philosophies, guys. More choice, not less. More. Get with it.

2. Because both of Azir's basic abilities outright require soldiers to do anything, this means if he doesn't have any out he has to drop a charge and 40 mana to do ANYTHING. Need to dash away from an enemy gank? Better have 100 mana and two abilities off cooldown. Want to slow a fleeing enemy? 110 mana and two abilities. That's terrible design. Basic abilities should not have absolutely no basic functionality without other basic abilities.

3. On top of having abilities requiring interaction, Azir has abilities that REMOVE interaction. That big soldier wall of an ult? Just visual, aren't actually soldiers in any reasonable capacity, just pretend they're a wall. Just...what? WHAT!?

4. Azir's got two "big plays" spells to throw around. His ult (massive AoE knockback that blocks enemy positioning) and his passive (insane alteration to battlefield dynamics by drastically altering safe zones). On a champion who already behaves so obtusely, having both the ability to completely turn a teamfight on its head twice in a row is excessive, as the burden of knowledge isn't just on the player using a champion: Enemies have to remember that, in addition to his massively damaging soldiers, Azir can turn their destroyed turrets against them and punt them into their range himself.

5. Azir's soldiers deal completely ludicrous damage to turrets. 530 (+70% AP) magic damage? Are you insane? Might as well just say "Azir can just kill turrets when he wants to, because he can." Especially considering the negligible cooldown on his soldiers, this is just ridiculous.

6. Dashing to your own soldiers is a useless ability. Why would a ranged commander like Azir ever want to be anywhere near his own troops? His troops should be near the enemy. Why would squishy Azir want to be near the enemy? Why would squishy Azir be building health to actually make use of his shield? Why would squishy mage/marksman Azir want to throw himself at the enemy for a half second knockup and then stop and be stuck right in front of them? Spoiler alert: He wouldn't. Shifting Sands is an abysmal ability even with soldiers out, as it's antithetical to whatt Azir wants to be doing, I.E. staying at the backline and wreaking havoc.

In short, Azir is one of the most disappointing and poorly designed champions I've ever seen and an insult to his own concept. I think this is the first time I've been so completely and utterly disappointed in Riot. Here I was, thinking they got their act together seeing as we're actually getting another champ within a month from the last one, but I was naive. If I was a cynical bastard I'd say they did this on purpose just so they can go "See guys? We need more time between champions, otherwise Azir happens!" But that'd be ridiculous. ... Wouldn't it?