Why I think Morde won't be Mordekaiser

This was originally going to be a response to RiotRepertoir here, but after writing it up I felt most of it should be its own post.

However, the design on Morde is an approach of actually embracing those weaknesses and heavily rewarding the player if they manage to overcome them via teamwork and/or clever play. ... Morde is being pushed toward a duo lane/jungle experience because it's fitting for a character with his strength/weakness profile to team up with someone and take on the world together, not for novelty's sake.

Those of us who play Morde (or at least I do) play him for the weaknesses he has, and the strength those weakness allow him to have. The idea of embracing those weaknesses and then rewarding us for dealing with them is a good one, but that isn't really what it feels like is happening here.

It feels like you are enhancing those weaknesses to a point where the only way to deal with them is to get help. That doesn't feel like it fits Mordekaiser's character. Mordekaiser is a proud being of unknown power, also known as a strong, independent undead who don't need no support. Forcing him to need someone to use his kit at all just feels wrong, and is one of the big problems people see with his rework. Sure, putting him bot lane might be the best choice for making him a healthy champion, but it is not the right choice for making his gameplay match his character (unless he is really toxic to his support since Mordekaiser would demand total and unflinching obedience from his subjects).

If clever play was the way we got over the weaknesses it would be fine. But just throwing a W on your support before they jump in is not clever, and does not feel rewarding no matter how much damage I deal when I catch up (which is consequently why I never liked the magnet mechanic in the first place). I felt Mordekaiser never needed that mechanic and I feel he shouldn't have to rely on it. Mordekaiser shouldn't need an enabler, he is an enabler (lore-wise, Shadow Isles didn't happen on their own).

I've seen the games where Mordekaiser and duo partner are smashing bot lanes and taking dragons, and Morde's third Q hit is chunking people for half their health bar.

I have seen games like this with current Mordekaiser (not the third Q part obviously though but still dishing out outrageous damage). Morde could already work bot lane as far as I could tell, even if there were some match ups that just didn't work well for him. I don't see the changes to him making that bot lane experience different other than not being able to push waves because his E is gutted in the early game and Q only hurts 3 things over three auto attacks. I know E actually does more damage at rank one (or at least I have been told it does), but Morde always maxed his E first and the damage on that will not be comparable until high levels or some decent amount of AD is purchased. Gutting that wave clear is also another part of his identity getting trampled on, however that part mostly exists from his current gameplay.

Though I think there's a lot of shock value to all the changes he's undergoing, the end result should be a pretty fun (albeit different) play experience.

This is what it all comes down to, that little parenthetical right there. Morde will no longer be Mordekaiser. He won't destroy minion waves on a whim. He won't decimate grouped enemies. He won't get double kills 1v2 (he might still get that but it won't be in lane phase). He won't single-handedly dominate a lane or fight with his presence.

He will just be Morde and his babysitter, waiting for them to say it is okay for him to fight.

If Morde isn't close to this song, then Morde isn't Mordekaiser.