Issues with Ekko
TL;DR Another post complaining about Ekko but I actually provide a few nerf options and acknowledge that he is not OP against all champions.
I've waited a while to really form an opinion on Ekko.
I've played him a lot. I've played against him a lot.
I love playing him because he is so freaking OP, I think the only champ I had a hard time against was Fizz. As soon as you have Sheen you can just start deleting people.
This is where I have a problem. I understand his kit and how it applies to his story. On release Riot said that he would have a really hard time going in on someone full HP. That his strength comes from finding low HP champions to assassinate. My experience in lane is not that at all. I know a lot of people will respond and jokingly/not jokingly mention League of Mobility. But honestly if you don't have a gap closer you can not lane against Ekko. If he hits the Q on you he will go in. I was against an Ekko with a flask start and at level 4 with his Q + E combo he took me from 98% HP to 20% and got his passive off. Then because I was lower than 30% he hit me one more time and I died. No ignite needed. I wasn't even halfway extended out of my lane but because of his slow and his movement speed burst I couldn't even get to the safety of my turret.
I really enjoy the champion and the mechanics but the fact that if he lands his Q and you don't have a dash, hop, skip, jump, flash you are guaranteed to die is pretty ridiculous.
I think they need to remove one of the passives. Or adjust them. The fact that he has two passives that allow him to do more Damage is ridiculous and is 100% opposite of the claim that he should only be able to assassinate low HP champs.
Another balance option that I have thought of is give his HP Regen a tune that's more inline with Riven. I have noticed that when I out trade Ekko his HP regenerates very fast. In fact he has one of the highest Regen rates among assassins. This doesn't really make sense considering his immense amount of mobility.
I know that changes will be coming but the balance that Riot has done on the PBE so far is not what he needs. I don't want him to be nerfed into oblivion because I think he is one of the coolest champs released and his mechanics are super fun. But I do think for a midlaner he lacks a serious amount of counterplay.