An Open Letter to Riot about Proposed Morde Changes

Dear Riot,

I’m writing in response to the recent juggernauts gameplay update which is in the works. To start off, I’m a Mordekaiser main. Personally, I think Morde is a pretty strong champion. Not top tier, but he’s in a healthy place compared to a lot of champions. He has arguably the best laning phase out of any champion, is one of the best duelists champions, and can put out some pretty spectacular damage while also being tanky. Morde also has some clear trade-offs, namely no escapes, no CC, and no utility. He’s also one of the easier champions to gank as he has low range and pushes lane 100% of the time. That said, if you’re willing to play around those drawbacks he can be incredibly rewarding. Before DFG was removed I was able to maintain a 70% win rate last season on Morde.

However, the best thing about Morde is that he’s basically forgotten. I think a lot of other people of are enamoured of one of the less played champions will agree with me on this. He’s like the lost art of League. There are no in depth or up to date Morde guides out here that I know of. You have to figure everything out yourself. When you put in the effort to actually learn the champion, it’s a pleasant surprise that they’re actually viable. For me at least it’s added an extra dimension to League where I otherwise might have just gotten bored and quit. Sometimes the uncharted depths of League rise up and surprise you. Morde has a 100% win rate in the LCS. It’s pretty awesome when a champion you would never think you’d see in pro play shows up and dominates a game.

In the article I mentioned above it says that your goal is “that every champion in League has specific reasons to be picked, or brings a unique and awesome thing to each game.” Morde has his niche. He does some pretty awesome things. He’s viable enough to win the majority of your games. He’s still unpopular. My point isn’t that you shouldn’t change Morde, but rather don’t change him just because of his low pick rate. There are 126 champions and counting. Inevitably the ego fueled ones with a million dashes are going to be the most popular. I don’t think it’s a bad thing that a few slip between the cracks. Morde is my favorite champion and his identity is clear to me and all the other Morde mains out there.

P.S. I think this article makes a strong point with more game design orientated reasoning. http://www.goldper10.com/article/2112.html