i feel like Mordekaiser still doesn't support a healthy gameplay pattern

just something that's irked me a lot since the rework (yes I'm going to keep making threads but i can't compete with malicious metal)

the biggest gripe with 3 of the 4 juggernaut reworks is that they.. didn't really change for the "better," but i mostly want to focus on mordekaiser and why i really, REALLY don't like it. since he's also probably the champion most affected by these upcoming ADC changes that isn't an ADC or support, it's a good time to discuss him. all riot opinions or thoughts, or plans on what they want to do with him, are very welcome.

first off: the basis of the rework; his Q. riot wanted to give mord reasonable damage for what he is; a low-range bruiser. they did this by focusing him more on melee trading with Q and less on his ranged damage with E. this is a good idea on paper. making him primarily AA/melee-range focused, even if it's a little 'whatever' in execution. the problem I have with it is that it does too much damage -- to the point he becomes very feast or famine based on whether he can land his third Q or not. i'm honestly perplexed as to why riot hasn't changed this ability before; it has counterplay, but it doesn't feel fair.

my suggestion: drastically lower the damage, but even it out a little more among his attacks. a passive that allowed him to do bonus damage on non-enhanced attacks, or splitting up the damage between three different Q presses on a short cooldown (think yasuo) to make sheen items attractive on him again, would be a good idea.

next is his W. this is probably the biggest issue, it's passive. i don't think a champion who needs a passive that defies the rules set by the game is a champion who should be allowed to be good. remove this passive entirely, because it has no place in the game. mordekaiser's ability to strong-arm a lane should come from his inherent durability and dueling power, not from a passive that's difficult to play against unless he's camped or hard-denied farm.

the active itself is fine. i don't care much for the heal conceptually (it doesn't make much sense), but it trades a defense steroid for potential burst heals and deceptively high damage, so it's an even exchange. really should be available for use in solo lanes, probably my second biggest gripe about this ability.

his E hasn't really changed at all. people will tell you it's damage has been gutted but that's kind of bullshit; most of the time you just don't itemize for it to feel strong (and it has a lower CD so it's technically improved dps anyway). it's still a move that's generally devoid of counterplay; it's an instant cone that damages you. from what I understand, riot wants it to be his 'parry' ability, but it doesn't succeed in that regard, either, outside of the shield generation on champion hits. it's also vaguely similar to Darius, except he gets a shield over a heal.

my suggestion: well.. there's a few. mainly, I would either make it an inverted skillshot (starts from max range instantly, travels back to you with bonus damage as it gets closer), make it slightly delayed but larger, or give it some form of charge property like xerath or vi Q. the main thing is that it should actually have a form of meaningful counterplay you can play around (i.e you'll take less damage if you hover around the max range but risk being slowed harder, you can juke the charge/delay but he'll do more damage than he does now for landing it.) it needs a soft rework in functionality, but it does its job pretty well at the core of it.

his ultimate is kind of weird. it's always been a balance issue, but it's probably the most defining thing about him other than his passive. the dragon ghost feels a little goofy as it pressures him to sit bot lane and punishes him for going top. i think this ability could stand to have a soft rework, depending on how riot wants to take its theme.

if he is going to have 'minion master' tacked onto his theme, then his ult should require active use on objectives in order to claim them. this is a mixed bag for everyone -- mordekaiser can't take a ghost, then go to dragon and get a better ghost, and you don't need to risk being punished for killing his ghost dragon by giving him his ult to suddenly nuke you with. however, this also gives him huge objective control as he can ult any large monster except the baron. it would actually be pretty neat if, say, he could get different uses out of his ghosty monsters similar to BNB but I'm getting ahead of myself, yorick still needs his identity. **tl;dr here is, consider tweaking it a little more for season 6. **

his passive is kind of iffy. the minimum decay was a good change but i feel like it ultimately decays too fast to feel powerful; it requires cooldowns that I don't have to keep up. giving it a slower decay, or at least a brief pause to its decay when dealing damage and then having it decay faster the longer i wait to refresh it (a la Sion passive) would make it feel better. possibly make it also decay a little faster the more damage is taken without you returning fire.

lastly -- base stats are important. with the reduced damage spread on his Q, please consider improving his base stats to what they used to be or better. at the moment, Mordekaiser does not fulfill the fantasy of unstoppable suit of armor -- he is far too innately squishy because of his ludicrous damage. higher base health and armor/MR would go a long way to making him feel closer to what he wants to be and would be fair given his improved counterplay