Power Budgeting the Reworked Mordekaiser's Abilities

Hello Everyone!

So, I am not sure if anyone from Riot will ever see this, but I thought I would chuck this out into the multiverse and see if it stirs any discussion.

Lets talk the Reworked Mordekaisers Power Budget!

So far, I really am enjoying playing the champ on the PBE, and it seems like he will be an awesome addition to the roster. I personally feel that he is pretty balanced right now and has some pretty clear moments of strength and weakness. That said, I feel like their might be some room in his budget to make him feel just a little bit better. For this discussion, I am going to break his five abilities into a power budget of 100 points. Please note: This is an entirely subjective analysis and the points I have assigned are my gut reaction based on the games of morde that I have played and played against on the PBE.

Passive: Darkness Rising is pretty slick and I enjoy it. So far, I feel like it isn't overly oppressive since to really make it work, you have to be on point with your abilities and autos. Playing both against and with Mordekaiser, I don't normally start really feeling this as being dangerous until 6 when it gets its little spike in movement speed. Overall, feeling this one has a pretty good chunk of his power budget. 18/100

Q: Obliterate has obviously taken a fair portion of the budget. The area of affect damage is a lovely clearing tool and the isolation damage buff is a dueling dreamboat. And, with the sharp decrease in CD as it is leveled (and given that you will likely max it first), this definitely absorbed a bunch of the budget. 22/100.

W: Indestructible is a really cool concept for an ability. The shield is good for duels, especially if you have had a wave or two to build it up. That said...the fact that the shielding rather quickly drains when not in combat (or when properly farming in lane), and the fact that the heal is a percentage of a percentage, I am afraid that this ability doesn't quite have the same oomf as the other abilities. It does have a bit of a max scaling based on Mordekaisers max health, but given the very quick drain on that shielding when out of combat, it is a bit lack luster if you need to walk out of lane to go and assist an ally. 14/100.

E: Death's Grasp is pretty cool. The CC it provides and the setup for Mordekaiser that it allows is likely going to be the make or break skill for Mordekaiser players. If you are good at landing this ability, you will likely do quite well throughout the match. It's initial CD is a bit daunting and makes its use a bit less present in the early to mid game (since you will likely max it second). However, the Passive magic penetration that this ability supplies along with the rather sharp decline in CD as it is leveled makes this ability a nightmare late in the game. 20/100

R: Realm of Death is such an interesting and complex ability. Mordekaiser has a kit that begs to duel with an enemy in cramped quarters, and Realm of Death provides this along with a stacked deck of stealing a percentage of their stats. Along with potential use as a way to dodge certain abilities and cripple certain champion's greatest strengths, this can be a game changer. With that said, this ability, for an ultimate, is somewhat situationally useful. Mordekaiser may like dueling, but there are plenty of champs that can annihilate him when they can just focus on him with no distractions. Further, just because you pull someone into the Realm doesn't mean you will actually stand to gain anything from it, because even if you win, you may end up coming out into a battlefield littered with the bodies of your allies and the still bloodthirsty enemy team waiting to clean up. Also, only being allowed to keep the stats until the opponent respawns is...a little lackluster for such a risky proposition. There may still be room in the budget here. 17/100

So, overall, I feel like we have used about 91/100 of the ability power budget on Morde. I think there may be room yet in the abilities to bring this champion up without breaking the champion and the game.

The two spots that I feel need the most looking at are the W and maybe the ult. The W really gradually feels like an almost non-ability by about mid-late game because of heavy CC. In the early game the shield can be very useful, but it sometimes feels like it is just a stepping stone to get you to level 6. Combine that with the fact that the heal often feels...laughable because it is a percentage of a percentage...and it just doesn't quite feel as awesome as the rest of the kit.

I propose one of three ways to make the W more impactful. 1)Allow Mordekaiser to activate the W even when under heavy CC (similar to Tryndamere ult). This way, it can be used as a bait for enemy CC without consigning Mordekaiser to death. 2)Increase the scaling a bit. I feel like their may be some room to increase the scaling on this ability and still won't be too oppressive, and will likely lead to more interesting late game team fights. 3)Remove or slow the shield decay when out of combat. When Mordekaiser leaves lane to go an assist an ally (like a river jungle fight for instance) it can be doubly punishing for Mordekaiser because he loses gold/exp from lane AND he loses some of the shield resource he has built. This disincentives Mordekaiser from really playing towards his team, and actually makes the prospect of leaving lane much less attractive at all.

With the Ult, I have 2 suggestions that might really make it more...interesting. 1) Make succeeding in a 1v1 more beneficial permanently. He did, afterall, succeed in enslaving a soul. Perhaps each time he succeeds in killing a champion in the death realm, he gets a bonus to his passive (ala Bard) or perhaps he gets to keep the stats he stole till the enemy respawns +10seconds per successful kill in the Death Realm. 2) Allow Mordekaiser to keep his crown until the enemy kills him or he uses his Ult on another Target. This will actually change the dynamic a bit in using his ult because if he manages to use his ult and kill the enemy fed champion, he may be more loath to use it on a weaker target. Also, it paints a much larger target on Mordekaiser, because the enemy must kill him to get rid of his buff. (Note: This is likely too much but it might be fun to consider)

If you made it all the way through, thanks for reading, and I look forward to your thoughts and insights. I only have my own experience to go off, and it is only the first few days he has been on the PBE. I am sure there is some fine tuning going on behind the scenes, but lets hash out the budget!

Regards, Tarcathos