@Riot - - Regarding Azir nerfs

TL:DR

• Despite a rioter saying these are highly experimental, it has been 4 PBE updates since the first change, meaning us Azir players are understandably concerned.
• Using comparisons to other champs who have been strong at some point this season (and in many cases are still strong) We can see Riot nerfs Azir unusually hard
• The P / W change is a healthy edit to his power curve
• The E nerf is way over the top, crippling to his play making and does not even address the one area many players have an issue with Azir, him having burst as a DPS mage

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Ok first and foremost I am fully aware of the following riot comment

ricklessabandon explained: "trying a few things out right now, and am starting with some of the extremes. should be a few different iterations over the next few days."]

Because of this I have waited until they have done 4 updates this cycle, before speaking and overall I am not pleased.

For those who are not aware of what the nerfs are:

Azir Current Shurima's Legacy ( Passive ) no longer grants Will of the Emperor (bonus 1.25% Attack Speed for every 1% of Cooldown Reduction) Arise! ( W ) now has a new passive: Gains 10/20/30/40/50% attack speed. Shifting Sands (E) If Azir hits an enemy champion, he stops and gains a 4 second shield that absorbs 80/120/160/200/240 (+ 15% of bonus Health) damage."

With earlier changes (reverted / tweaked ) being Shifting Sands ( E ) - no longer knocks up enemies or grants shield Conquering Sands (Q) damage lowered to 55/75/95/115/135 from 65/85/105/125/145

Riot Why are you so hard on Azir? When he is strong you stomp on him, for comparison lets compare Azir's current and past nerfs tho those of other champions that have been strong / competitive in lcs / complained about on the forum this season. (Do note I am not saying anything about these champions valence wise, just acknowledged that they were in a power state arguably comparable to Azir or stronger and were not looked at so harshly.)

V5.9: Death Mark Now has a 1 second cooldown before it can be reactivated to return to Death Mark's shadow. V5.2:

Base Attack Speed 0.658 ⇒ 0.644 Attack Speed Growth Stat 3.1 ⇒ 2.1

V5.11: Distortion / Mimic Distortion Dash speed reduced to 1300 from 1600. Ethereal Chains / Mimic Ethereal Chains Missile width reduced to 55 from 70. Improved the rate at which the ability checks if the tether is broken by 400%. Fixed a bug where the ability would not root targets if they were protected by Black Shield.png Black Shield when hit initially, even if the shield was broken before the ability resolves. V5.6: Sigil of malice ratio decreased to (+60% AP) from (+65% AP). Distortion ratio decreased to (+90% AP) from (+97.5% AP). Etheral chains ratio decreased to (+60% AP) from (+65% AP).

V5.10: Flail of the Northern Winds Bonus magic damage reduced to 4 / 4.5 / 5 / 5.5 / 6% target's maximum health from 4 / 5.5 / 7 / 8.5 / 10% target's maximum health. V5.6: Flail of the Northern Winds Damage reduced to 4 / 5.5 / 7 / 8.5 / 10% target's maximum health from 4 / 6 / 8 / 10 / 12% target's maximum health. Glacial Prison Slow reduced to 30% from 90%.

V5.9: General Movement speed reduced to 340 from 345. Wind Slash Missile speed reduced to 1600 from 2200.

V5.10: Switcheroo! Mini-gun bonus attack speed full stacked reduced to 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70% from 30 / 55 / 80 / 105 / 130%. Mini-gun now gains 0 / 2 / 4 / 6 / 8 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70% attack speed. Level 16 = (2 × level) − 2. Level 718 = 5 × (level − 4). V5.8: Super Mega Death Rocket!.png Super Mega Death Rocket! Minimum damage reduced to 25 / 35 / 45 (+ 10% Bonus AD) from 125 / 175 / 225 (+ 50% Bonus AD). Damage now ramps up more quickly, with the maximum damage and time to reach maximum unchanged.

Although I'm sure there are other good examples, I think we all get the picture here, varying degrees of power trimming, that is sometimes followed up on with additional nerfs if its deemed necessary, baby steps that address power with out crippling the champion. I'm certain i'm not the only one that still sees many of these champions played regularly despite the nerfs, which is a good a thing.

Meanwhile last time Azir was looked at for nerfs we saw

Conquering Sands Base damage reduced to 65 / 85 / 105 / 125 / 145 from 75 / 105 / 135 / 165 / 195. Arise! Soldier range decreased to ~325 from 400. Damage to tower reduced to 50 + (10 x level) (+40% AP) from 90 + (15 x level) (+70% AP).

The soldier range nerf was so harsh it had to be partially undone almost immediately bringing it to its current live value of 375 So can we give Azir that same treatment of progressing as needed until he's balanced rather then jumping the gun and crippling him?

On that note lets discuss Azir as a champion and what his strengths are supposed to be.

Azir is meant to be a late game dps AP hyper carry with heavy zone control. Most people seem content with him filling this role, and are happy with him being strong due to his high skill floor / cap.

So where do people have an issue with him? I searched through the boards to find feedback on him.

Looking ant many threads the largest issue people have with Azir, is him having burst as well dps
with a bit of attention put on how much power he gets from just one AP/CDR item early game.

Comparing to the current nerfs, the passive / w change will even out his power curve and correct that issue, this is well done in fact its comparable to the above jinx nerfs. However the main issue is the E nerf is unnecessary and over the top. removing the knock up cripples his engage or ability to retaliate against a large number of champs, and the ability was already a bit of a do or die, in regards to landing it, and if its being used defensively can be countered simply by enemy positioning.

If we were to follow the same balancing method used on other champs We would see the p/W change go through and perhaps a Q nerf. If he was still considered problematic riot could then come with another nerf to even him out. The nerfs in their current state are nothing more then a huge overshot as they remove a core aspect of his kit.

I added a poll for feedback, I would love to see a discussion as well.