Mordekaiser and Zilean - What new ultimates would you like in VGUs for these characters?
Long gameplay post ahead, if you just want to share cool ideas without reading everything I won't be mad. Lots of history and lots of issues with these champions, TL;DR is I think Riot has been afraid to VGU them because their ults are so iconic yet so polarizing in how useful they are. Take too much of these abilities away without a cool replacement and they're boring, keep too much there and they go right back to needing a rework, IMO.
_** The Problems with Mordekaiser and Zilean**_
**_ http://www.leaguesplash.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Mordekaiser-Classic-Ch.jpg Mordekaiser is a champion who has been showing his age since I started playing the game super hardcore in season 2. When Sion and Poppy were reworked as the first major VGUs, I expected to see Mordekaiser right up next with them because he is so janky and weird... but nothing. 4 years later and relatively functional champions like Swain and Irelia have been reworked, and yeah they're super cool now, but Mordekaiser is now a festering wound on the game rivaled only by Nunu who is up next for a VGU. With Aatrox's interactions with Kayle and Morgana, it's safe to say they could very well be the next reworks to be confirmed. Poor Mordekaiser has basically just been left to die, add to that the issue where OG Morde players like myself hate the season 5 rework kit and wish he was still burst magey and Riot has an identity problem to figure out.
https://pre00.deviantart.net/76d8/th/pre/i/2014/208/0/f/zilean__league_of_legends_fanart_by_dragonflamebg-d7fnxyu.jpg Zilean isn't as bad. He's actually pretty competitive, he has a niche, he fits in both mid and a supporting role, and he has unique tools no other champion does. That being said, the thought of a wise sage type figure afflicted with a disease that makes him see all timelines at once as he drifts through them all looking for ways to reverse the destruction of his homeland is probably my personal pick for top 2 or 3 themes in the game that could be made so much better with a VGU. His passive feels feels cool once per game when you boost you and your duo to 6, his W is cool but could have more umph, and his ult feels super useless when you're really ahead or really behind.
I think the reason Riot is so afraid to touch these two champions massively owes to their ultimate abilities. If Zilean can't point and click revive someone or cockblock the enemy team for 6 seconds, is he even really Zilean? If Mordekaiser can't control the soul of a champion he has murdered, is he really Mordekaiser? I've made up several kits for each of these champions and no matter what I do, the ultimate always seems to break the entire game or is just underwhelming. Zilean has the old Yorick ult problem - either being entirely useless or the most useful spell in the entire game depending on the situation you're in. Mordekaiser's ult has a similar issue - there has to be some unique bonus to taking control of a specific champion, and if the spell is the same no matter whose soul you capture it becomes boring, yet in the current form it's only really useful to nab a carry to shred through towers. Never would you say "I want to grab this tank soul" because if the ghost isn't a damage threat due to having no abilities, they'll just focus Morde to kill both entities at once.
**_My New Ultimate Ideas_**
All this being said, what are some ideas you have for VGU ultimates on these kits? Let's be real, there is a slim to none chance they will stay the same but the thematic and gameplay niches are so unique and cool they almost have to stay in the game. Mordekaiser in particular, due to his position in the lore, absolutely must have a soul twisting/corrupting mechanic as he kills or perhaps damages enemies, yet giving him a Yorick pet that is the same thing every time ruins the ability of twisting each unique enemy on the other team.
Here are some of my personal ideas I've had in some of my kit designs.
Zilean - Zilean activates his ultimate and for several seconds can see Ekko-like copies of where his teammates were 4 seconds ago. Clicking/recasting on them takes them back to where the clone is standing after 2.5 seconds. Issues with this ability are that Zilean can't do it to himself which feels bad, but lets be honest Zilean mid already is kinda bullshit to kill after 6 so maybe we can let him. I've also thought about the implications of taking them to the spot with their cooldowns, health, mana, etc. at that time. Makes Zilean a lot more useful with a premade since he may not know his teammates' CDs, but that seems a bit too gamebreaking. Maybe basic abilities only?
I've also considered something that you can target both enemies and allies, taking them back to where they were a few seconds ago. Zilean's current ult is kinda bad when you're super ahead except just to make you more super ahead. It would be cool to have a proactive thing where you can ult a running enemy, then they get pulled into your team. Downside is that feelsbadman for the guy who gets shit on, no way could that be point and click.
Mordekaiser - This one is a lot more hard and I've gone through way less iterations of Morde. Mordekaiser's armor passive is also iconic but it's so hard to redesign to be both useful and fair. Also, what is Mordekaiser is a big question. Burst mage? Juggernaut? 2v2 god? Conditional split pusher? Bruiser? This dude has no cc, no mobility (except movement when moving towards allies with your W, a season 5 addition). Sometimes I've put Children of the Grave on his passive, letting you summon champs you've killed that life on an Azir-style cooldown. That path doesn't put as much emphasis on isolating and killing a target who is super useful to the team as I'd like, and just clicking a Kindred window to summon a dude is pretty boring.
I've also thought about keeping it the same but letting you use your enemy's abilities when yours are on CD. Sounds cool but that's just a crazy power upgrade and would exacerbate Mordekaiser's problems, fixing only the part where you just want to kill carries. I don't know if the dragon mechanic would stick around, and to be honest I don't know what to do period on this ability. I've honestly thought about letting your teammates control the ghost if they die with abilities, kind of like Yorick's old ult but stealing an enemy. This is cool, but it encourages your supports to blow their OP cc ults then dive right into a carry or tank body and start shitting on people with newly refreshed teamfight cooldowns.
All those ideas will likely not match a Rioter's idea of how to VGU these champs, and these particular versions of my ultimates don't have synergy with other abilities, but taking those abilities out of the game entirely with no replacement would be so disappointing. Like I said I think the ults are what keeps these guys away from getting a VGU because Riot doesn't know how to keep these iconic but wildly varying abilities, and it honestly sucks. Sure, Morde can have a useful CC ult like Irelia got to teamfight better but lots of champs do that better and Children of the Grave is so damn cool. Sure, Zilean doesn't need to be reworked for a few more years but his theme is so cool and I think he should definitely be in the next ~5-10 reworks at least.