Suggestion for Malzahar Rework

Hi all,

So I'm a malz main since I started in Season 7, so didn't play him pre-rework but have seen him, and have a good idea of what everyone hates about him, both as malz mains and people playing against him. I also love the lore surrounding him (found the irony of it's release just after his 5th nerfing though xD).

In this post I will outline what for me are the key features of malzahar's abilities (not his current ones but his ACTUAL abilities by lore) and it's relevance to his current kit, and offer a potential rework including key statistics with comparable abilities that already exist in league where needed.

Comments and suggestions are welcome, but please keep them relevant to the lore and note I'm trying to create a reworked version of him that isn't reliant on his ult (the #1 complaint of EVERYONE when faced with malz).

Ok so malzahar is meant to be first and foremost a seer. It's what lead him to his wealth, and eventually to the portal in Icathia. Currently there is nothing around vision in his kit other than a dot called "Malefic Visions" which "infects" his opponents mind making them see visions of doom, which while I've tried to keep in his kit, have attempted to make feel a little more real and scary.

Secondly he's meant to open portals to the void. I get thats what the "call to the void" and "Nether grasp" are meant to portray, but really Call to the Void doesn't really bare any reference beyond the name, and Nether Grasp is just a stun with a pool animation. (also note that nowhere in the lore does malzahar have to stand there keeping the portal open, only to make it open in the first place.)

Thirdly he's meant to unleash void creatures that will devastate the world! Notice the "devastate" bit? Not get a pointy stick, poke once and they go away? His w USED to be scary, but the current version would make Kassadin just laugh and start handing out sticks, not go on a crusade. Kai'sa as a child would probably train them like the puppies they currently are.

Lastly Malzahar is the leader of a CULT. Where the hell are his followers?

For those that are interested in his lore: https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/story/champion/malzahar/

Ok so onto his abilities:

**Passive - Seers Vision Malzahar's area of vision is slightly increased (based on level) and can see over walls/into bushes. Control wards block this but are also revealed by this, as are far sight and zombie wards. Normal trinket wards are unaffected. **

My idea behind this is that Malzahar relies massively on his current passive to survive, but he's a SEER. He should stay alive by being able to SEE things others can't, not by being immune to damage for one hit! I haven't included the area of this vision as I don't really know what would be balanced.

**Q - Malefic Visions Mana Cost: 55 CD 8 seconds Range 700

Malzahar - Malzahar infects his target's mind with cruel visions of their demise, dealing damage over time. Taking damage from Malzahar's other spells on the target will refresh malefic visions. ** **If the target dies while afflicted by the visions, they pass on to a nearby enemy units (Range 500). ** **Deal 70/90/110/130/150 magic damage (+65% AP) to them over 4 seconds. **

Target: Point and click Ok so we're making people really scared! Fear is infectious! So yes it spreads to more than one person. Thus the heavy nerf in it's damage. Also while you're afraid, the thing that you're afraid of munching at your face is likely to keep you that way, thus the refresh off voidspawns and Null Zone. Equally deciding to just give up and die would alleviate that fear but also make you more vulnerable thus call to the void removing this (Notice how Call to the void doesn't do actual damage?). The fear is only short, but will be more impactful if the target dies near it's allies.

**W - Summon Voidspawn Mana Cost: 50/60/70/80/90 CD 15/14/13/12/11 seconds Range 600 Passive - Voidspawns do +100% increased damage to minions, deal +50% damage and gain movement speed towards enemies champions with impaired movement or actions, and -50% damage to epic monsters. Malzahar summons up to 2 voidspawns (cd above per stack, up to 2 stacks) which attack the nearest enemy or priority target (priority set by most recent aa or enemy affected by Malzahar's other spells (closest enemy if more than one unless stated otherwise)) Voidspawns last for 8 seconds, their attacks deal 20/25/30/35/40 physical damage (+45% AD) (+30% AP), have 50/65/90/115/130 hp (+10% AP), 20-50 armour and MR (levels 1-18). ** **When they kill a minion they restore 5 (+2% AP) mana to Malzahar and when they kill a champion they also last 4 seconds longer. **

Target: Point and click Ok so the idea behind this is obvious. The voidspawns will be feared again. They are afterall the main reason people fear/worship malzahar in lore and should be the core ability of his kit (Not a point and click stun). However adding things like on hit, slow etc would just make them too good therefore I would have them continue to apply healing through things like Ravenous Hunter, Gunblade and, as it's physical damage, Death's Dance, but wouldn't have them apply on hit effects like liandry's and rylais. This way they scale as malzahar gets stronger, give a small amount of utility through mana regen, but more than anything are just monsters he has let loose into the world. Also note they do physical damage. This is important to their balance!

**E - Call to the Void Mana Cost: 75 CD 20/19/18/17/16 seconds Range 800 Malzahar calls the target into his cult, slowing them by 90% charming them for 1/1.15/1.25/1.35/1.5 seconds, causing them to approach him slowly. Magic damage taken while charmed is increased by 15%. ** **If the target was affected by Malefic Visions, it stops taking damage from malefic visions and instead takes 10%/12%/13%/14%/15% additional damage for the duration of Call to the Void **

Target: Skillshot Ok so Malz now has some CC that isn't an Ult! And it fits with the cultist theme! And as the cultist's are accepting death they take more damage because their defenses are down! And if they've been scared witless before hand they're even more susceptible. Also remember the void spawns do physical damage? This means they only take the additional damage from them and other physical damage dealers if this consumes the malefic visions.

**R - Null Zone Mana Cost: 100/150/200/250 CD 180/160/140 seconds Range 700 After channelling for 1 second Malzahar opens a portal that damages and slows enemies caught in it for 5 seconds, and two seconds after leaving it/the spell ending. Enemies affected by the Null Zone spawn a Voidspawn which will attack them for 8 seconds. ** **Enemies within the Null Zone take take 150/200/250 (+75% AP) damage followed by 2%(+1% AP) total hp damage per second and are slowed by 40%/50%/60%. ** **Voidspawns attack speed is increase by 30% while within Null Zone. **

Target: Point and click AOE Ok so back to a golden oldie, with a twist. Malzahar is opening a portal that's slowing and doing damage to people. The voidspawns come from the void so of course some are going to come out. It's also their natural habitat so they're going to be stronger there. Also who ever said these portals were meant to be small? In lore there was a massive pavilion surrounding one, and it kept getting bigger! Therefore I'd have this one start the radius of the old Null Zone (about the size of vlad ult) and grow to a gp zyra ult size over the course of the 5 seconds. For this it has a high mana cost, a high cd, and a channeling time to balance it out.

Anyway those are my thoughts on what Malzahar should be. Yes it's still a bit point and click, but it actually matters when and the order in which you use his abilities. It also opens up a variety of builds while keeping the classics an option. It would make him strong, but with his own flavour, fun to play, non-ult reliant, but impactful when using it at the right time. I hope you all like, and it'll give the riot team some ideas to work of to fix my favorite champion who is currently at best a midlane support with one ability that 1100 gold mitigates :P

Cheers for reading! :)

Edit: 0.5 fear effect removed from Malefic Visions