Cut Morde some slack
Disclaimer: Before you click vote, make sure you read through the post. Please don't rate outright without understanding the message.
Seeing the recent PBE updates on Morde makes me think whether the passive on his W is actually necessary on him. It's been proven that it's not healthy for the game, then why try changing it until it "somehow" fits? What about removing it all along and shift Morde's power elsewhere? What about encouraging his duo lane identity... other way?
Talking about Mordekaiser, he is historically the first attempt by Riot to introduce force bruiser bot into meta. With the recent upheaval of solo marksmen (especially Varus mid, Kog mid, Ezreal mid; although Vayne top, Quinn top and Kindred jungle would fit here as well), there is really no reason to keep bruisers from bot lane. Saying that, why not embrace the idea and go all-out on it? Why not introduce a handful of starting items specially for support-aided bruisers?
Before I get to the execution, I would like to point out some niches bruiser bot could bring into the League:
- Strong lane presence in bot lane. Considering the importance of Dragon, the raw power bruiser bot brings could be used to secure objectives and, mainly, assert dominance. While the melee champions would be prone to poke and zoning, their sheer power and srvivability could be abused to punish ranged squishies. Focusing on kills and pressure rather than CS and trades, bruiser bot could threaten careless lategame picks in the early game. The only thing damage focused bruiser/juggernaut would need is the proper itemisation to compensate for its lack of range, and therefore safe farming.
- Safe laning is another argument for using bruisers in the botlane. Juggernauts are overall less punishing thanks to their resilience. When paired with a support, their lack of mobility can be compensated for with dedicated peel. Together, bruiser/juggernaut + support can turn into a safe bot lane option for volitale enviroments such as solo queue.
- Fun gameplay would be welcome in the otherwise stale environment of botlane. Support and ADC tend to be some of the least favorite roles to play. Bruiser bot is more engaging and interactive, and could easily result in more proactive gameplay. Even for the classic ADC lane, an enemy as threatening as bot bruiser could open a window for engaging, skill-based gameplay.
Now to the execution. Introduction of new, dedicated items would be necessary in my opinion. Bruiser bot would need remedy for the lack of safe farming. However, the other difficulties of short range are easier to compensate for: botlane is traditionally played with a friend, a helpful support to account for the weaknesses. While marksmen are gravitating towards the need for a strong initiator, bot bruisers could use the peel, poke, and sustain of mage supports. Not saying that bruisers couldn't use strong CC for shutdown...
First off, we need to introduce an item that would tighten the ties between the support and the bruiser. While I would ommit stats for the lack of data (though they should certainly benefit melee-oriented damage champions), there is a certain effect that could cement the support's relevance:
Note: Since the free sustain from Relic Shield has been giving engage supports an unfair advantage over other support archetypes, I'm in favor of removing it from the item. The support items are supposed to be used mainly for income fixing after all. RS has also been the go-to starting item for duolane Morde, and imho one of the reasons for his unfair oppressiveness in lane.
Mirror of Thousand Stars
Stats
Active: Binds the user to target ally bearing a dedicated support item (
). While near each other, the Mirror's passive effect is enabled.
Unique passive:
Bound to RS: While bound to Relic Shield, when the bearer depletes its Spoils of War charge, both the ally and you are healed for a small amount.
Bound to SE: While bound to Spellthief's Edge, whenever the ally depletes a charge of Tribute, both the bearer and gain a small shield that starts to decay after some time.
Bound to AC: While bound to Ancient coin, you gain brief a burst of movement speed whenever you lasthit a minion and your base hp regen is slightly increased.
I welcome any constructive opinions and thoughts about the idea. Feel free to share your own ideas on what you think about the bruisers in botlane. I currently don't have a list of potential candidates for the role on my mind, but I'm sure you could brainstorm it if you invest some time into it. After all, the idea itself might seem radical for the ongoing meta, with Morde being the one misunderstood outlier. However, I can definitely see the benefits of breaking the meta... with a mace.
If you don't feel like wasting time on commenting, I am attacking a poll to the thread to voice your opinion in a more practical way:
