According to where Riot is going with champions:
is balanced for an assassin and 
is balanced for an ADC.
I suppose that's fine, although both of these are examples of exceptional champions for their role (maybe not on every patch, but certainly overall). That being said, this means the template for a healthy mage has got to be 
Well...that means we've got a long LONG way to go for just about all of the mages ;~;
Very Hard Engage1 votesthey need to stop going #even numbers, and start finding things like, well maybe its ok for him to deal 58 damage with his Q, and then an extra 25 damage + soldiers scaling auto attacks (on Arise rank up, + champion levels = higher scaling ratio on soldier auto attacks), instead of #flat even 1 base amount per all rank levels. maybe with a lower soldier spawn mana cost and a higher scaling cost Q.
they're just not liberal enough with experimentation on the PBE, "its too much work for our staff to handle, so we just leave it as is" is not a reasonable answer.
MAGIC DAMAGE 「 50 – 170 」 (+ 60% AP) ABILITY POWER 100% of Azir's AP ATTACK SPEED 100% of Azir's attack speed
thats the current soldier ^ damage spread. just tweak those damages around and play with scaling per level as opposed to that total flat damage. maybe the casting animation for arise should be faster? maybe instant? maybe remove the CD on arise and if he wants to put 2 down instantly like zyra, why not?
its worth trying these things out, and thats why PBE exists.
Smitemuffin2 votesFor Azir specifically, I think his biggest sticking point is just how little mana he needs to use when zoning or clearing waves. Compare him to other control mages like 
or 
But it's not that Azir is problematic, it's that other mages just are not up to par in kit anymore.
- small AoEs compared to others, needs to rank up both W AND E before he can clear waves. E is kind of a throwaway spell, ultimate is pretty "meh".
- Suppression only stops 
and doesn't prevent 
, which is his only defining feature.
- His Q and ult are fine, but his Bulwark and Righteous Gust are pretty obsolete. Staggering mana costs AND HE'S MELEE. There are too many mids (especially assassins) that can just abuse his melee range and high mana costs to absolutely no end.
- he pretty much just dies. The game is so packed with front-loaded damage, even from.items, that he can't even position to deal damage before he's dead. He either needs way more damage, needs tank base stats or needs to be able to move in his passive. Either of the 3 would work.
- he needs WAY too many stats to do what he does. There aren't even enough items for him to have AP, health, Mana, Mana Regen, Armor, Cooldown Reduction AND Magic Resist. He needs a broader range of very high stats than any champ in the game. He needs to gain them in his ult or something.
- he was never more than mediocre, even upon release. But a wider knockback would go a long way
Hayaishi21 votesAzir's problem is counterplay.
You can't really reduce his damage/increase mana costs without gutting him. His problem is how little you can do against him. Other than all inning him which not every champion can do, there's not much you can do.
Den Bover1 votesAzir's problem is counterplay.
You can't really reduce his damage/increase mana costs without gutting him. His problem is how little you can do against him. Other than all inning him which not every champion can do, there's not much you can do.
He is last pick material though. His counters are very direct. Mobility destroys him just as long range poke does (Xerath, Lux).