Viktor and the "Chaos Storm", analysis of the sudden spotlight

I will try to expound a concise analysis of the current state of this champion, hopefully for some Rioters to see.

Main points: sudden spotlight and his VU

The spotlight

This section is meant mainly for the players. If I am not mistaken, he has been picked about four times in the LCS recently? But in each match his score was underwhelming and he was usually on the loosing team. So why all the requests for a nerf? Many champions that lurk in the shadows sometimes get to be played in the LCS, after which they drop back to being in the 0.1% picked. So it was Viktor's turn this time. Possibly just because of this recent rework. On top of being an immobile mage, and it is known in what spot mages are right now with the mana regen nerf and several other things, Viktor has a very high skill cap. This means that he demands for the summoner to be very skillful in using his abilities in a right way, and in a right combination. This all points to a champion which can be amazing, but in the right hands. An indicator that a champion might be overpowered is when that champion gets fed, he becomes unkillable, which is not the case with Viktor. Even with a score as high as 19/3, he is easy to be shut down, by playing on his obvious weaknesses: His movement speed is low. Yes, he can get a movement speed buff, but only under certain conditions and only for a short duration. He has to invest 2000g into the second augment Q (first one being E, because other options don't work in his favor), and he has to cast the Q - on a minion nearby, if there is any, or on the enemy - very risky, because he has to come very close and becomes even more exposed to CC. His only CC is the Gravity field, which can be mispositioned easily, and requires the enemies to walk through it to get stunned. It doesn't even keep them slowed for a short time after the stun anymore, that was removed in the rework. If he gets CC'ed, he's as good as dead. Happens to me, and I play him a lot. He is a high burst squishy mage. His playstyle is extremely risky, even more after the rework, and one false move and he can't escape, unlike many other champions right now.

A couple of Viktor's key characteristics that got lost in the VU

The biggest being his Chaos Storm. Its visuals are now extremely underwhelming, but that's not the biggest problem. The problem is clarity. Many of the players I've talked to have a problem of tracking the new Chaos Storm in a teamfight. I can't see where it is, and I automatically loose control over it, and that's opposite of what it was made for. With the old visuals, it was easy to track it. Enemies could see it, and have a chance to escape. It is never good when there's an invisible source of damage floating around. There is also a bug in the Storm's tagging ability - many times it simply does not latch onto the enemy, even after I have clicked several times onto the enemy. The blue gear doesn't show up. This was not happening with the old storm.

https://41.media.tumblr.com/0b320abc8417b688c6765bcefdeb8e4b/tumblr_nl403iJPA81tbpqalo1_540.png

The Chaos Storm is supposed to be a sight to see, a powerful black hole that terrifies opponents and demands awe. It's previous particles conveyed this quite well: https://41.media.tumblr.com/35f1525f7dfe3a69d99beb6c0e5103cc/tumblr_nl40e15Dl41tbpqalo1_540.jpg https://36.media.tumblr.com/650f776c011b3a7d74dc65a21ccb708c/tumblr_nl40e15Dl41tbpqalo2_540.jpg You could clearly see where the ultimate is, and control it - or run away from it.

The new one looks like a bug zapper. https://36.media.tumblr.com/436bbafe442fcb47e4f6720d05b29cc5/tumblr_nl01l5h83A1tbpqalo1_540.jpg

Viktor's white strand of hair - maybe this seems like a dumb thing to say on first glance, but this is actually one of his key characteristics. His black hair with that white strand. I'm sure some of you know what I'm talking about.

The design of his mask - although the new texture is amazing and incredibly more polished, his new mask simply does not fit him.

This section will be updated.

tl;dr Viktor is an immobile mage - try out a strategy against him, you'll see that there's obvious counterplay to this guy. I believe the old Chaos Storm particles should be returned, maybe with some tweeks if they are needed, not just because of the aesthetical value, but primarily because of clarity.

And for the end, links to a couple of recent important threads for Viktor: http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/zcuyByYV-if-viktor-gets-nerfed-i-am-quitting-league-permanently http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/4rNhaKRi-chaos-storm

Thank you for your time.