Pros and Cons of the new Mage Update!
I've been playing a lot of PBE recently as most of the "updated" champions, and here are my thoughts
Vladmir - although his game design seems to be quite balanced, hes not at all nerfed. overall vlad is the same champion in the aspect of how he plays and counters, but however is extremely more strong and will deny any champions that cant handle his sustain; nasus, singed, sion, malphite, etc. hes not balanced.
Brand - brand relatively is the same champion, however with the new mage update he seems to be one of the lesser of the mages, so-far, although all inning brand is a lot more risky. he's somewhat strong
FIddlesticks - same champion! more fun! big buff early/mid game. late game however u can no longer forever drain. he is balanced.
Vel'Koz - Same champion, however has 100% true dmg from ult now, but he seems week compared to the other mages because of how squishy he is. in the hand of a good vel'koz however, he will stomp the opponent. He is balanced, but squishy.
Malzahar - similar champion, different play-style. he's broken only if u let him; if u pick fiddle vs this guy, ur might as well ff, but if u pick kennen or a poke heavy champ hes countered. i recommend brand since malz is still a late game champion. malz is balanced, but leaning towards broken.
Annie - Same champion, but bear looks better and appears to have an A.I. now when enemies are stunned.
Cassiopeia - Same champion, tons dmg late game as usual. would be one of the dangerous champion in the update if the other ones weren't "broken". cassiopeia is balanced/underpowered.
Ziggs - same champion! execute is barely noticeable, nearly no impact. unless another aspect of his laning was buffed, hes not a good pick. ziggs is underpowered.
Zyra - Same play-style....but on steroids. idk who let this pass in riot, but this champion needs to be nerfed NOW. this champion's lvl 6 power spike is unbelievable. it's not the ult, but her passive that SCALES with her levels, and she can pop out like 3 plants under a secend destroying any team fight mid-late game. she will be pick or ban. Zyra is broken.
Swain - Same champion. New items and change makes him broken. he will be pick or ban. swain is broken.
New dragons and Rift herald Dragon RNG isn't as bad as it seems. it is actually very balanced in a way, but needs a few tweaks or else it will ruin the game. Earth dragon is broken in the fact that if it spawns first, whomever gets it first wins, the game. dragons seem to repeat too often, and if two earth dragons spawn, whomever got the first is over-likely to get the next then u definitely lost the game. this is unhealthy game design and dragons should not as often spawn twice in a row. another thing is that some of the dragons shouldn't spawn at all first (earth dragon, and water dragon) due to the total snowball of the game, making only early game champions viable. I's fun however when u can get the dragons, but it limits whom the player can pick because the design is half-way thought out. rift herald doesn't seem to have much presence as it did before and is underwhelming for what u get out of it. dragon>herald by a land-slide.
