Request for thought process on PBE pending Azir nerfs
As an avid Azir player, I'd like to hear Riot's thought process on the upcoming PBE nerfs. I understand that these changes are pending and have the volatility to change before the patch is released on live servers, but I'd just like some insight.
Full PBE Patch notes: http://www.surrenderat20.net/2015/07/78-pbe-update.html Summary of Azir's changes in notes:
- Shurima's Legacy [Passive] - No longer grants attack speed
- Arise! [W] - Now has passive 10/20/30/40/50% attack speed gains
- Shifting Sands [E] - No longer grants a shield and no longer knocks up enemies hit
I can understand the removal of his CDR to AS conversion in order to weaken his mid-game and preserve his late-game power and to remove the one-point-wonder of his Arise!, but the removal of BOTH his knock-up and shield is absolutely brutal. It's turned Shifting Sands into a purely escape ability now that it's lost the utility required for engaging. The brief knock-up of 0.5 seconds and the shield were what gave him that small window of time to pull off the Shurima Shuffle. He can already be CC'd mid-flight (which is completely fine by all means), but it means Azir can be bursted down the moment he gets in range to use his ultimate, making his engage possibility incredibly risky as an AP Mage and turning Emperor's Divide into a purely defensive spell.
Azir already had a winrate of less than 46%, nowhere near the >50% winrates on pick-or-ban meta champions that dominated the Rift for the last several months such as Sejuani, Gragas, and Mid Cho'gath. Yes, players who have spent time learning Azir can use his abilities to great effect such as Easyhoon and Kur0, but he isn't strong enough to be abused by the playerbase, as dictated by the winrate.
Again, I understand these changes are pending in PBE, and that decisions can change before the live servers are patched. All I'd like is some transparency from the team on how these changes were decided and why you thought they were necessary.
