What I think would be a good Minor Zoe Rework
I am a Zoe one-trick: I feel it's important for me to make my biases clear before moving forward. I do main Zoe. I understand what it is that makes Zoe fun to play, so I believe I have a good idea what should be left alone if Riot moves forward with a MINOR Zoe reword.
I understand the frustration: I get it, Zoe feels unfair to play against; despite the fact I main Zoe, I get the same feeling when I play against her. Getting bubbled is a lot like getting ulted by Zed or seeing Rengo's ult indicator, you feel completely helpless until you are inevitably killed but at least there your team MIGHT be able to help you. What I think is the MOST frustrating thing about Zoe is when she misses her Q and Bubble while misusing her R but still kills you because apparently igniting her was a bad idea.
My Goal: The goal of a minor Zoe rework should be to lessen the frustration caused by playing against Zoe without changing what it's like to play Zoe. Also, some quality of life changes. I think I have an idea on how to achieve this.
What should stay the same: Zoe's Paddle Star (Q), Bubble (E), and Portal (R) are her defining abilities so they should remain in their current state, I'll touch on the bubble trap later. Zoe's Spell Thief (W) ACTIVE should remain the same in my opinion as it contributes to Zoe's high skill cap and outplay potential. Changing these changes what Zoe is which goes against the goal of the minor rework.
What should be changed: The ease of activating Zoe's passive and the passive damage from her W gives Zoe too much free damage for just face rolling across the keyboard and missing her Q and E. Since I believe this is where most the frustration of fighting Zoe comes from, Zoe's Passive should become harder to activate and the passive damage on Zoe's W should be removed.
What a minor Zoe rework should look like:
(Passive) More Sparkles! - Updated UPDATED: Zoe's passive now only activities upon dealing damage with Paddle Star, Spell Thief, and Sleepy Trouble Bubble; and upon casting Portal Jump.
(Q) Paddle Star - Unchanged
(W) Spell Thief - Updated REMOVED: Casting Spell Thief or using Summoner Spells no longer grants Zoe three bubbles which deals magic damage to nearby enemies.
(E) Sleepy Trouble Bubble - Unchanged
(R) Portal Jump - Unchanged
So what would be the effects of this rework: Well for one, you would be killed by terrible Zoe's anymore. If Zoe misses her Q and E, she her only opinion is to run instead of being able to face roll and still kill you. Zoe's wave clear and objective killing will take a hit as the number of passive procs will decrease but will likely be evened out with buffs to her passive damage. If Zoe Portals into auto attack range she'll deal more burst damage than before which would be the trade off to having her sustained damage nerfed. This rework should make Zoe less frustrating to play against without changing what Zoe is.
What about Zoe's Bubble Trap? Adds to her outplay potential and gives her a form of Zoning which most immobile mages have. I'll admit though, I am probably the most bias here. Also it makes Teemo easier to kill.