The State of Ziggs...As Promised
My previous post on Lux got quite a few views and even played host to a mini-thread on 
so I figured I'll do a similar post for those guys. First, a little background:
Ziggs is on the low-end of, but still within the boundary, when it comes to balanced. He's one of the strongest pushers, but he's a champion that really pays for it to his own detriment. How?
- Several high-cost spells
- Nerfs to
and mana regen in early stages 
and baron buff completely stop his ability to perform his main role
is already a fairly straightforward champ with pretty modest depth to him. Once you learn to Q minions as the opponent passes them and can satchel yourself in the opposite direction ofa ddiver, you've basically digested the red pill and faceplanted on the bottom of the Yordle Hole.
Luckily, there are currently a few things I have found will work for players who have the balls (maybe metaphorical ones) to try: I play a rune page Mag Pen marks (reds) with everything else Scaling Mana Regen. This works out to be +35/5 sec at 18, or ~ 170% base regen. By 6, scaling mana regen runes pass flats and 
will tide you over until then. It works for Ziggs over AP runes mostly because he only harasses with a single spell - meaning his early damage is more heavily influenced by his flat damage than his AP (more spells mean a much higher % of AP scaling). It's worth having an extra Q or 3 early. This also lets him go for an extra ring or 
instead of 
. Now suddenly, you've bridged the gap of your missing AP runes, but now you have something that will keep scaling into the late game. This rune setup requires practice though: you'll miss the AP at first.
DISCLAIMER: this is a suggestion to cover up some weaknesses, it is not "OP". But yes, I've tested this.
Now with that all being said, I think that is a little weak. Since Riot considers 
to be a balanced assassin, and 
a mostly balanced ADC, then it stands to reason that 
and 
are a good baseline for balanced mages. What I'd like to see is some kind of reward for good spell combos, like bonus damage for being knocked into a minefield with Satchel Charge, or make it apply his passive. Make him look more...explosive.
