Veigar Changes
I just saw the preliminary Veigar changes on Surrender@20. I have to say, overall, I'm very pleased, especially compared to how it could have been. I haven't played him yet, but these changes are at the very least not obviously awful. (The stun change is worrisome, though. Despite the range buff, it's going to be a lot harder for him to catch fleeing targets with it, and he can no longer 1v1, e.g. fight back against tower dives.)
A vital part of Veigar's identity has always been about catching people out and 100-0ing them in the blink of an eye, so when we were looking to remove DFG, Veigar was sitting at the top of the list of characters affected by the removal. When looking at a lot of these characters, we found that the full 100-0 combo wasn't something we wanted to support and decided to re-focus them around other aspects of their kits (i.e. making Ahri more about her movement than the 1-shot combo).
Reading this, I was like, oh, you monsters, it's all true, you're going to totally scrap his concept. But then:
But for Veigar, this approach seemed off. He is the quintessential burst mage and we wanted to find a way to let him continue to function as such in a world without DFG.
… th-that's fine, Riot. Go ahead. Sure. Let him stay a burst mage. If you want. Just know that if the tables were turned, he would show you no mercy.
http://i.imgur.com/NGQ4Bo6.png
Q - Baleful Strike Changed to a skill shot that stops on the second unit hit Grants 1 AP for each unit killed Range increased to 850 from 650 Cooldown changed to 7/6.5/6/5.5/5 from 8/7/6/5/4
I love line skillshots, so this is fine with me. Actually, this is even better, because it can be used to check bushes and otherwise hit targets without vision. I was worried that it would be useless in lane, because the hyper-mobile assassin mid would shred him to ribbons before he could get close enough to land it (sometimes it's important to get juuuust close enough to throw the Q and then run), but then I noticed they increased the range.
I do find it a little curious that its cooldown at max level is actually higher than before. I also think it's odd that there's no damage or AP ratio buff, given that these are DFG compensation buffs. (That, and skillshots are usually supposed to be allowed to have more damage than targeted abilities.) Then again, his Q was always pretty hard-hitting. And if it can hit two targets, then in theory it could hit two Champions, effectively doubling the damage.
It's also worth noting, I suppose, that his Q is now like his W, in that it's a pretty much guaranteed hit on anyone who's stunned. Maybe that's why they didn't change the damage. On the other hand, remember that DFG was a 15% max health hit and a +20% damage debuff.
http://i.imgur.com/PFX8Gp8.png
R - Primordial Burst AP Ratio reduced to 1.0 from 1.2 (Ratio on enemy's AP unchanged) Mana Cost flattened to 125 at all ranks from 125/175/225 Cooldown reduced to 120/100/80 from 130/110/90
I have to say, I was expecting a damage buff to compensate for the loss of DFG, which added a ton of power to this ability. They say it's because the new Q lets him farm more easily, but remember that DFG was a 15% max health hit right away, and a +20% damage debuff. One of my main concerns about these new abilities is that Veigar's damage has not been directly buffed (well, some cooldown changes), and indeed has been cut. DFG was basically a second ult.
http://i.imgur.com/spZ5Wzx.png
E - Event Horizon Has a 0.75 second delay with a warning particle before the walls appear Mana Cost decreased to 80/85/90/95/100 from 80/90/100/110/120 Cooldown reduced to 18/17/16/15/14 from 20/19/18/17/16 Range increased to 700 from 650
I actually think this is the most significant change. On the one hand, I completely agree that the E was awkward as a weirdly-shaped skillshot that was amazing if you landed it with the edge but very weak if you didn't. That was always one of the worst parts of my Veigar play: I'm just not great at hitting with the edge. I've gotten better, but I find it hard to squint at the screen and land the edge precisely when the pressure is on. I think it's much more thematic this way, and probably more interesting ("interesting" :3 ) for the enemy.
That said, this basically eliminates his ability to fight 1v1. Veigar's 1v1 before was "if you're squishy enough, and I'm fed enough, and I hit you with the edge, I can probably blow you up. If not, I'm dead." Now, it's just "I'm dead."
EDIT: While reading GummyBearWookiee's observation that it's now useless for (e.g.) stopping Kat, it occurred to me that my main problem with this new E is that it takes .75s for it to have ANY effect. A lot can happen to a tiny yordle in .75s. On live, if you miss your stun, you're going to get pounced on and destroyed, or just blown to pieces by autoattacks or spells. What if it, say, silenced people near the edges before stunning them? What if it silenced people at the center of the "black hole"?
http://i.imgur.com/IDumGLK.png
W - Dark Matter Mana Cost reduced to 70/75/80/85/90 from 70/80/90/100/110 Cooldown reduced to 10/9.5/9/8.5/8 from 10 at all ranks
Basically the same. A little more ability to use W repeatedly during teamfights, which I think is great; I feel like it's a good place for really strong Veigar Summoners to show their skills by landing stunless meteors on multiple targets.
