One Morde thread to rule them all

The dust from this year's last roadmap has settled, with a lot of people, myself included, lamenting the severe lack of Mordekaiser on it. Now, my initial reaction was one of utter devastation, I was frankly just overwhelmed with disappointment and anger and it really clouded my judgement. I'm prone to bottling up frustration until it all blows up in what I'd say would be a hissy fit of sorts.

But I'm digressing, this isn't me trying to deal with my issues with my therapist, this is a motherlovin' Mordekaiser thread, goddamnit! The one to rule 'em all. Consider this my last stand of sorts, where I recap everything Morde-related and present everything in a neat and organized fashion that Riot might take notice once they get around reworking Mordekaiser in....lemme see Reav3's comment...Sometime in #2019

So it's Soon(tm). But not soon enough for many of us Mordekaiser mains so I'l creating this thread, hoping it'll at least accelerate a few things, or at least might help Riot see the untapped value of Mordekaiser.

But without further ado, let us jump in.

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https://img.fireden.net/v/image/1506/44/1506445358198.jpg #What is Mordekaiser

Other than an overused Bug meme I mean.

Mordekaiser is a Juggernaut of the Raidboss subclass. He's a durable carry-style champion who thrives when duking it out in the fray, sustaining himself by terrifying in-combat sustain and just wreaking havoc on whoever gets caught in his unholy crusade.

Or at least that is what Mordekaiser's supposed to be.

Currently Mordekaiser is nothing more than a gimmick, a frankenstein creation of clashing themes, skills and gameplay elements. Unlike other Juggernauts, Mordekaiser lacks any incentive to build defensive items, at all, due to him lacking any enabling kit elements like Urgot's Echoing Flames or Noxian Might. Coupled with the functionality of Iron Man Mordekaiser HAS to itemize pure, raw Ability power and Magic penetration to even function due to the nature of his kit only lending itself to that; A purely damage oriented champion...

Which is fine, there are a lot of bruisers whose main contribution to a team is damage, but unlike them, Mordekaiser lacks any Agency to actually apply any pressure of his own. He has neither mobility, nor any form of inherent Crowd Control, which puts him in a very weird spot teamcomp wise.

As a top laner he lacks the sheer Bulk and CC to actually flex as somewhat of a frontliner. In Mid lane he struggles extremely hard against control mages and unlike other mages, he lacks strong RANGED wave clear and CC to be a viable pick You'd think his home would be bot then, given his ADC-levels of abysmal Base stats, but even there he gets completely outclassed come 20 minutes due to him lacking range, consistency, sieging and of course, self-reliance.

All of this points to a fundamental flaw of Mordekaiser's current state; #He has no Place on the current Summoner's Rift. Mordekaiser lacks a proper position in the ecosystem of League as his kit tries to be a lot of things, but ultimately fails at truly providing what you'd expect from his champion thematic.

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https://images-ext-2.discordapp.net/external/uJl9cnrEBY2u50LFkV9O-0kXMA0rbICmT0UNvjD8pP0/https/i.pinimg.com/originals/2f/05/85/2f058551892f7f99adea439226a45c4f.jpg #What SHOULD Mordekaiser be

And yet, despite Morde being such a gimmick of a champion, he attracted a small, but very loyal playerbase. We Mordekaiser mains loathe and adore Mordekaiser. #I for once hate how much I love Morde.

And why is that you may ask? It's not him being flashy. Or him being disgustingly Op. Nor really having any LCS big plays moments. His R34 isn't anything spectacular either.

Oh no, we Morde mains love our champion because of the #Idea of Mordekaiser. Where other people see this relic of a champion, a complete dumpsterfire, we see the Potential of something greater. And we're not delusional for doing so.

Mordekaiser might be one of the coolest champions, period. His lore, themes and design just scream Badassery. He's a towering Revenant encased in blackened Iron Armour. He's one of the first undead and chose that path so that his conquest may be eternal. He's the Emperor of a long lost empire that once spread across Valoran. He's adept at vile necromancy and still destroys his foes with the crushing blows of his ensorcelled mace.

He's simply put, #Metal as Fuck

And we see that in him. The potential of getting an extremely cool champion whose gameplay and visuals reflect the image that is painted through his place in the Lore and the one we constructed inside our heads.

As a gameplay fantasy, Mordekaiser encompasses a lot of cool themes as well. A reworked Mordekaiser would function similarly to a mix of a Battlemage and Juggernaut.

A durable damage dealer who'll march into battle, knowing that everyone fears his approach.

Think something akin to a

Unlike his AD brethren though, Mordekaiser's Death Knight archetype lends itself very well to the creation of a medium-range based champion. One who despite being immobile as balls, like literally a heavy metal colossus, would be able to contribute to a fight through something a lot more Juggernauts should have; Range.

A primarily spell-slinger type of Juggernaut who'll have the tools to be relevant, to have some agency, without being given extreme mobility. https://68.media.tumblr.com/ab64a786a978e61e2a5657df0ba15233/tumblr_ou37u66EeL1u1jwg6o6_400.gif

And it's a champion fantasy that'd attract a lot more players, it's something extremely cool and satisfying. Just imagine playing an 8 foot tall Metal titan who marches into battle, having his every step shake the ground, and every swing just decimate the opposition.

Sounds overpowered? Well, this is League of Legends, where basically ANYTHING can be made fair and balanced through inventive design. Sweet spot hitboxes, delays and other ways of rewarding BOTH the Mordekaiser player and the one playing against him are going to make Mordekaiser extremely satisfying to play as a skill ceiling will provide both parties with ways of showing their mastery.

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https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/attachments/1/8/8/9/2/2/23545.jpg #The Technology is here! If there's something that made me optimistic about Mordekaiser's VGU, and frankly, even impatient, is the plethora of new mechanics introduced to league of legends through champion releases or reworks. They all show just in what ways Mordekaiser could be reforged.

The value of Range on Melee champions and Juggernauts Probably something that makes me really excited for Morde's VGU is how a lot of my favorite champions, despite being Melee, got the tools to contribute to a team. They have abilities that extend their threat range and allow them to have agency of their own, giving them fun ways of being relevant to their team.

for example shows exactly how an Ap fighter could function. He's a primarily melee based character but his Q, Wings of War really rounds off his kit and delivers on the archetype Morde would be; A Melee Battlemage/Ap Bruiser.

Showed that Juggernauts could get away with having range, giving them a threat range of maybe around 400-500ish range and thus allowing them to have the solution to pesky range threats. Without being completely unbearable to play against if you are melee yourself. His passive also introduced a fun scaling to a Juggernaut that keeps his damage relevant throughout the entire game.

But probably one of the coolest things, and something I would love on Mordekaiser, is 's Q cast paradigm. Sweet spot mechanics would work extremely well on Mordekaiser, or at least on some of his abilities, as it'll allow him to fight Melee and Ranged threats alike and it'd reward skillful uses of such spells. It also allows the enemy to really play around the unique spell AoE and give them ways to fight the champion through well timed dodges.

What Mordekaiser should get in his VGU This is an entirely different question though, but for Mordekaiser to truly deliver on his champion fantasy of this lumbering Metal Titan, a Necromantic beacon of destruction on the battlefield, he'll have to follow some design principles below: -Immobility Mordekaiser is NOT a champion who'd dash, dodge, jog or otherwise run fast. He's approaching doom, inevitable and something you can see from miles ahead. He would NEVER work well with mobility spells and shall remain this hulking colossus. Not some marathon runner like Garen and Trundle

-Incentive to build like a Juggernaut There are a lot of options for an Ap bruiser to itemize, especially a resource-less one like Morde; and they should form the core of a Morde build. But for him to really work like a bruiser, Morde's kit should have inherent features that reward durable builds and help him itemize for the role he's supposed to fill. for example work really well on Morde already, and giving him Dual scalings that allow him to scale throughout the game, simply through good base ad and level ups may allow him to build more durable. Something Mordekaiser will definitely need in order to not just be an early to mid game champion is a form of inherent penetration that'll allow him to stay relevant. Ad juggernauts can already itemize Pen through their CORE item but Morde would have to opt into a Giving him something akin to Darius' Apprehend total armour pen might just do the trick.

-Keep him an actual Carry pick Most of us Morde mains want to play Mordekaiser as a carry, as someone his team can rely on to carry them to victory. Currently it means we're even more limited as his current state doesn't allow for self reliance and actual Juggernaut gameplay. We're overly reliant on our teammates to hold down threats, to tank for us, since our defensive stats are truly laughable, and it kinda hurts to be nothing more than a damage pump. Synergy is great, we've seen it in , a carry champion who works extremely well in a team-based game, and Mordekaiser could learn a thing or two from the current resident of his old Immortal Bastion.

-He will need some form of utility I already mentioned Swain, but Mordekaiser will definitely need something that makes him a valuable pick for his team other than just damage. Crowd control might work really well with him, seeing that it'd fit his whole "Slow but Devastating" approach to things, but there are countless other ways of giving him ways to be of use to his team if he's behind. He'll need a Fallback Pattern-

-The "Core Identity" Dilemma Mordekaiser currently has TWO things that make him stand out from his peers, and it's what makes him really cool and cherished by us Mordekaiser mains. Those two things are him being able to ENSLAVE his fallen foes to do his bidding, and the other is him becoming more durable, the longer he's in combat. Mordekaiser es numero uno, Always shield, never die, Huehuehuehue was THE meme for a reason.

But both are problematic, but both SHOULD be preserved. But how? Well, that's actually quite simple; No actual mechanics need to be kept as long as the FEEL remains. Tearing out your enemies' souls to fight for you and feeding off the sorrow you sow on the battlefield need not be bound to these archaic, old designs. They can be reinvented, but they NEED to stay in some form. It's simply WHO Mordekaiser is.

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http://66.media.tumblr.com/6e4ab0ea710236a75cb9495bf5f57eac/tumblr_o3ofom6BuJ1ucq9cfo1_500.png #Conclusion

Well, this is totally going to be my LAST Mordekaiser thread, or at least one on his gameplay and a future VGU. I haven't covered his lore and other themes, but aimed to simply put forward everything I deem Important for Mordekaiser's VGU to truly succeed. I hope someone at least found it entertaining or interesting to some degree, but it's just something that needed to be said.

Mordekaiser is the sole reason I play League of Legends, and I, and the rest of us Mordekaiser mains, want to finally see our Heavy Metal Overlord be brought up to date with League's current design. We want him to be given his due, to finally be reforged into something we, and the rest of the League community can Love!

#Thanks for reading. Malicious Metal out