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Morde is League's newest class: The Generic Deathknight

ReQnosis·10/15/2015, 5:41:39 AM·59 votes·2,299 views

Seriously: Nice undead theme + Dragon ya got there buddy

Personally, I've not played Morde since season 2 (I think) but I find a few things funny.

More specifically, the Riot team member that was responsible for Morde's rework CertainlyT was the same guy that made champs like Thresh, Kalista and Yasuo.

Arguably, these champs have completely overloaded kits (no real balance or trade off between power/mobility/cc/ect.)

Yet the only thing he could think of doing to Morde, was to copy/paste generic elements from Arthas (World of Warcraft).

Add in the fact that Morde is also naturally slower than most other champs, thus buys "Frost" items like Rylas/Mallet and the comparison gets even more comical.

Granted, we all know that Morde was originally inspired by at least Sauron who's a necromancer, dressed in spiky metal armor, wielding a giant mace. But his rework just seems completely lazy.

Think about it, the new Morde doesn't really "do" anything himself, it's the "unfair advantages" (xp + dragon) that he gets for free, just for playing the game like everyone else is, that's the problem.

  • Objective control (Dragon) is already a staple element of the game, yet if his team gets dragon, he gets a free pet that almost guarentees he gets a follow up turret, if not a bunch of kills by tower diving (using the dragon to tank the turret).

  • Last hitting is an important part of the game, yet if Morde does it, he gets free "solo lane" exp. Thematically, that doesn't even make sense.. he's not Zilean or even a time lord himself. But here he is, getting free level advantages over his opponents, just for last hitting.

But if you take those two things away from Morde, all you have left, is a gimpy heal on his "W" and all his DMG front loaded to a 3x hit combo.

He doesn't really bring anything unique to the game that has any real sense of "Counter-play".

  • How do you counterplay Morde getting dragon, outside of what you already do by objective controlling in the first place?

  • How do you counterplay Morde getting last hits, outside of what you already do by trying to zone creeps in the first place?

This version of Morde is not only generic in nature, he looks like he was designed by a fan fiction writer (given overpowered attributes, ignoring balance along with a generic/boring personality).

Anywho, that's just my own thoughts on this.. but it just feels like the Morde rework was a massively missed opportunity to make a truly amazing "Master of Metal".

In your opinions, how would you compensate Morde (IE: Rework his kit) after removing the dragon and free xp?

12 Comments

ArchDraft10/15/2015, 5:47:19 AM20 votes

"Given overpowered attributes, ignoring balance along with a generic/boring personality." Are you sure you aren't talking about Superman?

MrWasjig10/15/2015, 4:40:31 PM8 votes

CertainlyT is a fanfiction writer. Confirmed!

ChaosThief10/15/2015, 8:14:25 PM3 votes

I know I'm not a morde main, but what if after taking off the W passive and the dragon clone...

-We reduce the Q's cooldown AND bonus damage, but have it ramp up for every consecutive use (so brawling morde for too long will result in a lot of pain, but too long doesn't mean 2 seconds) -His W got increased range and dealt more damage to targets in the extra range? Giving morde an ability which can essentially "trap" people in shrapnel. -His E did more damage close up, less damage at a distance, again rewarding close range combat

  • GIVING HIM ARMOR SCALINGS. YOU WANTED TO MAKE HIM A BRUISER AND HE'S MADE OF METAL, NOT ANY AMOUNT OF FLESH.

...but you know, I can't talk, I'm just a single person in the general public.

Keashqa10/16/2015, 12:12:30 AM2 votes

Bump

TwoD10/16/2015, 5:57:17 AM2 votes

This is how I would compensate Morde

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/roszkOous58/maxresdefault.jpg

Tuglosch10/15/2015, 1:01:46 PM1 votes

i don't really know for sure... a snare on the e maybe? Just an idea, as i expected riot to change something at some point and they had professionals do it.

the rework has exactly the problems you stated. Nothing in his kit changes anything about the problems he had lately (lack of mobility and cc, as the meta more and more favors those things) but instead gave him those gimicks and AD scaling, which don't contribute to his gameplay but just give him ridiculous dmg when build accordingly.

I assume, riot will nerf his dmg to balance, at which point he is plain gonna disappear from the game, having his pride stripped of him.

Photos of Ghosts10/15/2015, 12:09:14 PM1 votes

Wow, I didn't know about that WoW thing, so basically Skyrim references it here? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrdvGIUtEiE

Auryiel10/16/2015, 5:44:31 AM1 votes

Here's a rework idea I had for Morde about 2 years ago. I look at it now and I think it's pretty shit, but you know what? I still think it's better than what we have right now.

Dark Will As Mordekaiser gets closer to death, his powers grow. Mordekaiser gains 3%/4%/5% damage resistance for every 10% of his maximum health he is missing (maximum 21%/28%/35% at 30% health).

Mace of Spade Cost: 18/26/34/42/50 health Cooldown: 6/5.5/5/4.5/4 seconds Area of Effect: 360 Mordekaiser enhances his next attack, converting it to deal 20/60/100/140/180 (+65% ability power) (+100% attack damage) magic damage. He swings his mace with such force that it echoes out, striking nearby enemy targets. All enemies hit have their movement speed slowed by 35% for 1 second. If the target is alone, it is stunned for 1 second instead.

Creeping Death Cost: 35/40/45/50/55 health Cooldown: 12/11/10/9/8 seconds Area of Effect: 800 Mordekaiser summons a cloud of metal shards around himself, instantly dealing 40/65/90/115/140 (+40% ability power) magic damage to nearby enemy units. The cloud remains around Mordekaiser for 4 seconds, dealing 20/30/40/50/60 (+15% ability power) magic damage every second to enemies near him. If an enemy champion is damaged by the first blast, Mordekaiser also gains a shield that lasts 4 seconds and can absorb up to 80/125/170/215/260 (+70% ability power) damage. Casting this ability does not interrupt Mordekaiser’s movement.

Siphon of Destruction Cost: 20/30/40/50/60 health Cooldown: 6 seconds Range: 850 Width: 80 Missile Speed: 1450 Mordekaiser launches a wave of affliction that deals 70/115/160/205/250 (+60% ability power) magic damage to all enemies hit. Enemy champions hit are also afflicted with the Mark of Dread, granting sight of them for 3 seconds. For the next 3 seconds, Mordekaiser may use Grasp of the Dread Lord if it is not on cooldown.

Grasp of the Dread Lord Cost: 10/15/20/25/30 health Cooldown: 12 seconds Range: 1100 Pull Distance: 600 Mordekaiser pulls towards him an enemy champion afflicted by the Mark of Dread.

Children of the Grave Cooldown: 100/80/60 seconds Range: 850 Mordekaiser curses the targeted enemy champion, instantly dealing magic damage equal to 15%/20%/25% (+1% per 100 ability power) of its maximum health. The target is also cursed for the next 6 seconds. If it dies while cursed, Mordekaiser is healed for 15%/20%/25% of its maximum health and gains 40/50/60 bonus movement speed as well as 20/30/40 bonus armor and magic resistance for the next 6/7/8 seconds.

If I remember correctly I thought back then that Morde's ult's best case scenario (meaning getting an AD carry ghost) ate too much of his power budget, so I removed that component, but still kept the idea of feeding off your enemies' death. I also thought his shielding mechanic was bad because if he was ahead he'd generate too much shield but his passive would be useless from behind. I also thought the instant damage aspect of his E was too strong in melee match-ups and the range made it too weak against long-range champions, so I added a delay to it by making it a fast-ish skillshot cone effect. In exchange for the removal of those really strong mechanics I gave him a LOT of durability, an incentive to play near death and the ability to force his target near him and keep it there long enough to kill it. Of course, he'd still have low mobility.

If I were to try and think of a rework for Morde today, chances are it would be vastly different.