The reason behind Morde balance

I like the Morde rework, this thread contains conspirancy and is long. Be advised.

I won' t go in the details about what i like and what i don' t like about the rework, that is not the point of the thread, but let me say that i followed hit with a lot of promise: i played him for 4 years, sometimes more intensively and sometimes less, and for me this change was a breakthrought, crushing the stigma and the cultural fixation that the community has about the meta, bringing fresh new ways to compose teams not with hipsterism but with power and efficency.

Mordekaiser is the herald of a new way to play duo lanes, where a champion different from a marksman that is able to play alone is brought ina duo lane with a support that is able to cover up his weaknesses. As we know Morde started with a low solo power and an absurd duo power, but i waited and left feedback; the communication was really few, but the concept behind it was really sound even with bad tuning; especially i disliked W, that worked only on allies and that had a rather weird passive that allows him to get full xp by minions even while sharing the experience.

For those who do not know:

Passive: Mordekaiser always gains full experience toward leveling up from minions he kills.

The changes came way after the rework release, justified by caution, and were these.

Health cost increased to 25 / 35 / 45 / 55 / 65 from 0 at all ranks. New Effect: If self-cast while no allies are nearby, you will instantly use the secondary active. Damage per second Ability power ratio increased to (+22.5% AP) from (+15% AP). Damage zones no longer overlap for double damage. Reactivation base damage increased to 70 / 95 / 120 / 145 / 170 from 50 / 70 / 90 / 110 / 130. Healing on minions lowered to 25% of reactivation damage from 33%. Maximum number of targets harvested reduced to 2 from 3.

A clear nerf to duo lanes and a much requested buff to solo lanes, which was fine... but why they rather took power out of his own mechanic rather taking away numbers from the W passive that worked well only and only in duo lanes?

Isn' t it weird? The sharing xp effect is what makes morde treathening in duo lane and is an effect that is almost totally passive ( it only requires Morde to last hit a minion ), that is not core to his gameplay theme and that does not require much interaction between him and the support! Let' s take for example the overlap damage. It was strong, too much strong i agree, but at least required interaction between him and the support. Between a passive effect that provides free power while in costant presence of an ally and an effect that empowers sinergy with an other champion on cast what' s better, or at least the lesser evil?

I felt this was really counterproductive: i would love to see different classes in duo lanes, but not only because one champion has an effect that sinergies well with the persistent presence of another ally: many champions have spells that can be used in sinergy with other champions, a stun is the simplest and most common of them for example, and morde already has the W active... why then he should have also a passive that enhances costant allied presence? What makes me cringe is also how morde could still be powerful in duo lane without that experience gain!

Then i asked myself why. Riot response was sorta bland about it, mostly on the lines of " we have to wait and see the reaction" and "we felt it appropriate".

I watched worlds lately, and i enjoyed them. Mordekaiser, obviously, almost 100% pick or ban.

And then it hit me. What if there other reasons behind balance to keep Morde this way?

No, i am not talking about LC$ or World$, to me these are arguments that are bland and lazy while i have in mind something more precise, more calculated, more clinical.

What happens if a champ in a state like Morde gets picked and banned in Worlds? It means that it makes the show different from past torunaments thanks to his precense and how players react to him, giving a sightly different experience. Not only an underdog makes his way to worlds, but also other champions can be pulled out for him - like Nunu. Which is fine, it means that the game expands itself. Also it has an impact on the culture of the playerbase: if offside picks are taken in a tournament like Worlds the become an example and it creates more creativity and variance in the queques, thus making the game more fun and diverse. Which, again, is good.

Basically, it promotes a part of the game and offers another competitive edge. Which is good.

... and if that does not happen? Playing Morde in place of a Marksman takes much more effort than playing a different champion in any other lane, and if that is not worth the strenght and the risk how many teams would decide to do that? This means that Morde while being fully playable competitively duolane does not become popular, is then labeled as a "failed project" by the community and the dogma is recreated again, throwing at the wind all the effort and the progression started with him.

How do you prevent that? By making sure he is contested and he is played the way he is more favorable to play.

There are the same benefits as i listed: a better show at worlds, an example that then will spur creativity and will entice players to try out of meta stuff with brains, maybe he will have the experience boost reduced or removed but AFTER worlds, and probably he will still be playable and competitive. What does it hurt this way, however? The competition, because now he feels like a cheat.

Please tell me your thoughts, and tell me i am wrong.