Irelia, the Will of the Blades [Champion Rework Concept]
Hey guys, it's Cardi. I'm back again this time with my take on a rework for Irelia. Irelia's always been an interesting champion that's seen competitive play from time to time simply because of how damn strong she is at what she does. Namely, single-target utter annihilation with little counterplay potential from her opponents. The goal of this rework is to address precisely the issue of her lack of counterplay while giving her the tools necessary to able to feel good when she's played skillfully. Her theme as the Will of the Blades is also strongly expressed with these changes, giving her a feel that's different from all the other fighters that current exist.
Irelia, the Will of the Blades
Hiten Style (Passive): Irelia’s basic attacks deal a percentage of enemy champions' missing healths as bonus magic damage and heals for a portion of her missing health plus the bonus magic damage dealt by this passive per attack. Additionally, Irelia has 325 basic attack range.
>Irelia's new passive is relatively simple. When she's low on health and her opponent's low on health, landing a few crucial basic attacks (or Transcendent Blades) will have the potential to turn the tide of battle completely. It's a passive that'll let her outplay her opponents if she can successfully land the number of attacks required for it to start feeling effective. In lane, its usage as a sustain tool is limited by the fact that she won't be attacking the enemy champion all the time. The change to her basic attack being 325-range ties in with her theme of the fighter that controls levitating blades telepathically, and has the potential to look amazingly graceful while doing so in game too.
Bladesurge (Q): Irelia dashes to or away from the target (depending on range) and stops at maximum attack range from it, dealing physical damage. Applies melee on-hit effects. If Bladesurge kills the target, its cooldown and mana cost are refreshed. If Irelia isn’t near her blades when Bladesurge is used, the blades will rotate and fly very slowly to Irelia's target before the damage is dealt.
>Irelia dashes to her target and stops at maximum range from it. And it resets if she kills the target with it, just like it does now. In other words, this is her old Bladesurge, but with significantly increased counterplay potential from opponents. Because she now lands at maximum attack range and has no instant stun, Irelia will actually have to commit to a fight and chase her opponent or fall back after just a single dash. The upside to this gameplay change even though it's somewhat a nerf is that she'll be able to close the gap on melee opponents now while kiting them with her increased attack range. Neato.
Equilibrium Strikes (W): Irelia’s next three attacks within six seconds steal movement speed from targets struck and deal bonus magic damage. If she attacks the same target with all three equilibrium strikes, the target is slowed by 99% for 1.5 seconds if Irelia has higher health, and stunned for 1.5 seconds if she has lower health (not % health, actual health).
>A three-hit abiilty. Now it's been a running theme for quite some time that Riot keeps making three-hit effects. In fact, it's even been subject to countless amounts of ridicule by some members of the community. But the important point that can be drawn from this knowledge is that three-hit effects are actually healthy for the game. They give the user playing against the champion enough time to react with their cooldowns or abilities and give the user of three-hit effects a relatively strong gameplay reward as well as a sense of accomplishment when successfully triggered. It's the best of both worlds for both player playing as the champion and player playing against the champion. That being said, this three-hit will let Irelia outplay her opponents, especially when she's much lower in health than them, granted she can land all three on a single opponent.
Spiritual Hover (E): Irelia sends her blades flying quickly to the target location. She can then use basic attacks from the blade’s location to attack targets within 325-range of it or send the blades right back into her hands by self-casting this ability or moving into its attack range. Irelia cannot attack without her blades. She can hold two casts of Spiritual Hover at once.
>This is the core of Irelia's new gameplay. Since she's the Will of the Blades, she should be able to control them... well, at will. With Spiritual Hover, she can send her basic attacks flying towards a location or herself. It works similarly to Orianna's ball and Azir's Sand Soldiers, but has no maximum leash range. This means she can be a super, super aggressive lane bully capable of manipulating her blades to attack her opponent from afar. She'll have to watch out, though. Without her blades by her side, an incoming gank can be potentially catastrophic if her Spiritual Hover is on cooldown. Of course, Irelia can always use Bladesurge to return her blades to her side by picking them up after they damage the target, but that takes a long time if they're far away and requires that Irelia stay within a dangerous distance of an aggressor to pick them up. Instead, as a last resort, Irelia can kite her opponents with her next ability if she chooses to be overly aggressive with Spiritual Hover.
Transcendent Blades (R): Irelia summons five rotating spirit blades that she can fire to deal physical damage and steal percent maximum health from enemies they pass through. Each blade applies on-hit effects.
>Irelia's new ultimate is functionally the same as her old ultimate, but has the added potential of applying on-hit effects (ranged on-hits), her W, and her passive. Without her normal, physical blades by her side, Irelia can still fight back with Equilibrium Strikes by sending the Transcendent Blades flying at her aggressor. If she manages to only hit said aggressor, Equilibrium Strikes will stun or slow it by 99% for 1.5 seconds, giving Irelia ample time to make an escape and recover her blades with Spiritual Hover.
Hope you enjoyed re-imagining Irelia as much as I did. Don't hesitate to leave your thoughts below. And as always I do appreciate your time spent reading this.
Yours truly, Cardi
