Mordekaiser the "Juggernaut"
What is a Juggernaut? So called Juggernauts are Riot's newest class of Fighters and the topic of many qq threads and complaints. But what are the defining traits of this type of fighter? Juggernauts are Bruisers, generally speaking. But unlike Jax, Irelia and similar contenders they all share low mobility. They're really durable, like tanks, but unlike the latter they don't bring much, if any utility to the team. They're beefcakes; Steamrollers; They're extremely lethal up close and personal but kiting and cc stops them in their onslaught. Many Juggernauts also share the trait Riot likes to call "Windows of Power".
Seems like a pretty decent explanation of these burly dudes.... Yet there's a black sheep, or rather a metal one; Mordekaiser!
I'll be taking a look at the other Juggernauts and share my opinion on why Morde doesn't fit the bill. So, let us begin!
Darius
Darius' durability comes from his unique way to mitigate damage, his Q heal based on % missing health encourages him to stack health and makes him a real nuisance to deal with due to him effectively getting more out of building health. In order to make sure he doesn't fall off in the damage department he gains 200 Free AD from his passive Noxian might. ->Darius' damage isn't tied to his purchases and his Q allows him to get even more out of building tanky.
On the topic of mobility and utility; Darius has pretty high MS (340) and even has TWO slows and a displacement He even gains obscene MS due to him building a black cleaver pretty early, a Dead man's plate following soon after. This makes him practically negate the "Juggernaut Handicap"
Not only this but he's got one of the highest base stats with 2282 health, 98 Armor, 141 Ad. He's not only tanky by default but his build makes him get even beefier without sacrificing a lot of damage potential.
->Darius' window of power's Noxian might, making him extremely deadly under the right circumstances but he needs to first apply 5 stacks in order to truly get going
Garen
Garen's health regen passive makes even Mundo jealous at times. He's a great skirmisher due to his healing properties and manages to quickly pop into fights and fall back to regen only to reenter the fray.
His W gives him bonus MR/Armor stacking up to 30, allowing him to mostly focus on health, synergising with his passive. Yet its active also reduces incoming damage for 30%, making him even more durable.
His mobility isn't shabby either, having 340 MS and a speed buff on his Q and an attached silence. Just like Darius the black cleaver's his usual core item, making his kiting problems a lot easier to overcome.
His base stats are nothing to laugh at with 2048 health with a whopping 616 at level 1(!) as well as 135 AD and 79 armor with the bonus 30 from his W.
->His window of power is you being the ACCURSED VILLAIN!!! Allowing him to deal tremendous amounts of true damage with his ultimate, ending you wiht a powerful yell of DEMACIA! Not only is his execute strong, his passive gives him %health true damage against the villain. making him THE anti carry and allowing him to build tanky and get to the villain in a breeze.
Skarner
Probably the second worst misfit in this group of Juggernauts. Like a tank he brings a lot of utility with a powerful slow and Stun on his fracture, a surpression on his Impale and general stickiness. His shield scales with a hefty amount of total health and even speeds him up, his base MS not even being low(335)! He's really hard to kite for a juggernaut and still deals a lot of damage due to his Spire boost and low CD sheen procs.
His base stats are really strong as well with 2131 base health, 136 AD and 94 armor.
->Skarner's window of power are his spires, A sanctum where he gains 150 MS, 150% AS and mana regen, making him lethal when triggering the zone's effect.
Finally we get to the black sheep of this group, the one and only HueKaiser, Numero Uno;
Mordekaiser
Morde's base stats are laughably weak, even more so compared to his Juggernaut brethren. His MS is the lowest in the game with 325. His Base health is abysmally low at 1765, coupled with his horrendous base armor(20) that maxes out at 84 makes him feel more like ALuminium Man than Iron man. His only good base stat is his base AD of 146 and that's only 5 higher than Darius'
He's got no CC unlike the other Juggernauts. His "mobility"'s a conditional FLAT 75 MS boost tied to an Ally unit being near.
His shield may scale with HP but it being filled relies on DAMAGE, making him want to build BOTH to get the best out of his passive unlike the other juggernauts who get rewarded for usually building only one or two stats (AD, health). Morde needs MS, Armor, MR, Health, AD(?), AP and AS, making him usually go for tankiness, leaving his other abilities outside his Q deal non-significant damage.
His main damage is tied to a ramping up ability that eats a lot of his power budget and he even loses an entire skill when alone.
Morde the "Perfect Juggernaut" Morde's premise is the epitome of a Juggernaut; No Mobility, No CC, Heavy Damage and extreme Durability. Yet he fails to achieve being the pinnacle of all Juggernauts.
This is mostly due to him being balanced on a gimmicky mechanic in bot lane but also due to him lacking significant "Windows of Power", Moments in which he'd gain extreme durability, damage and whatnot similar to Ryze's passive. Not only this but his base stats are severely lacking for a Juggernaut with LESS CC AND MOBILITY than his comrades.
But the biggest Problem has to be the fact that Morde isn't fun for ANYONE; It's no fun at all playing against him and even those who do play him don't really feel satisfied by playing the guy. His enjoyment relies in you hitting Q. That's it. It lacks satisfaction and counterplay for the enemy since Morde's really frustrating to play against while not really being all that enjoyable to play.
The goal of the Juggernaut update was to make those champions unique, to give them a niche, a home on the rift. Yet Morde's "Uniqueness" relies on him being forced(!) bot rather than interesting mechanics and aspects to his character. And yet there were many avenues that would make him unique: -Only AP Juggernaut -Slowest Champion due to lack of CC/Mobility and low base MS but one hell of a tough nut to crack; He could be the epitome of a Juggernaut; Trading all and any form of CC and mobility for unrivaled tankiness and damage amongst the juggernauts. -He could have been League's Sauron -"Your pain's my gain"-type of champion with his unique Shield mechanic.
It's just really disheartening seeing that the only champion with the perfect premise for a Juggernaut gets his potential wasted while also feeling way too unrewarding and "boring". He could be interesting, he could have had Windows of Power, he could have lived up to the Title of Iron Revenant.... Yet we stand here, dissatisfied how he turned out....
~M.M
http://orig14.deviantart.net/e3ae/f/2015/313/0/e/morde_isn_t_pleased_by_nimrohd-d9g33yv.jpg
back in... I think season 4, when he was considered trash. The thing about his kit back then was it actually had a lot of power attached to it, very similarly to what it is now, but unless you can throw axes like a god, you couldn't really cling to anyone long enough to do your job. Riot realized this, and decided to give him a window of power, aka the huge MS boost when he activates ult, so when he's in this seemingly unstoppable state its something to be feared. His winrate slowly grew after that, and even pros started to recognize his power, seeing pro play for parts of season 4 and 5. It was that gift of Mobility that pushed him over the edge into viability, not any increases in his already strong damage.
, HIs Q has too much power on the third hit. his W is meant for two and doesn't deal any AoE until the effect ends. E and R are still good but needs some tweaking.
