Problems with the aatrox changes.

Ok Aatrox is finally being looked at which i am honestly really excited about... except its a nerf?

Now you may be wondering why this would be as the changes look alright and seem interesting and they are, the passive has been changed which looks interesting, the health costs removed which is a god sender because you can actually build tank now and the general abilities have been changed or re balanced.

However lets look at the changes

Firstly his passive blood well has been changed to this:

"General Base Blood Well capacity :: 105 → 100 Blood Well capacity per level :: 45 → 0 Blood Well (P) [ reworked ] Aatrox fills the Blood Well through his abilities. When Aatrox fills the Blood Well to 100%, it becomes 'locked' and beings to drain over 4 seconds giving him Blood Rush for the duration While under the effects of Blood Rush, dealing or taking damage versus champions will fully refresh Blood Rush's duration (and fully refill the Blood Well) [ Blood Rush ] Aatrox gains 25% base attack damage and 20 / ~ / 50% attack speed. Upon taking fatal damage, Aatrox will revive and recover 30% of his max health. Aatrox cannot revive more than once every 180 / ~ / 120 seconds"

Now this is interesting and has the potential to be a very interesting and unique game mechanic. But unfortunately it just makes him weaker. The current Blood Well gives a static 30-50% attack speed that doesn't degrade as long as Aatrox is in combat, with the added measure that he has a guaranteed revive on the first time he dies. While this may seem like a buff it is actually a nerf. Aatrox has low attack speed in general, and is balanced around his current passive. By removing his static attack speed and putting it into brief periods of power, the enemy has the ability to negate your passive entirely by just disengaging. Furthermore it also hurts his sustain as he has less attack speed generally to heal back up with his W.

Secondly his q Dark flight also has been re-balanced:

__Dark Flight (Q) Cost :: 10% current health → No cost Damage :: 70 / 115 / 160 / 205 / 250 (+60% bonus AD) → 10 / 35 / 60 / 95 / 120 (+110% total AD) [ new ] Now fills 20% of the Blood Well upon cast __

Flat out buff, the health cost has been removed and the damage is around the same at all levels of the game. Doesn't really do anything however as the q was just used to stun or escape.

Blood Thirst/Blood Price:

Blood Thirst (W) - heal effect Heal :: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 (+25% bonus AD) → 30 / 45 / 60 / 75 / 90 (+5% missing health) [ removed ] No longer triples the healing while below 50% health Blood Price (W) - damage effect Cost :: 15 / 23.75 / 32.5 / 41.25 / 50 (+25% bonus AD) → No cost Damage :: 60 / 95 / 130 / 165 / 200 (+100% bonus AD) → 30 / 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 (+75% bonus AD) [ new ] Now fills 20% of the Blood Well when hit effect occurs

Now this is a massive nerf to the healing nature of blood thirst. Now hypothetically if we put a 1500 hp aatrox with a hydra (assume its 12 min in) and his blood thirst is maxed he has lost 300 hp. He used to heal 59 hp from his old blood thirst. He now heals 115 from his new one. Wow. Now lets say aatrox took 800 damage. Now the old aatrox heals 177 the new aatrox heals 130... This nerfs his sustain dramatically, even if new aatrox was on 0 hp he would not sustain as much, he would only heal 165. Now combined with his reduction in attack speed new aatrox is healing significantly less making him far more vulnerable to his lack of stats. This gap only expands as the game goes on.

I can't say much about the Blood Price however as its been completely re balanced and the damage reduction is countered by the heal.

His E Blades of torment

_Blades of Torment (E) Cost :: 5% current health → 30 health Damage :: 75 / 110 / 145 / 180 / 215 (+60% AP) (+60% bonus AD) → 70 / 115 / 160 / 205 / 250 (+70% bonus AD) Damage Type :: Magic → Physical Slow Potency :: 40% at all ranks → 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50% Slow Duration :: 1.75 / 2 / 2.25 / 2.5 / 2.75 → 2 seconds at all ranks [ new ] Now fills 20% of the Blood Well upon cast _

Seems fine, though it would probably be weaker against tanks due to armour stacking. Buff early game however. Does more damage now but still won't mean much as its extraordinarily hard to hit at range due to its slow projectile movement and narrow hitbox.

Overall aatrox seems like he would be significantly weaker than the old one, his core feature his inherent ability to sustain has been nerfed with no compensation on his base stats making him significantly more vulnerable to being bullied out of lane by stronger opponents and makes him weaker in the late game due to his attack speed being gated behind his passive. Combined with his revive also being gated he is far more vulnerable than the old aatrox even without the health costs on his abilities. If they are going to continue with this change they need to revert the W Blood Thirst to its original form and give him some slight base stats particularly attack speed.