Malzahar might be recoverable, but you've got to cut your losses.
So, just to let people know, i'm personally a very strong malz revert advocate, and feel that the current version will continue to have problems into the foreseeable future, unless something is done about the champion on a mechanical level. Now, some will recognize very quickly, but I feel this would've been a much more sane way of approaching this rework, which i think, like him or hate him, jungler, mid, or support, will be preferred by the majority of the community.
Though honestly i might just be doing this, because I want to procrastinate on my software assignment a little more... who knows.
##Passive: Void Shift fine you can keep it riot (personally I preferred voidling blocking).
##W - Voidling Swarm -> Creature of the Void
Voidling Health : 2 health points ->Voidlings now have 200 HP + (50 * level).
Medical Advancements : 12 second duration -> 21 second duration
REMOVED Voidling Magic Damage : 10/15/20/25/30 ( +20% AP)
Voidling Physical Damage : 30/35/40/45/50 ( +40% bonus AD) -> 20 AD + (5 * level) ( +100% bonus AD)
NEW _Fetch _: Voidlings are taunted towards malzahar's attack target.
REMOVED Voidling Damage : Voidlings deal 300% damage to minions affected by Malefic Visions
NEW Tight Leash : Voidlings return to malzahar at 1700 range away from him
REMOVED Speed Demons : Voidlings gain 100% bonus movement speed toward priority targets
REMOVED _No Swarm _: The first time a Voidling attacks a champion or large monster, Malzahar will spawn an additional Voidling
REMOVED Advanced Hunters : Neutral monsters take 50% reduced damage
Voidling Attack Speed : 0.665 -> 0.831
NEW Battle Hardened : After 7 seconds, voidlings gain +50% armor and +50% AD
NEW Time Crunch : After 14 seconds, voidlings gain +100% bonus Attack Speed
REMOVED Hot Zone : Recharge Time 20 / 19 / 18 / 17 / 16
NEW Calling Backup : After malzahar casts a spell (including W), he gains a stack of a buff, at 4 stacks Creature of the Void gains a charge.
Static Cooldown : 1 second at all ranks -> 10/8/6/4/2 seconds
Mana Cost : 40 -> 20
##E - Malefic Visions
Magic Damage : 80/115/150/185/220 ( +70% AP) -> 80/140/200/260/320 ( +70% AP)
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##R - Nether Grasp
NEW Null Damage No More! : Whilist in the Null Zone enemies generate a stack every 0.5 seconds, up to 10 stacks. Damage per second per stack 1%/1.4%/1.8% ( +0.25% per 100 AP) of the targets maximum health, over 2 seconds.
Null Maximum Damage : 30%/42%/54% ( +6.25% per 100 AP) of the targets maximum health
So i'm sure, some people realize what i did to the voidlings, basically just a revert, but i added in a mix between the Azir W and Kass E system as a means of still manually summoning the voidling, and kept the delay on the summon.
The changes to the ult might seem strange, but the idea is that it basically makes it's damage output a little bit more reliable, but also more rewarding if you instantly escape the ult. The base damage is up by 20%, but the scaling has been reduced so that it takes about the same to get the damage to 1 shot someone with the full duration (currently takes ~730 AP) . The idea is that you want to avoid getting stacks, but because the damage is on you and not on the ground, it ensures that damage isn't totally lost because of a QSS or interruption.
It let's riot keep his "identity", but revives AD malz and allows for a little bit more consistent play, and returns some of the agency back to the malzahar player, without going back to the targeted 1 shot combo that riot preached about wanting to remove.
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Edit: Another idea for the voidling buffs (instead of basing it on time), might be to give them buffs based on how many are out. So, if you were to store up two charges, W + W + Q + E, then you'd be able to quickly get out 3 voidlings (well in 4 seconds at rank 5 due to the static CD). Though 17 seconds, of a fully buffed up voidling pack might be a little bit much. So w/ 2 voidlings both get +50% AD and +50% armor 3 voidlings all 3 get +100% Attack speed.
