Rework Concept: Zyra

I will preface this and any other rework concepts I do by saying that I am not necessarily looking for change. More that I'm just experimenting with other pathways a champion can take. This is not something I'm wanting to replace your beloved champion with, it's all in the name of science...err..."exploratory design..?" This one in particular, I dedicate to SSmotzer and his post about potential changes with her lore updates.

Base stats and Lore for this are still Riot's own. This is purely a kit redesign. changed will be clearly marked.

Passive: Garden of Thorns - periodically spawns one or two Seeds nearby that last for 30 seconds, briefly granting sight over the surrounding area. After at least 1 second, enemy champions can destroy Seeds by stepping on them. In addition, Zyra will automatically plant a seed within 100 units of an enemy champion hit by any of her basic abilities. (IMPORTANT: This concept uses this mechanic in place of her current W, to make room for a new ability. You do not directly place plants anymore) Zyra can have up to 10 up from 8 seeds, prioritizing seeds spawned from ability hits over passively generated seeds.

New! Q: Deadly Spines - Zyra flings a thorn at a target enemy, dealing light damage and additional damage over 3s. The DoT is refreshed if hit by multiple thorns, and can stack up to 3 times. Zyra can also target her Seeds with the thorns, spawning a Thorn Spitter. Lastly, she can use this on an active plant to grant it 1.5s of extra life, and regain a health charge. (charges are still being left at 4) Holds 2/3/4/5/6 charges. 1s CD between charges, charges regen on a 12s cooldown. (This leaves Q as an activator for seeds, gives her a reliable poke tool without relying solely on her plants, and can be used in quick succession to generate plants around her target for quick follow up and a spawn for safer poke.)

New! W: Ingrain - after a 0.5s delay, Zyra roots herself, gaining 20/25/30/35/40(+3/100AP) armor and magic resist but being unable to move, and increasing the range of her other basic abilities as well as the seed generation of her passive by 350 units. While ingrained, Zyra also passively spawns 1 seed per second. Ingrain lasts for 4s, but upon reaching max rank will become an infinite toggled ability. Being stunned, displaced, silenced or suppressed while ingrained will uproot Zyra, putting Ingrain on double the usual cooldown (or on a 20s cooldown at max rank). Zyra can cancel Ingrain early by inputting a movement command. (this gives her some much heavier siege status, but it also emphasizes her lack of mobility even further. A similar concept was used on Xerath at one point, but Xerath proved to be just a bit too strong for it...I think that Zyra planting herself would work a lot better...she can activate plants from longer distances, and give off some light poke with her Q. Or land that epic sniper E. It's super important to note though, that especially in the early game, with its steep cooldowns, your positioning when using this is absolutely imperative: if you get uprooted, you lose a lot of power from your area control game. Late game, when this becomes toggled, you can abuse the plant generation for some huge siege potential Cooldown: 40/35/30/25/toggle

E: Grasping Roots - Unchanged

R: Stranglethorns - Zyra spawns a massive thicket that deals damage as it expands. She also spawns a triangle of 9 seeds spread across the area. After 2 seconds, the vines spring up, knocking enemies airborne and turning all the seeds into miniature Spine Lashers with 2 health charges that each deal 30% of normal Lasher damage.

SUPER IMPORTANT NOTES!

• Lowering Spine Lasher damage slightly, but increasing the slow (utility).
• Raising the damage of the Thorn Spitter to compensate for Lasher damage loss and to encourage Q use for plant generation instead of just constant Q spam on enemies. Q spam on enemies will be low damage, especially by mid-late game, and more of a means to direct your plants.
• Ult is losing the ability to empower the plants, instead generating a large quantity of small, controlling plants to double down on the importance of her team's follow-up over just eradicating things for no reason..
• Ingrain can give away your position if you're toggled in a bush, because it will continue to randomly generate plants past the cap, therefore constantly changing the position of your plants in the area, and alerting enemies that you're rooted nearby.
• Zyra's plants will attack, in order of priority: Targets in range afflicted with Q's DoT/ Champions attacking Zyra/The last enemy hit by Zyra's basic attack/The closest target.