I miss Evelynn. Here's how we can bring her back without causing communal ragefits.
So here's the thing. Eve is problematic because of her ability (if she's not nerfed into the ground at the moment) dominate gank-heavy jungle style by virtue of her capability to circumvent wards entirely, making it very difficult to anticipate her ganks. As a result, in her current state, she is inherently unbalanceable (barring gimmicky weirdness like the new ward idea). That means Evelynn isn't allowed to play. Riot has always alternately allowed her to be a thing, in which case she's nigh unstoppable, or simply removed her from the game. So I have a proposition for you guys. What if she didn't have permanent stealth anymore? Now, I know, y'all are gonna say "it's central to her playstyle," and "without it, Evelynn's not Evelynn. That's fine, but I disagree. Here's why. The strength of Evelynn's ganks is dramatically enhanced by their ability to simply drop out of nowhere with her permanent stealth. However, the core of it comes from her w, the ability to pursue or escape nearly instantaneously. As a result, I would like to see her run alternatively, and in a way Riot can balance without modeling certain counterplay styles uniquely to address her. So here are my proposals.
PASSIVE: Wilting Kiss: When out of combat for 20 seconds, Evelynn gains one charge of Wilting Kiss. Evelynn can store 2/3/4 charges of Wilting Kiss. Wilting Kiss gives a special effect to each of Evelynn's abilities, with a four second cooldown between uses.
Q: Hate Spike: RANGE: 600 COST: 12 / 18 / 24 / 30 / 36 MANA COOLDOWN: 1.5 ACTIVE: Evelynn fires a line of spikes through a nearby enemy, dealing 30 / 45 / 60 / 75 / 90 (+45 / 50 / 55 / 60 / 75 % AP) (+60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 % bonus AD) magic damage to all enemy units in its path. A charge of Wilting Kiss is used the first time this ability hits an opponent, slowing them by 15/20/25/30/35% for 2 seconds and dealing 10(+10/15/20/25/30% AP)(+10/15/20/25/30% AD) additional Magic Damage. A charge of Wilting Kiss cannot be used on the same target more than once per 6 seconds.
W: Dark Frenzy: Cooldown 12 seconds PASSIVE: Evelynn's spell hits on enemy champions grant her a flat movement speed bonus for 3 seconds. This effect stacks up to 4 times. FLAT MOVEMENT SPEED PER STACK: 4 / 8 / 12 / 16 / 20 ACTIVE: Evelynn removes all slows affecting her, gains 30/40/50/60/70% increased movement speed for 4 seconds and ignores unit collision. Champion kills and assists refresh Dark Frenzy's cooldown. A charge of Wilting Kiss causes Evelynn to deal 2%(+1% AP)(+1% AD) in a 250 range around her for 4 seconds. Enemies damaged by this are slowed by 10/11/12/13/14%(+1% AP)(+1%AD)
E: Ravage: RANGE: 175 COST: 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 MANA COOLDOWN: 9 ACTIVE: Evelynn slashes a target twice, dealing 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 (+ 60% AP) (+ 70% bonus AD) physical damage and applying on-hit effects with each strike. Evelynn then gains 60 / 75 / 90 / 105 / 120% bonus attack speed for 3 seconds. A charge of Wilting Kiss causes the target of Ravage to be stunned for .5/1/1.5/2.0/2.5 seconds.
R: Dark Sacrament: COST: 100 MANA COOLDOWN: 130 / 100 / 70 Evelynn issues a global laugh (let's not make it too annoying) and, after 1 second (delayed up to 3 seconds when taking damage), gains stealth for up to 20 seconds. Hitting R a second time deals 15 / 20 / 25% (+ 1% per 100 AP) of enemies' current health in magic damage in a 300 radius around Evelynn. Evelynn gains a 250 / 300 / 350 point shield per champion hit, maxing out at 1100 / 1400 / 1700, which lasts up to 6 seconds. A charge of Wilting Kiss empowers Dark Sacrament, dealing an additional 4% of enemy's current health, gaining an additional 50 shield per opponent hit, and slowing all targets damaged by Dark Sacrament by 25%.
Obviously, the numbers would likely need to be tweaked in PBE. However, I truly believe that this would resolve many of the reasons Evelynn has been problematic in the past. I would love to see her returned to legitimate play, and I don't want to wait for Riot to come up with the proper gimmicks to make that possible. So what do you guys think? Let me know in the comments! I really want to hear your opinions.