Mordekaiser, Tyrant of the Shadow Isles [Rework Concept]
https://i.imgur.com/GtYayUJ.png Hey all! The Djinn again, with another rework concept. Since the last one seemed to interest people, I figured I'd try again with an old favorite: Mordekaiser.
Now, this one may be a bit more controversial. Once again the goal was to improve upon Mordekaiser's playstyle and character fantasy while keeping as true to his identity as possible, but I did take a bit of a different direction here. The goal here was to take Mordekaiser from a big dude in armor into a living (well, un-living) incarnation of the Shadow Isles themselves. This vision of him may have once been a man, but what remains is a revenant that is more shadow and necromantic magic than flesh, spreading the corruption of the Shadow Isles on every inch of ground it touches. Terrifying and implacable, Mordekaiser should feel like an unstoppable nightmare, slowly pushing his way ever forward and withering everything he touches. Those that stand and fight the Tyrant of the Shadow Isles should be willing to face death itself.
Edited in from another post to clarify my vision for Mordekaiser: For clarity, my personal headcannon is that Mordekaiser is, yes, from the mainland continent, and the insidious corruption in his hidden bones is what STARTED the corruption of the Blessed Isles -- a quiet, creeping corruption, worming its way into people's minds and into the land itself before eventually blooming into the cataclysm that turned them into the hellscape they are today. So he is, in effect, the source of the horrors that have befallen them.
So remember -- numbers are almost all placeholders. The big questions are as follows:
- Does this seem coherent and playable?
- Does this seem fun?
- Does this feel like Mordekaiser?
https://i.imgur.com/GtYayUJ.png
#One With Darkness [Passive] When reduced to 0 health, Mordekaiser's armor crumbles, and a dark, shadowy wisp is left on the battlefield. Mordekaiser becomes untargetable, and gains 50% movement speed and the ability to walk through units for 6 seconds, but cannot attack, use items, or cast spells (including Summoner Spells) other than issuing commands to ghosts. After the 6 second duration Mordekaiser immobilizes himself, becomes targetable, and regains 100% of his total health over 5 seconds. If reduces to 0 health during this period, Mordekaiser is killed, and his death timer is reduced by 6 seconds.
Cooldown: 240 / 210 / 180 / 150 seconds (levels 1 / 6 / 11 / 16)
Design Goals: In addition to making Mordekaiser feel like more than a suit of armor, and hitting home just how unkillable and inhuman this entity really is, this is also the safety valve for the immense amount of pushing this Mordekaiser rework is forced to do. Without a feature like this he would simply become a delicious source of constant XP for an attentive jungler. It also encourage the Mordekaiser player to not fear death, which is an important part of driving home the character fantasy.
https://i.imgur.com/GtYayUJ.png
#Oppression [Q] First Cast: Mordekaiser’s next two basic attacks within the next 6 seconds strike in wide arcs, dealing bonus magic damage. Once he has attacked twice, he can cast this ability again for 4 seconds. Oppression resets Mordekaiser’s auto-attack timer.
Second Cast: Mordekaiser slams his mace down in a line, dealing auto-attack damage plus twice the bonus magic damage. Targets struck are slowed by 99% for 0.3 seconds.
Cooldown: 4 seconds after the second cast.
Design Goals: This ability hasn't changed too much, save that it now cleaves, and the third effect is a cast. This offers a bit of leeway against evasive targets (as the final swing is slightly longer than a basic attack) and also allows a bit of counterplay for people who can dodge it. The brief slow is mainly to hit home the fantasy of an oppressive swing, and give Mordekaiser a tiny bit more sticking power once he's gotten close to a target. Finally, it helps emphasize Mordekaiser's uncaring, remorseless nature -- you and everyone near you will fall before him, and he simply cuts everyone in his path down equally.
https://i.imgur.com/GtYayUJ.png
#Harbinger of Corruption [W] Active: Mordekaiser summons forth a wave of corruption in a wide cone starting behind him, covering an area for several seconds. This area applies stacks of corruption over time, to a maximum of 5. Mordekaiser gains bonus movement speed while on corrupted ground, and deals bonus damage to corrupted targets based on the number of corruption stacks they have. Once a champion has left the zone corruption stacks begin to fall off one at a time.
Cooldown: 16 / 15 / 14 / 13 / 12 seconds.
Design Goals: It is my personal opinion that the best Juggernauts create clear moments of strength and weakness, and one of the coolest ways to do this is to set up an area of power. It also fits our theme of Mordekaiser as a force of the Shadow Isles themselves. Here he creates a zone starting behind him and stretching forward in a broad cone, within which he becomes empowered. If you persist in fighting him in his zone he'll crush you swiftly, but players can step outside it to reduce his chasing power, cut his damage, and generally deny his his strongest moments. Effectively, this is the tool Mordekaiser uses to open up his main windows of power, and the tool his opponents should be careful to play around.
https://i.imgur.com/GtYayUJ.png
#Master of Shadows [E] Master of Shadows has two cast modes, which have separate cooldowns.
Press: Mordekaiser raises a hand and tears the shadows from his enemies, dealing magic damage in a cone and regaining health based on the damage dealt, increased against champions and further increased the lower that champion’s health is.
Hold: Mordekaiser shrouds himself in the magic of the Shadow Isles, targeting an area of ground within 600 range of an enemy champion (and within range of the ability effect). Over the next 1.5 seconds Mordekaiser sinks into the ground and creates a shadowy duplicate at the target location, which slows enemies in a moderate AoE. When the cast is complete, Mordekaiser blinks to the duplicate's position and heavily slows nearby targets. Mordekaiser only takes half damage for the last second of the cast time, and can release the button early to cancel the effect.
Cooldown: 9/8/7/6/5 seconds | 20/18/16/14/12 seconds.
Design Goals: The first half of this ability is designed to be as close to Mordekaiser's current E as possible, albeit also functioning as his sustain tool and becoming stronger against weaker targets. It's sustain wouldn't be great, but would become empowered as targets gain corruption stacks, letting Mordekaiser really eat into waves if he's patient and times things well.
The second half is a unique gapcloser designed for a juggernaut: it is slow, telegraphed, non-damaging, and can be run from, but if you do now leave then you may be forced to fight something you are not prepared to fight. The image of Mordekaiser sinking into the ground to rise in all his terrible glory behind you should be a moment of fear. The damage reduction lets him use this ability mid-fight if necessary without ensuring his death, and that lets him potentially walk into a team and rise up next to their carry. The enemy-proximity limit prevents this from simply being an easy escape tool or mobility tool.
https://i.imgur.com/GtYayUJ.png
#Eternal Dominion [R] Passive: Whenever Mordekaiser damages the Dragon, he curses it for 10 seconds.
Active: Mordekaiser lays claim to the target enemy champion, dealing damage, cursing it for 10 seconds and dealing additional magic damage for the duration. Mordekaiser heals for the damage dealt.
Curse: If Mordekaiser’s team kills a cursed target, Mordekaiser enslaves that target’s soul as a ghost. If Mordekaiser has a champion enslaved and kills the Dragon, the old ghost evaporates. If Mordekaiser has a Dragon enslaved and kills a champion, the Dragon’s duration is instead extended.
Champion ghosts share a common set of stats. Dragon ghosts have the stats of Dragon, but gain additional attack range and movement speed.
Design Goals: The only real changes here are that you can refresh the Dragon ghost duration by killing a target, rather than simply losing the effect entirely, and that all ghosts share the same stats. The former is to keep the spell rewarding if you already have a ghost out, and the latter is to reduce the spikes that picking a specific ghost can get you. Mordekaiser also loses the bonus stats the ghost gives -- it's possible that these would need to be returned, but I'd personally rather take that bonus power and work it back into his numbers so that his ultimate is a little less feast-or-famine.
