Katarina Rework

So since her update with the Assassin Overhaul, Katarina has been difficult to balance. Recently posted, Riot bases their nerfs off of the highest level of play. When a champion has a high mastery curve, they take more time and effort to master their abilities and rotations, but once that level of mastery is reached, there is almost no contesting them. That calls for a nerf. A PUNISHMENT to players who spend the time to time out every combo, wait for the right moment to engage. And when they get too good, they break the fragility that is Riot's balance. Fair enough. The highest level of play can abuse these high curve champions beyond belief with their timing and practice and dedication. But nerfing a champion based on that, seems really unfair. Almost like that level of skill requirement shouldn't exist in the game. You should spend your time playing low curve champions so there are no fear of your favorite champions being downgraded beyond belief.

In recent patches (late 8 thru 9) Katarina has ONLY seen nerfs. Not a single increase. These include base MR, passive damage, shunpo damage, shunpo cooldown, and so on. They gave her new walking animations, so I KNOW Riot sees her. With the recent mage rework items (Luden's and Haunting Guise namely), a proper build for her is difficult to come by. Spellbinder seems to be the obvious choice, right? Push it and go nuts with your R? Well, that would be the thing if even idiot players were stupid enough not to hold at least one cc spell to stop you immediately. On top of that, your movements are completely broadcasted by where your daggers fall. The odds are stacked against her. I feel that Riot puts so much power in her R (you've seen even mediocre levels of AP awarding well above 2000 dmg to her R, but maybe 5% of the time do you actually channel the whole thing, or GET to, against opposing CC. And with the numerous MR options specifically designed to shut down burst and consistent magic damage (Hexdrinker and Adapative Helm, I'm looking at you) She gets hit on both fronts: her combos, and her ultimate.

So what really is the point of weak basic abilities (itemizing her with the same items as mages will still leave her damage underwhelming) with an all powerful R that can just be stopped by Leona, Braum, Yasuo, Maokai, Soraka, Janna, Shaco, Rammus, Darius, (I'm really just naming every champion that comes to mind at this point)? So ideally, pull power out of her R. Sure, it hits up to 3 champions for some insane damage, if they're too stupid to move, been cc'd by an ally, or don't have a dash, but realistically, no Katarina will ever open a fight with that ability, she's a sitting duck. And using it to finish someone off feels really really dumb, because while you sit there, the rest of the targets move farther and farther away.

So she needs a rework. Initially, I loved what they did with her. Yes, she was strong, and could win lanes that she shouldn't if you had proper timing, but now that she has been nerfed so hard, it's hard to justify ever playing her again. Now when Akali gives me the same Assassin flair with the added boost of more dashes and stealth.

Katarina is THE assassin and always has been. At least for me. When I think of an Assassin, my mind always goes to Elektra from Marvel Comics, and when I first loaded up League of Legends 7 years ago, I saw her double bladed, tight outfit and was immediately in love. Her twirls, the daggers, the spins. It was all amazing. Conceptually sound, damage potent, and sexy to boot. There's a reason I built 500,000+ Mastery points on her. (Only to return to the game after a year hiatus to find her basically useless). It's no longer a tank meta, it's a damage meta, and one cc spell puts her in the ground against every single mage because of the Luden's shift. That really really hit her. That was a core item, and it's instant extra burst gone, on top of base damage values dropping everywhere. (Additionally Morellonomicon is the other penetration item, whose gold amount is that high for Grievous Wounds only, which is already a part of her kit).

So the issue is here: all her power is stacked in her useless ultimate, items don't lean to her in anyway, cause while she builds like a mage, she isn't, and her damage is underwhelming.

So let's get rid of this Katarina. She should OWN the League. She is from Noxus. Strength above all else, Blood for any reason, Cunning beyond their own good. Well she is weak as ever, can't shed any blood, and cunning? She tells people where she is going with her passive. Okay.

Idea: Conceptually, I'm thinking full Elektra on this. If you were like me and loved Marvel, you probably played Ultimate Alliance at some point. Elektra's Ultimate ability was Curse of the Hand, in which she flipped upwards towards the sky, and rained shuriken down on all enemies below. Katarina is the Sinister Blade, and she's got a lot of them. Wouldn't she be easier to balance if her Ultimate was something FIXED and not stoppable? Something consistent? Talon's ult is gonna spread some blades and he will plunge them into your belly if you let him Q you. Zed's ult, even if you zhonya is going to summon another clone that mimics his spells, Kayn will get inside of you and rip you apart if he even nicks you, LeBlanc will always copy a spell in her combo, Shaco will always summon a exploding clone. CC doesn't really impair these assassins the way it does her. No other Assassin has a channel in their kit.

Kit: Passive: Voracity. Keep the resets but only on BASIC abilities. She is a bloodthirsty killer from Noxus, and each kill only makes her want more. I'm even fine with the blades dropping and making her spin to win. Q - Bouncing Blades. Keep it. She needs it to farm safely in lane. Maybe add coding to make it focus killable minions, or target champions. So it's at least somewhat not random. W - I really don't know how I feel about preparation. It's mostly a get away tool and a setup for an extra spin when you shunpo on someone and start twirling your R. But another obvious broadcast screaming "don't walk on that." E - Shunpo. Her iconic blink. Leave it. R - Death Lotus. (The big change) Katarina leaps in the air and throws up to three perfectly aimed daggers into the hearts of her enemies, inflicting Grievous Wounds, and dealing more damage based on an enemy's missing health. (So essentially, it's a three way execute, and with the ability to kill up to three people instantly, her ultimate might need a higher cooldown than usual, but that's balancing. But hey, there's Pyke isn't there?

I just feel if it was something fixated, Riot could balance her better. Cause I never care that my ult does 2000 dmg in this meta. It never finishes, and people just flash and dash and blink away. or CC stomp you. Her ultimate HAS TO GO.