Azir Update Interpretation
So as most of you know by now, Azir is getting a rework of his own. Azir's been left in the shitter for quite a while, and for good reason; the emperor has a lot going for him as his kit currently is, and if he's kept "balanced" in the sense of having the same level of power as other champions, skilled players can utterly dominate the game with Azir. To the point that for a while in pro play, mid was basically "who can survive/counter Azir" whenever he wasn't banned outright. However, the rework Riot has upcoming involves reducing his ranges in order to put more power elsewhere in his kit and encourage a riskier playstyle. Personally, I don't think this solves the issue. My personal opinion is that it sacrifices thematic cohesion for flashy gameplay.
For those of you who don't know, the "shurima shuffle"- using E to dash to a soldier, then casting Q mid-dash to change direction and increase range- was not originally part of Azir's kit design. It was one of his many bugs, but unlike the others it was one Riot had decided to embrace and make possible to perform consistently. Unfortunately giving a mage with long ranges, high damage in both upfront and over time, marksman-like scaling with an early game necessary to survive midlane, and an ultimate that can change or decide a teamfight all its own almost unrivaled mobility and safety on top of all of that, turned out to be way too much. But rather than refocus Azir's power into being a long-range mage that dealt damage with marksman-like DPS, sacrificing burst and early game for immense lategame power, Riot continued to balance in a way that would allow Azir to keep the shurima shuffle. A way that continued to cut away at strengths and game design more and more core to the character, until he became what he is now.
Now getting back on track, I disagree with the idea that Azir needs to sacrifice his range and what makes him unique in order to be balanced. Just today in his latest Gameplay Thoughts thread, Meddler said that they think trying to maintain Azir's long range while removing his mobility leads to a flatter playstyle. I disagree, because Azir's method of fighting via commanding and positioning his soldiers is incredibly unique and unlike anything we have in the game. So for that reason, I'm sharing my own take on a hypothetical Azir rework, focused on maintaining his unique identity and niche while removing extraneous power. Have a look:
Passive: Shurima's Legacy Arise!: Azir passively generates charges of “Sand Soldiers”, up to a maximum of three, which are summoned through his abilities and persist for X seconds afterwards. Sand soldiers are untargetable, and expire if Azir moves out of range. When Azir attacks an enemy in a soldier's range, the soldier attacks in his stead, dealing X magic damage to all enemies in a line. Multiple soldiers can strike the same target, with each soldier beyond the first dealing reduced damage.
Disc of the Sun: After a brief channel Azir raises a Sun Disc from the selected ruins of a turret. The Sun Disc functions like a standard turret but gains bonus attack damage based on Azir's AP. It also grants Azir any gold it earns. The Sun Disc's health decays over time and loses armor if Azir dies or moves too far away.
Notes: -Sand soldier base damage scales with level + ultimate rank.
Q: Conquering Sands Azir orders all Sand Soldiers to dash toward the target location, dealing magic damage to all enemies they pass through and slowing them. If Azir has no Sand Soldiers summoned, he will summon up to two Sand Soldiers before ordering them to the target location. Enemies struck by multiple enemies take slightly reduced damage, but the slow is increased.
Notes: -Deals same damage as sand soldier autos. -Soldiers will travel either to their max range or slightly beyond the target location, whichever comes first. -If multiple soldiers are commanded, they will travel at angles that intersect at the target location.
Intent: -Low damage early, low cooldown. Positioning and setup tool for soldier DPS, rather than acting primarily as a burst damage tool.
W: Return! (NEW) Azir dismisses all current Sand Soldiers. For each soldier dismissed Azir gains increased movement speed that decays over a brief period. During this time, the rate at which Azir generates Sand Soldiers is doubled.
Notes: -Cannot dismiss soldiers that are mid-travel. -Will not dismiss wall soldiers from ultimate.
Intent: -Repositioning and escape tool. -Smart usage should allow skirting around the battlefield and quickly resummoning soldiers while remaining safe, or a burst of speed to escape from a bad fight.
E: Guarding Sands (NEW) Azir summons one Sand Soldier at the target location. For the first few seconds this Sand Soldier acts as a Shield Soldier, unable to attack but absorbing the first enemy projectile to strike it before vanishing. If a Shield Soldier absorbs an enemy projectile Azir momentarily gains bonus attack speed.
Notes: -After a brief period, shield soldiers become normal sand soldiers. -Shield soldiers can be directed with Conquering Sands. They will not do damage, but can still intercept enemy projectiles while moving. -Conquering Sands can be buffered during Guarding Sands casting animation. -Shield soldier faces in the direction it was summoned relative to Azir's position (ie facing east if it was summoned east relative to Azir).
Intent: -Skill-based defensive tool, meant to help withstand early game poke and crowd control. -Proper use permits retaliation, briefly compensating for poor early game damage with attack speed steroid. -Offers additional utility as a means of protecting teammates from enemy projectiles. -Refocus Azir's strengths and weaknesses as an artillery mage/marksman by making him weaker to dives and outmaneuvering. -Keeps the spirit of the "shurima shuffle" by allowing skilled players to swiftly manipulate and position the shield soldier.
R: Emperor's Divide Passive: Sand Soldiers gain bonus damage.
Active: Azir calls forth a phalanx of soldiers from behind him, charging forward in the target direction. When the soldiers finish their charge they stand as impassable terran for several seconds, blocking enemy movement and dashes. These soldiers are static and unmoving.
If Azir has any charges of Sand Soldiers when activating Emperor's Divide they will be summoned with the phalanx, dealing additional damage and can be commanded as normal.
Notes: -Passive gives both flat bonus and increased AP scaling.
Intent: -Functionally unchanged, but buffed up/restored to compensate removal of shurima shuffle and thus its use as an initiation tool. -Meant to function as disengage/counter-engage tool, turning a fight with sudden repositioning, terrain, and summoning of soldiers. -Passive damage on soldiers assists with scaling into the late game
I intentionally left out numbers because those kinds of details can change in any number of ways as a game advances and progresses, and I'm not about to pretend I know the very finest details of base damage and ratio balance. Instead I focused on general design intent and gameplay performance. Having put a lot of work into this, I'd really like to see what you guys think.