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What Should Mordekaiser's magic type be?

Vartius·5/10/2018, 4:09:57 PM·15 votes·12,258 views

Mordekaiser's new lore and most abilities are centered around necromancy. His old kit was all about metalomancy (that aspect is still visable in his W and passive to an extent). His old lore was all about pain manipulation.

What should he use when he gets VGU?

Necromancy? It's already heavily represented in League and there is not much more you can do with it, without making it feel flat or not overly original. Of course it is possible... But isn't it better to explore more options?

His old thing... Metalomancy. It's original, or at least not featured with any other League champion, and has a lot of potential... Does it fit though? How would he learn metalomancy? Getting it through his resurrection wouldn't explain much - necromancy fits much better in this regard (the learning process could be changed though). It also doesn't fit either the tyrant or the death knight side of his theme.

Pain manipulation? It's interesting, to say the least. Once again - no other champ in league has that (There are sadistic champs who enjoy pain, but none who can controll it). It would fit his identity, could be explained through his resurrection. It also combos extremely well with his warrior side and could potentially make for some great abilities.

Out of the three I have to say I like the third option best... However. What about different magic types - ones he didn't have before?

Lets start with one his ult is most based on: Soul Manipulation. Soul Manipulation is a lot like Pain Manipulation and Necromancy combined. Combined is the imporatant part. As many have pointed out before; Mordekaiser has some serious issues with theme-overload. Making Mordekaiser control both Pain AND use necromancy would add more trouble. Combining two themes and creating a single one with traits from both removes that issue. Soul Manipulation would also fit Mordekaiser's other characteristics, especially that of an Overlord.

Next - A theme much less unique and original, but very versatile and fitting both Mordekaiser's idenity and even moreso his lore. Witchfire / Dark Flames / Corrupted Flames - however you want to call it. Mordekaiser's body was burned on a pyre. Would be pretty poetic if he used a corrupted version of the flames, which were meant to destroy him. It'd also make for some amazing visuals.

Speaking of Magic birthed from his death and resurrection... You know how Morde is made of this black smoke thing? How about using that? The black spilling out, embueing his weapon and used to damage his foes. Could be used for some extremely cool visuals and abilities.

Related to the previous one: Black Mist manipulation. Visually it would work like the previous idea, but the lore implications would be different: Mordekaiser is shown to be above other Shadow Isles undead, who are controlled by the Mist. Controlling the Mist would fit this idea a lot.

50 Comments

Delarthian5/10/2018, 4:39:37 PM15 votes

I, for one, will allow myself to disagree with your propositions, good sir. Mordekaiser has had many conflicting themes throughout the rich history of league of legends, this man is like Teddy Roosevelt - he did almost everything a human being could hope to experience and/or achieve during their brief lifetime. The past themes, as we all know included:

  • Marvel comics' Magneto.
  • Walking metal referrence.
  • Sexually deprived leatherman.
  • Edgy bodybuilder. Now, Mordekaiser was not the 26th president of the united states, but neither was Roosevelt a sexually deprived leatherman, so it evens out and my metaphor holds true. When going for a new theme fitting a rework, one must pay good attention to the past to make the champ still very familiar to the veteran players and their playerbase all while injecting their character with new and innovative ideas that could allow them to stand out in the ever-expanding crowd that is the league of legends champion pool. So I asked myself, what does a modern league player living in the era of the 8th season think of when you tell them "Mordekaiser"?

So I made a survey, collecting answers from mordekaiser mains and non-morde plebians alike to find some very interesting ideas from the community:

  1. The first thing that popped in our subjects' minds was: "Morde who?"
  2. Noone amongst the questioned seemed to particularly care about the lore, metal puns or Adam Harrington's sexy deep voice.
  3. The most well-known thing about Mordekaiser turned out to be the controversial book "Mordekaiser: A Tale Of Bugs", a collection of folklore legends telling of times when Mordekaiser refused to obey the code of the game.

After procrastinating on r/leagueoflegends for three hours straight, I came back to my study and came to an oddly good conclusion. I think Mordekaiser should be an insectomancer. We sure as hell do have bugs in league (Kha'Zix and Azir), but we have no bug-controlling champion. And so I think that Mordekaiser's magick should focus on the manipulation of bugs, bending the rules of the game to his advantage and bringing pestilence to his enemies.

Screams will be heard behind everyone's computer screens as mordekaiser slowly crawles out of the game to take revenge on the poor souls that dared to click more than once.

Ebonmaw Dragon5/10/2018, 5:39:19 PM6 votes

Why not both?

Maybe before dying for first time, he was a Metalmancer of some kind, and after dying he gained extra weird soulnecromancy like powers as the rest of the undeads in the game

remakoro5/10/2018, 4:12:13 PM5 votes

Dude. He is master of metal. Only metalomancy. Only hardcore.

Hupsis5/10/2018, 8:05:21 PM4 votes

I think it would be fitting for him to use soul magic. He's already able to enslave champions and dragons to his will. I think this thematic could be further developed and would certainly make him a formidable antagonist. Metal manipulation just feels like a very weak power in comparison. It's a kin to other manipulation arts such as stone or ice manipulation which we already have.

His metal armor and weapon are significant parts of his identity. I just don't think his powers should be about metal manipulation.

Salson5/10/2018, 5:00:56 PM3 votes

This leads us to the conclusion that Morde needs an Ultimate skin.

But the next one is reserved for a Marksman ofc.

IcyPepper5/10/2018, 5:19:52 PM3 votes

Heavy metal.

How about an offensive musical mage rather than only a supportive one? :^)

Over Innsmouth5/10/2018, 10:02:03 PM1 votes

Why is there no option for ghost farts? Clearly that's the direction Riot wants.

ZackTheWaffleMan5/10/2018, 11:28:07 PM1 votes

I totally agree with Morde using Allomancy.

GreenLore5/11/2018, 12:09:30 AM1 votes

Just to be clear: When you talk about necromancy you mean "making a corpse into an undead" right?Because currently Morde enslaves the souls of his enemies,which is technically a form of necromancy and soul magic combined.

In the past imagined that Mordekaiser as an undead metalmage focused on pain would be perfect(cause a lot of weapons and torturing devices are made of metal,thus the association between metal and pain is not that far fetched),however nowadays I feel like it would be far more fitting if he had actual power over the dead in some form,as that would instantly make him out to be a leader among the undead,someone who stands above the others,so I think focusing on soul magic would be fitting for him(I'd focus on Souls instead of bodies to differentiate him from Yorick).This could also work with the "corrupted flame" idea,as one could simply say that his flames are fueled by souls.

Incorporating the black mist into his kit sounds like a neat idea at first,but it could easily backfire,as it might make him look like he gets his powers from the black mist,so I'd say he should only summon it for his recall(maybe even for a unique teleport-animation?),that way it'd be clear that he can use the black mist to his advantage,but he doesn't depend on it.

TonyTonyMordecai5/11/2018, 12:20:05 AM1 votes

Mordekaiser needs to walk and act like a walking Fort Knox and the only exerted effort he shows is when he brings his mace down upon his foes. That was the most fun part about his update, was the build up to that third hit on his Q (besides having a friend join you after you hit 6).

KZ Engel5/11/2018, 12:30:51 AM1 votes

"master of metal" made his ability names funny and make sense

Mcsquzzy5/11/2018, 2:08:06 AM1 votes

so here's my breakdown necromancy: yorick summons minions, as funny as a minion fight would be just not my cup of tea metalomancy: old mord so makes little sense if we are to recreate him with a new power pain: evelynn does this along with lust Soul: thresh corrupted flames: Karthus Black smoke: nocturne

Its time to accept his one true calling, Pizza power... what no one approves? Sivir already took pizza!? hrmm this is worrisome... I know! He can be the embodiment item 2424 cause he don't work no more due to Khazix

Raid Boss Morde5/11/2018, 2:49:08 AM1 votes

I love the idea of controlling the Black Mist to fight, although it kind of steps into Yorick's theme. He will probably just stick with soul manipulation, but they could find a much better way to balance it

ArkenStorm5/11/2018, 5:22:27 AM1 votes

Without being the master of metal, pentakill morde makes no sense. Gotta stick with the metal theme, IMO.

The Bearded Bard5/11/2018, 6:10:16 AM1 votes

The metal is the most important. You can even keep his cool capture enemy champion theme by making it a metal version of the dead enemy.

If you're going to have him, have him be a knight that manipulates metal and souls. Have him do more than just bonk people and cheese.

PokladnicaZla5/11/2018, 7:42:26 AM1 votes

I think they're going for a Lich King vibe.

Stars Shaper5/11/2018, 8:35:10 AM1 votes

A combination of 2,3 and 6.

Percentages5/11/2018, 10:59:44 AM1 votes

It should be a type of magic where Riot suffers terrible, unimaginable, unspeakable pain until they rework him...

XIII Vanitas5/11/2018, 11:30:23 AM1 votes

I think his magic should be about manipulating souls (included his own) to control metal and "give it life". That way we can explain his appearance, his basic abilities and his ult (which should be a metal golem animated by the soul of the enemy champion Mordekaiser slained).

EmpressOfBeauty5/11/2018, 3:17:14 PM1 votes

I feel like since he was rebirthed from necromancy countless times that should be his base. :) But who is to say he can't have more than one? Corrupted flames and black smoke sounds nice too~

[sg-syndra]

Ultîma5/11/2018, 9:31:36 PM1 votes

I mainly feel that Mordekaiser's metal themes stem from his Heavy Metal jokes and the fact that he's encased in a suit of armour, rather than his manipulation of magnetism. Mordekaiser has always been at his best as a lane bully who dominates his opponents through the sheer force of his power and then enslaves their souls to do his bidding, like the tyrant king he once was. I could see Riot incorporating those themes by having Mordekaiser trap the souls of his enemies in iron maidens to create servants but imo the Revenant and Death Knight archetypes have always resonated more with me than Metal Bender when it comes to Mord.

NotaRobot10065/10/2018, 5:17:52 PM1 votes

I like the Mist Manipulation idea, but Morde was out lichifying people even before the Ruination. It'd still work great as an additional ability, but he'd have to have some sort of necromancy/soul manipulation beforehand to explain how he turned the idiots who first brought him back from the dead.

RyzeTheSmurfMage5/10/2018, 6:34:47 PM1 votes

I would like him to have Blackmist offensive abilties, necromancy, and the flames.

cyberchade5/10/2018, 6:59:12 PM1 votes

in his new lore Mord is the only dead Shadow isle champ to not need the black mist to move about. (he is stronger in it tho) Kalista Thresh Hecarim need the black mist. we dont know about Karthus but he should need the black mist. i think having mord center around the black mist would work really well having be able to will and summon the black mist by force of will. my idea for a new passive would be sort of like Illaoi where the mist rises up around him instead of tentacles, but also champs he kills spawns Mist.

Passive: mord summons the black mist around him when standing in the black mist mord gains Ms, tenacity. when mord takes and deal damage wail standing in the mist he gains stakes of Iron Man. at 100 stacks mord gains a shield equal to a % of his AP and AD and the MS and Tenacity buff from standing in the black mist increases for a few seconds. kills restore part of the iron man shield equal to a % of the damaged deal to the killed enemy champoin in the last --- by mord and and refresh the Black mist buff, assists restore part of the iron man shield and add --- to the remainder of the black mist buff

sorry for bad English

Veraska5/10/2018, 7:10:46 PM1 votes

I like that the metal is represented in the aspect that hes bound to the colossal suit of armor which makes him distinct amongst the other undead of league

Hes tyrannical and hes brutal and hes metal as fuck because of his character design, if his abilities and mechanics focused on metal/magnetism i feel youd just get something less interesting then immortal soul of the great conqueror bound to a giant suit of armor, his titanous will bends the souls of meer mortal men to his will

LordGeovanni5/10/2018, 8:29:12 PM1 votes

You cant Change Mordes spells to something else without pissing off the metal main guys. That would be like changing the massive heal on taric and giving him a pitiful mana drain heal and an ult that is useless if the enemy knows what it does.