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Mordekaiser and Metal (@Riot, please...)

Malicious Metal·10/15/2015, 3:32:05 PM·162 votes·5,768 views

Now then, we all were shocked and outraged once Riot announced they’d rename Mordekaiser to Lord of Death, which is not only bland and unimaginative but also deeply hurts anyone who got attached to the Master of Metal in any way.

I get riot’s reasoning, I really do. On the surface his affliction to Metal seems rather forced and there seems to be no connection between his themes of Pain, Undeath and Metal. But there is one! If you could just open your eyes and try and form your own characters and be creative there’s plenty of reasoning to keep Mordekaiser the Master of Metal, even if only at heart.

Metal is an element, which has various aspects I’d like to delve into in order to make Morde’s theme more coherent.

Metal is a great conductor for Heat, electricity and the like… So what makes Undeath and unholy energy any different than say warmth? They’re both types of energy and thus need some kind of conduit for them to spread quickly. >Metal could be a conduit for Mordekaiser’s undead energy, being the locus of his power, further increasing his tremendous dominion over the very essence of death and serving as his primary element to spread his unholy element<

Metal is cold, emotionless, lifeless. It’s perfect for a being that exists to only bring suffering upon the living. Metal is a manmade material often associated with destruction and torture (weapons, torture devices) and thus should be attributed to Mordekaiser who seeks to bring the gift of eternal pain upon his enemies. It being of no organic/living descent would make it an inhospitable body to posess, resulting in a state of pure agony for any soul, accustomed to a living body, being bound to a shell of metal. >Metal should serve as Mordekaiser’s prison, his very soul being tormented by the cold, grim element as its cold grip on his soul inflicts pain upon his very essence, it should be akin to an Iron Maiden, tearing at him, making him suffer. Yet Mordekaiser’s sheer force of will makes him endure and even use the object of his own torment to inflict even greater pain unto his enemies, a cruel irony and a statement to how powerful Mordekaiser’s will truly is<

Metal as a genre of Music; Metal music is powerful, it’s brutal, it’s heavy riffs and beat just resonate so well with a heavy metal Juggernaut, a being so powerful it bends life and death to his will and whose pain is only a mild distraction to him. Morde would make one hell of a mascot for any Metal band, being the epitome of what Metal would be as a person.

Metal is what we’ve known since his release; Mordekaiser, the Master of Metal is a classic, a meme, he’s been in our hearts ever since we first saw him. He’s one of league’s oldest champions and should be treated with respect. >Embrace Mordekaiser’s Metal theme instead of shunning it. He’s due for a Visual update so add back his Metal effects and don’t use their absence as a cheap way of justifying the change of title. He deserves being acknowledged as an iconic character whose themes have the potential to truly make him unique to any game and not turn him into the stereotypical deathknight<

Please riot, reconsider your approach on Morde, Lore and Gameplay wise. Make him truly live up to his name of Murder Emperor!

~M.M

43 Comments

MrWasjig10/15/2015, 4:40:26 PM42 votes

Can Riot hire this guy and replace whatever imagination stifled soul came up with "Lord of Death"? Please?

Blue Moon Wolf10/15/2015, 5:00:45 PM20 votes

Metal could be a conduit for Mordekaiser’s undead energy, being the locus of his power, further increasing his tremendous dominion over the very essence of death and serving as his primary element to spread his unholy element< Metal is cold, emotionless, lifeless. It’s perfect for a being that exists to only bring suffering upon the living. Metal is a manmade material often associated with destruction and torture (weapons, torture devices) and thus should be attributed to Mordekaiser who seeks to bring the gift of eternal pain upon his enemies.

Metal should serve as Mordekaiser’s prison, his very soul being tormented by the cold, grim element as its cold grip on his soul inflicts pain upon his very essence, it should be akin to an Iron Maiden, tearing at him, making him suffer. Yet Mordekaiser’s sheer force of will makes him endure and even use the object of his own torment to inflict even greater pain unto his enemies, a cruel irony and a statement to how powerful Mordekaiser’s will truly is

And with that, we have a better lore than whatever riot is planing, which I assume is gonna go something like: Morde died in a metal suit and became king of the shadow Isles cause reasons, the end.

Earthlord Jazz10/15/2015, 4:14:02 PM16 votes

Hi, I'm just another lurker on the forums boards.

I've read just about all of your posts over the past couple months.

I liked this one the best.

I hope Riot looks into this one specifically. I feel like it's really got some potential and better than the higher upvoted threads of recent where someone slanders Riot with foul language. I can certainly understand the problem and I sympathize, but giving actual solutions is far more helpful for Riot. Good job with this one.

Thank you for all you've been doing for Morde these last few months.

Killstrado10/15/2015, 3:40:38 PM15 votes

And again I will post this so everyone can see the damn light because every post about his title misses this key point

Passive=iron man duh... Ozzy Q=mace of spades named after ace of spades by Motörhead W= harvester of sorrow by Metallica E=siphon of destruction, see symphony of destruction by megadeth R= children of the grave by black sabbath

Abilities are heavy metal songs...

LANWhale10/15/2015, 7:26:27 PM12 votes

Honestly, the thought that he was trapped in the suit of armor is cool.

But it gets 10x better when you realize that the very thing holding him back is the same thing hes using to end you.

THAT'S WHAT WE CALL A BADASS AND IRONY. Mordekaiser PUN INTENDED.

Decrit10/15/2015, 3:38:04 PM10 votes

... I would have come up with a more metaforical/semantic reasoning about keeping him metal but yeah, this might work too.

At least looks like it has a good chance to beat Riot reasoning to call him Lord of Death

GreenLore10/15/2015, 3:53:38 PM8 votes

I agree that they should keep the metal aspects of mordekaiser. Honestly there doesn't even need to be much of a reasoning behind it,I mean what would hinder someone to simply learn death and metal magic?

Ulquiorra99510/15/2015, 7:17:39 PM6 votes

Why does Riot hate Mordekaiser players so much? And I don't mean people who recently pick him because he's so fun and balanced after the rework a broken mess which requires either a revert or another rework to be even remotely healthy. I mean people who played him before.

We voiced our concerns about how new kit will make him extremely broken, binary and unfun. And it fell on deaf ears. Isn't it enough that you made this kit into this abomination, now you also have to take his identity? And all we have gotten and will ever get as a response about Mordekaiser is condescending bullshit that a retarded 3 year old wouldn't buy. Like "We'd try to think about good reasons why we did X change, but unfortunately for you you are not Fiora or Riven player. Your champion is not a waifu material, does not make flashy plays and sell skins. So we don't care about you even as much to try to think of an proper excuse".

freeformline10/15/2015, 6:40:27 PM5 votes

I'm a big fan of this line of thought. I would add that champion titles need not have any relation to their position in society. Even if Mordekaiser winds up being the big hotshot of the Shadow Isles and all that is undeath, he does not necessarily need to have his title changed to reflect it because that is merely his station in life, not the defining aspect of his character and personality. Just as Swain's title reflects his defining personal trait rather than his job, Mordekaiser's should define who he is as a (former) person, not what he does in the world. Master of Metal does a much better job of this than Lord of Death, especially when tied to character history, as you have demonstrated. I believe this is why the alternative title "Paladin of Pain" is popular: It speaks about the character on a personal level rather than just labeling him as the big bad guy.

ModCaptainMårvelous10/15/2015, 9:02:34 PM3 votes

"Metal Lord of Death" "Lord of Metal and Death" "Lord of Death Metal"

There are a variety of easy ways to combine and/or meld his old and new title that may go a long way to at least compensating some old fans of Morde.

Narasimha10/15/2015, 4:28:25 PM2 votes

To be honest, I do like the new direction. The title itself needs some work, but 'Master of Metal' really wasn't cutting it. It was made during a time when champions could exist as parodies and jokes. Gangplank was the sterotypical jolly pirate. Sion was the Schwarzenegger. And Morde was the walking metal music reference. But they're changing all that now. Gangplank is now deathly serious. Sion is an undead berserker. And Morde is just... well, Morde. Ruler of the undead. Lord of the Shadow Isles. 'Master' of death.

The metal effects were fine in a time when Morde existed by himself, when he was just the mysterious man of Iron. But now that they're trying to group champions up and flesh out the world, that doesn't work anymore. The Shadow Isles have long been a place where the material world doesn't matter, where the soul and spirit are paramount. It seems contradictory that a champion who is essentially THE poster child for the Shadow Isles, would be tied to such a material thing. Being trapped in a metal prison is one thing. Using it is another.

And, lastly

Metal is a great conductor for Heat, electricity and the like… So what makes Undeath and unholy energy any different than say warmth? They’re both types of energy and thus need some kind of conduit for them to spread quickly.

Metal could be a conduit for Mordekaiser’s undead energy, being the locus of his power, further increasing his tremendous dominion over the very essence of death and serving as his primary element to spread his unholy element<

This just seems like you're stretching for straws, honestly. Theres just as many metals that resist heat, and quite a few that don't conduct electricity as well. So should metal then be something that resists Morde's undead powers, making him weaker?

Edit: And here we have proof of why Riot will never listen to you guys :D

Stereo Dreamer10/16/2015, 6:59:29 AM2 votes

Honestly, these kind of threads on circumstances like these seem so much more readable and reasonable as an actual conversation to be available than many of the other ones that come up. [Others being:] Just cussing or whining with incredible personal bias rather than light bias and reasoning that should be popping up if any change or discussion can be negotiated.

To me, Morde always seemed to be a cross of Plague [Pestilence, One of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse] and Old Metal Mage. He was before, more Metal Mage. Now, he is more Plague (kek toxic wordplay included).

I like the idea of changing his title if Riot has another champion in the works to totally redefine as a much more Metal based champion (All 4 skills and passive being different from Morde's if any of you wanted to complain Morde is a completely different champion now). If not, reverting his particles and tweaking his abilities slightly could bring it back to line -- but as is, Master of Metal is still quite forced to me. Another play on Metal would be nicer, but he is not a "master" of metal in any regard I can see. I would suggest they redo the new lore on him and add a different title of metal or a single soul to fit with his identity in a sinister way that still adheres somewhat to before, but not necessarily the same.

Freekosuave10/16/2015, 1:37:47 AM2 votes

According to worlds Mordekaiser is the master of the 1st ban on the red side. I think every game ever that I have seen aside from a few group games (2? where he was not banned). So no one will be playing him ever in season six.

Zair Umbras10/16/2015, 9:26:00 AM2 votes

I just wish they'd keep it as Master of Metal or something Metal related. His entire kit was designed for him to be a Metal Mage and each of his abilities are Metal songs! They even made sure his Ult's passive on Dragon was a Metal reference, yet now they're removing his title AS the Master of Metal and giving him the title 'Lord Of Death' which is closer to what Yorick (That champion that's been delayed for the last 3 years. You'll remember him eventually.) should be. Like... Seriously. :(

Ralanr10/15/2015, 6:47:53 PM2 votes

It's the metal connections to music and the element that has always frustrated me when I think of Mordekaiser to be honest. The music is more of a joke theme, it's an awesome connection but it's still played for humor.

Maybe if I had a better understanding of why metal rock is called metal I might draw better connections.

Mordekasier's theme feels bloated honestly. Too much is being shoved into him and we don't have enough official lore at the moment to justify such complexity.

The one theme I think works best is Conquest. Mordekasier wants something, he rips the souls out of people to gain this knowledge and Hecarim is his general. Mordekaiser is the rider of the white horse (It's a big damn horse!), an ancient evil.

To me we have three villains of Runeterra. Mordekaiser Past Swain Present Veigar Future

junglerboy1610/15/2015, 11:55:51 PM1 votes

Morde would make one hell of a mascot for any Metal band, being the epitome of what Metal would be as a person.

Funny, I thought he already was... Welp, RIP Pentakill I guess.

Keashqa10/15/2015, 11:58:39 PM1 votes

Bump

lolptwo10/16/2015, 4:43:53 AM1 votes

A bunch of reasonabal human beings giving constructive criticism with poise and valid reasons . A bunch of children whining and bitching, yelling and pounding their feet, throwing insults at Riot expecting them to care or even give a shit what a teenager thinks.

Baron Perenolde10/16/2015, 7:43:43 AM1 votes

Keep fighting the good fight, friend. +1

ZT Xperimentor10/18/2015, 7:53:22 PM1 votes

I concur, it's part of why I liked playing him, he was unique both in play style & in lore; and if they continue to force these changes, I expect he'll never get played again.

Pyrodinium10/15/2015, 6:46:54 PM1 votes

I don't think it is so much a matter of "can't think anything to relate death with metal", but something in the tune of "Mordekaiser has too much going at once thematically".

A hard truth of designing characters for something like LoL, is that you have only so much space to work with, and you still need to deliver a coherent package.

There is no doubt that Narrative could find dozens of ways to deliver on the Death Metal fantasy. But this is not solely a lore issue.

Mordekaiser's thematics also need to be delivered on both his kit and his visuals. In the lore, his domain over death can be framed as equal to his power over metal, but in gameplay, is not that easy.

Mordekaiser, in game, naturally pulls towards a Death theme as his most iconic moment is enslaved the soul of a fallen opponent. Trying to push against that inertia makes Morde have a fractured identity, similar to pre-rework Sion.

Now, if there was a way to turn the ghost from Children on the Grave into some sort of anguished Metal Golem animated by the imprisoned soul of Mordekaiser...

Daedalus87110/15/2015, 9:15:20 PM1 votes

As of right now, I'd say Lord of Death is better title for Morde (despite being rather generic).

But if the OP was put in charge of a Morde rework that could go up to Sion level, he'd probably be the thematically best champion and would perfectly fit the title of "Master of Metal".

JAGMAG10/15/2015, 11:11:57 PM1 votes

\m/ pain and undeath are one of the most metal things ever \m/ head bangs to lord of death metal mordekaiser

KMS Bismarck10/15/2015, 11:39:09 PM1 votes

Next step of riot Mord rework, change his taunt by:

"I like my Dragon how I like my duolane, dead and of death"