Recreating Malzahar Part 3 (Malzahar the Champion)

Hi all, So my recent post (https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/story-art/4HYwLIQz-to-those-that-wrote-the-lore-for-malzahar?) has lead me to reread the Lore of the Void and it's associated characters with the aim of creating a Lore accurate, yet gameplay ready, version of my favourate champion: Malzahar. Over the course of this I felt it would be a good idea to detail this Lore in a separate post, not only to promote interest in the rework I'm going to propose, but also to share Lore that some may not yet have seen. So far we have looked at the Lore of the Void as well as Malzahar himself (Links Below, please read or this won't makes sense!). In this thread I am going to be looking specifically at his gameplay. Unlike before I will not include links to the source material I am using; it's all in the below links if you want to read them. I hope you can enjoy this as much as I have writing it and as always if I miss anything PLEASE let me know and upvote to keep this in the recent for more people to read xD

Recreating Malzahar Part 1 (The Lore of the Void) - https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/story-art/YvmbAmzn-recreating-malzahar-part-1-the-lore-of-the-void

Recreating Malzahar Part 2 (The Lore of the Prophet) - https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/story-art/Eg1nLj1G-recreating-malzahar-part-2-the-lore-of-the-prophet

So as I previously mentioned, here I will be looking at his Gameplay. To break this down I will split this into 3 parts: Part 1: His abilities and their links (if any) to his Lore Part 2: His playstyle or niche if you will Part 3: Setting out a my basic plans for his rework. (the detailed rework will be happening in my next Thread).

Part 1: Malzahar's Abilities

Passive: Void Shift When he hasn't recently taken damage or been crowd controlled, Malzahar gains massive damage reduction (90%) and crowd control immunity.

So this has been a very controversial passive since it's introduction in 2016. It gives Mazlahar plenty of safety from CC, but has also made it pointless to build Banshee's Veil due to both shields “popping” at once, and really hasn't leant itself to a healthy gamestyle. At it's height it was incredibly strong, with the immunity to CC lasting for several seconds after it was “popped” and it blocking the full 100% of the damage taken, while currently it is just a thing his opponent needs to AA before going in (though there are some that still waste abilities on it...) Lore wise the only possible explanation for it could be when Kassadin attacked Malzahar in Zaun, and his dagger “sucked in” the spell and used the magical energy to open a portal to the Void, but this is a poor, if questionable, representation of this old piece of Lore.

Q: Call of the Void Malzahar opens up two portals to the Void. After a short delay, they fire projectiles that deal Magic Damage and silence enemy champions.

Ok so to start with, this phenomenon occurs nowhere in the Lore of Malzahar or the Void, and therefore will not fit in my Lore accurate rework. BUT it hold great importance to him as a champion, offering him his poke, a soft CC, and being used to refresh his Malefic Visions. Because of this, it's role in his abilities will need to be replaced/recreated somewhere in his kit with something else that IS Lore accurate.

W: Void Swarm

Malzahar summons Voidlings to attack nearby enemies.

Yey, something that is ACTUALLY in his Lore! And what's more, its kinda one of the main parts of it, not just an approximation. Sadly that's where the similarities end. These are not the Voidborn of the lore; monstrous creatures that grow stronger over time, feast on man and beast alike, and constantly evolve (no two are the same). There was a time however when they were MORE Lore accurate, back before their 2016 rework they got stronger and more tanky over their duration. This is something I will be aiming to reintroduce and expand on in this rework

E: Malefic Visions

Malzahar infects his target's mind with cruel visions of their demise, dealing damage over time. Using Malzahar's other spells on the target will refresh the visions. If the target dies while afflicted by the visions, they pass on to a nearby enemy unit and Malzahar gains Mana. Malzahar's Voidlings are attracted to affected units.

Ok so this is Malzahar's bread an butter. It's his waveclear, his mana sustain, his entire Champion is based around this... and it's a LIE! In the Lore there is no evidence of Malzahar doing this, and plenty of evidence of the Void doing this; both by simple proximity to a Portal, or when it is trying to call you to feed/serve it. I will be keeping this in the rework because it is so core to both the Lore and his gameplay, but do NOT expect it to remain as this point and click middle figure to it's place in the Lore.

R: Nethergrasp/Null Zone Malzahar channels the essence of the Void to suppress an enemy champion over a zone of damaging negative energy.

Ok so this is a two parter on the basis of Malzahar's 2016 rework combining these two abilities. Lets start with Nether Grasp. This ability gives Malzahar that 2 second suppression everyone always complains about and is also, like his Q, completely missing from his Lore. It is as unhealthy to Mazlahar's kit as it is a fabrication to his Lore and therefore will be going, and with him receiving many nerfs based on it's power I say good riddance! However, it does fill a very important role in Malzahar's kit and, as recently described to me by a Rioter, as the ability that allows you to : point and click CC the pesky mobile fed LeBlanc on the other team. For this reason, it's role as a way to Lock down mobile champions will need to be filled somewhere else in his kit.

Null Zone on the other hand is a mini void portal, something Malzahar is well renowned for in his Lore, and something that needs to be Key to his rework. It was also a solid ability in it's own right when it was his W in the pre 2016 reworked version.

So there we have it, Malzahar's abilties, 2 of which bare no part in his Lore, one being questionably there, and the other two being poor attempts at best.

But what about Malzhar's abilities in the Lore that were NOT included in his gameplay? Well we have the Charm effect he has on his followers, his followers themselves, his dagger, and his power as a Seer. That's plenty to work with in of itself...more then I was able to include sadly...

Part 2: Malzahar's Gameplay (Niche)

Ok so Malzahar is a short/mid range control mage that uses DoT's and minions to devastate his enemies. His role is to counter hypermobile hypercarries through being oppressive early in laning phase thanks to his Malefic Visions and Voidlings, and then locking them down when they come in on him later on with his R and bursting them with the combination of everything else. As I mentioned earlier, the cost of his ult has meant the rest of his kit has been nerfed to the point he can no longer do either of these, leaving him in an increasingly bad spot and is often described now as essentially an Ult Bot.

With this rework I will be aiming to bring back that oppressive early game, while not being overbearing like the 2016 reworked Malzahar, keeping him in the Midlane to prevent the issues that lead to his mini-rework in 2017, and also keeping him able to counter the hypermobile hypercarries that he is relied on to deal with. He will, as he always has been, be countered by those that can poke him from range, like artillery mages (Xerath/Vel'Koz), and those that can sustain through his damage to scale later, like Galio and Kassadin.

Part 3: Basic plans for his Rework.

Ok so we've learnt his Lore and the Lore of the Void. We've looked at his abilities both in the Lore and as a champion. We've also looked at his Niche, his gameplay style of as DoT minionmancer that harasses his opponents in laning phase, and locks them down later when they attempt to jump on him.

All of this needs to be included in his rework, his Q, R and Passive need to be replaced, his Malefic Visions and Voidborn need to be more Lore accurate, his role as a Seer needs to be included AND his “followers” or Charm need to be represented. That's a LOT. For this reason I will be giving only a brief look at the planned abilities, while going into the detail, balancing and thought process of the abilities in the next thread.

So without further ado, here is the outline of Malzahar Recreated:

Passive: Void Sight Malzahar gains visions of enemies who are effected by his abilities and items until, and for a few seconds after, the effect has ended.

In this way Malzahar is able to see briefly into the future of his opponents. He is able to see the Void's Future but never his own, as in the Lore. In his gameplay this will offer a tactical utility advantage over his opponents rather then stacking extra damage into his kit.

Q – Void Portal: Malzahar creates a small Portal to the Void, causing those nearby to be effected by Malefic Visions. Those suffering from Malefic Visions take DoT damage while in close proximity to the Void Portal, and for 3 seconds afterwards. Enemies dying near the Void Portal will extend it's duration to a limited time and also cause its area of influence to grow. The portal itself will have a DoT for those standing within it. Malzahar will only be able to maintain a limited number of portals at anytime, and being too far away from them will cause them to close.

So here we give Malzahar his bread and butter. He has his Malefic Visions, but in a more Lore accurate way, and it also serves as his poke. It also gives him his Portals, which will be as key to his gameplay as they are in his Lore. Obviously the two DoT's will not stack for balancing reasons, and Malefic Visions will naturally be the weaker of the two. They will also, like his passive, give him utility in the form of vision through his passive, enhancing the use of his Seer background.

W – VoidBORN Malzahar opens a brief portal through which he summons a number (grows with every other rank) of voidborn. They start out weak like the current ones, but over time grow more tanky like the pre2016 rework ones and the Lore describes. They evolve depending on what the “eat”, with caster, melee and cannon minions affecting how this change comes about, as well as what kind of champion they have killed. They last only a short time, but will gain extended duration for killing things to allow them to reach their fully evolved selves. Max number of Voidborn at any time will increase at each level. Voidborn can also be summoned at greater range through Void Portal and Null Zone.

So this is what the voidlings always should have been. Not all the same spam, not replicating oppressiveness incarnate, but a varied, interactive group of feasting machines. Mazlahar will have little control over them, as in the Lore (sorry old-school Malzahar fans but no leash here xD), but they will prioritise those effected by Malefic Visions, Void Portal, Call of the Void or Null Zone (priority growing at each point from Malefic Visions to Null Zone) on a cumulative points basis.

E - Call of the Void: Malzahar charms his opponent for 1-2 seconds, doing them minor damage, and also increasing the damage the take from him

In an Ahri style charm, Malzahar's ability to call followers to sacrifice themselves to the Void allows us to kill 3 bird with 1 stone. It gives him CC without an overbearing suppression, it gives him the Charm from his Lore, and it also gives him his “followers.” I did consider having nearby minions also attack the target as suggested in a few posts I've read, but felt this would give him too much power early.

R – Null Zone: Malzahar rends open the ground creating two impassable rents in the earth, in the middle of which is a large (passable) void portal. Enemies hit by this are knocked up for a short time (0.5 seconds MAX). While within the Null Zone enemies are grounded and take % HP damage. Voidborn within the area do increased damage and grow faster, evolving depending on who they are attacking. The duration is increased when something dies within it's area of effect.

So here we have Malzahar's new ult taken straight out of his Lore. It has a mini CC/interrupt, but is mainly a “cock block” to engage. It will have a short range like his current ult, but unlike the current ult it will have counterplay. It will be there to turn a fight on someone coming in on him or stop them from escaping, while also allowing them to continue to function in a fight against him to a limited capacity. It could be used for zoning or even splitting a team during a team fight. Because of all it's uses, don't expect much damage to come from it!

So there we have the basics; a Malzahar that is Lore accurate, fits his role in the game, and also brings plenty of utility to his team through improved vision and control (you know, like a Seer and a control mage... xD)

Check in for the final part of this series: Recreating Malzahar.