C'mon, Riot. I don't want play him as a JG or APCarry. He is SUPPORT!
There was so much to buff in him that this decision doesn't make any sense. Why not lower the mana cost of the grab? Why not lower CD Skills? Why not remove the deceleration of the second skill? That option would make him much more viable and less forgotten at High Elo.
External link →We went with a grab damage increase because we were looking to buff him at higher elos where he has been struggling. The LoLPC team recently did a similar buff and it had a large impact to high high elo winrate. So this felt like something we could try, with that high elo goal in mind.
We didn't want to change his mana cost because mana buffs tend to be stronger at lower elos where players are spamming skills more often.
I do agree the mana cost on his grab is high, this is intended because of the amount of power behind it in the early game. I recommend getting fimbulwinter as his first item, it is highly underutilized by the player base. It gives him survivability (health, it's shield, and from his passive mana shield), solves his mana problem, and gives him a massive amount of ability haste to attempt grabs more often.
I totally agree with the mana cost. What bother me is the second skill slow. Why is this a thing?
Thank for the answer anyway.
We call this a kiss/curse mechanic, they can be a bit tricky to use for sure and often run into issues where they feel really bad.
Generally, they allow us to make the skill or rest of a champions kit stronger, because of the negative effect attached to it. In this case, it even provides a window of power (when you hit the button) and of weakness (when slowed), so it puts it totally in the player's control. We don't tend to use them often, because kiss/curse mechanics often feel bad, like you stated, even if they end up being really powerful.
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