User blog comment:Lykrast/A suggestion about Flash/@comment-11712303-20130708042314

WALL-OF-TEXT IMMENENT. PREPARE FOR PROLONGED READING. Only read last bit to see my actual suggestions for how to change Summoner Spells. Read all for my argument and more on why I disagree.

There are two real problems I see with the above suggestions, the first of which I believe has been mentioned at least once already: Flash is heavily integrated and will upset numerous factors with such a drastic change/removal, and that it is easily possible to overcompensate for such a critical aspect of the game as it currently plays.

1. Flash is VERY common. No argument there. But not "OP" (in my opinion) just because it is an OPTION for everyone and yet is still declined in favor of Heal/Ignite, Exhaust/Ghost, Exhaust/Ignite, etc combinations on a regular basis. Flash is a jack-of-all type summoner, fitting most plans/builds/players/champs in a way that no other summoner does. That does not make it NECESSARY. Just (admittedly very heavily) favoured for it's utility. Certain champions never take Flash over Ghost just because Ghost synchs with their kit, they take both but give up an "offensive" spell, or that champion flips b/w them according to player preference (See Hecarim, Yi, Jax, Vlad, Olaf, Shen, Nasus, Singed and possibly others). Flash provides an excellent tool for engage/disengage and, contrary to the often-reiterated "It removes strategy" (which should be "tactics" fyi, sorry for vocab but this bugs me), Flash is in fact often central to tactics when ganking/fighting--popping flash justifying a gank where no kill was achieved--because it is on so long a cooldown. When to use Flash is a big differentiator between new and veteran players even in lower player tiers; it is something that just comes from playing A LOT of matches to get the timing down in many circumstances, if you should be Flashing then at all.

2. Removing Flash would upset the current balance of the game greatly, requiring so very much balancing to fix the situation that it is hardly worth it. Much better would be to tweak all the summoners and possibly even items/general mechanics. It is this that makes me feel Option 3 is the closest to hitting the mark, but is still falls to my second preceived problem: it "fixes" too much. The numbers involved in the suggested changes for Ghost and Exhaust are not actually particularly severe examples,  but do IMO make to large a swing. I feel they should be like this:

START HERE FOR CHANGES ONLY:

Exhaust - Slow not touched or reduced to 25%, duration increased to 4sec, prevents target from using Flash while in effect. Summoner's Wrath: Prevents all actions not available while Rooted.

This would allow for a much longer but slightly reduced slow, with AS/AD hits still in effect, and eliminating the threat of Flash to counter the slow and escape/continue to chase. Summoner's Wrath providing the no-Rooted-casting effect build on the no-Flash without making it necessary to take that mastery since Flash is the biggest factor there anyway (followed by Arc. Shift, Rift Walk, etc.).

Ghost - Duration reduced to 9sec., MS bonus increased to 40% base. Summoner's Wrath: Increases MS bonus to 50% (100 MS would be 150 with mastery Ghost used) AND reduces the DURATION of slows applied AFTER Ghost is used by 25-30% (exact value TBD).

According to the initial Ghost changes, a Ghost'er would move much faster but for a shorter time, and would not travel nearly as far overall (assuming same movespeed base for each): 100 ft/s x 10s = 1000ft. 127 ft/s x 10s = 1270 ft in same time. 145 ft/s x 6s = 870 ft. This is much faster but not for as long a distance, a sprint not a marathon, emulating rather than differing from Flash. The original suggestion also has no mastery increase to the speed, rather reducing slow applied while Ghosting. This is only a slight improvement in my eyes, changing to little with the already meh. Speed/Time adjustment.

With my proposed Ghost changes, the distance traveled is 10 units shorter initially (1260/1270) but the same between after Summoner's Wrath (1350/1350), while increasing the actual speed at which you move, making it easier to escape/catch someone who has Flash/another escape without affecting the ground covered. My Summoner's Wrath change retains a smaller increase to the Ghost bonus MS, but adds a further benefit. Critically, I don't think Ghost should make slows less effective, as Exhaust is a counter to Ghost as well as Flash already (just not effective enough on Flash, hence discussion). Rather, I think Ghost should make slows last a shorter time, so that the Ghost duration will still kick in but the slow can potentially cripple your move speed and POTENTIALLY serve to counter Ghost. As it should be. Wither, for example, at max rank slows for 95% (massive) and lasts 5 seconds with an accelerated, intensifying slow (increasing over time, faster if shortened). Cut for 25-30% (exact value TBD), Wither would last 3.5 second but still apply the full 95%. Still crippling, but shorter and allowing the other 5.5 seconds of Ghost to have full effect as usual. Ghost also still ignores unit collision, allowing faster movement because of a more direct route.