Talk:Kassadin/@comment-168.8.249.173-20130320185534/@comment-88.186.19.90-20130322031219

^ You should read my post, it brushes aside a few things to keep it concise (notably mana, but I consider mana management to be part of the champion's kit anyway) but basically you are agreeing with me: the pulse mechanism handicaps Kassadin.

I'll respond to your points:

1. Mana. Nether Blade is in Kassa's kit for a reason. Just by last-hitting properly you almost double your mana regen with 1 point in W. Add to that the fact that you build mana regen + that you have access to blue buff, and mana actualy ceases to be a major problem for Kassadin provided he doesn't spam his spells like crazy. But then, no champ in the game barring Cassio can spam without going OOM. 3 spell rotation on Kassa is enough to push any opponent out of lane (except maybe Morgana and Galio). So I consider mana negligible in terms of hampering Kassa's lane presence; mana affects more his roaming capabilities (you don't have enough mana to push AND gank) and farming abilities (spam spells=oom).

2. Blue buff is very strong on kassa; it reduces the delay between pulses, but it doesn't erase it; you have to cast at least 4 spells total ( +2 W active) with ~7 second CD. That's 14 seconds between pulses unless you stack riftwalks (which is bad). So even with blue buff, your opponent knows pulse is on at least a 7 sec CD.

3. Damage distribution Kassa stacks his damage in his Q, but E is necessary to "complete" his burst; you rarely kill people with R+Q alone. Furthermore, ap ratios are very important; loosing a 0.7 AP ratio is very impacting for Kassa's damage.

4. The counters: If Kassa walks within 650 units of your opponent, he is litterally begging to get burst down. Riftwalk has a 7 to 5 second CD; Q has a 2 second silence.

If you foolishly decide to R+Q, your opponent will tank the burst, run towards you while you are immobilised during Q cast, and 2 seconds later will punch you in the face really really hard. If you decide to walk into Q range and keep R to escape, good opponents will hurt you as you walk forwards and win the damage trade. Pulse is what allows Kassa to remain safe when bursting by preventing the enemy from getting into range once the silence wears out.

You can talk about mobility all you want, if R is on CD or you get hit by a spell before you R out, you are going to loose the trade.

-I disagree on unaltered burst damage. You don't have the same kind of burst handicap as a champ with a 60 sec ultimate, but then Kassa's base burst is still weak compared to pure burst casters: remember; to have the same amount of damage as Arhi, Brand, Annie, Diana and other mages, he needs to land 3 Nether blade procs on top of landing Q+E+R. If you bring his burst damage to just Q; it's very weak.

-His ability to push is diminished, but not his ability to depush. The more spell cast, the more pulses he can throw around, so if the opponent pushes his lane, so can Kassa. Giving the best roamer in the game huge on-demand pushing power might be something people consider overpowered. With this mechanic, Kassa is forced to burn mana if he wants to aggressively push, mana that will not be necessarily available during the gank, on the other hand, Kassa can choose to AA the minions with W to regain mana and will still push harder than an opponent who simply autoattacks; so kassa is stil capable of pushing hard.

-You are not robbed of your choices when leveling your abilities. E, even if it has a big CD, is still a formidable pushing tool for Kassa compared to Q, works fairly well once combined to W active; and is a better ganking tool than Q. 45% slow is much much better than a 2 second silence when you want to get a kill during a gank; hindering your opponent's mobility so your allies can hit them is often more important than preventing that opponent from casting spells (obviously there are exceptions). And it's not like you loose out in damage anyway. Some lane matchups are simply unwinnable (Talon, things like that) so instead of stubbornly trying to duel, just push your lane and roam.

-It does handicap Kassa during early engages, but then that's the point: to prevent him from fighting too hard in lane. Imagine Arhi had her ult on a 15 or even 20 second CD, wouldn't that be OP? Well Kassa has that same damage output potential (compare the base damage+ratios with 3 nether blade procs), but it has 14 seconds CD, and HE doesn't need to land skillshots. Withought the pulse charge mechanism, Kassa has the same burst opportunity as Arhi every 6 seconds. Go on, tell me that wouldn't be OP.