User blog comment:Kagimizu/Kha'zix: Adapt and Balance (Kha'zix balance ideas)/@comment-4481326-20140515093529

I agree with you. Kha'Zix, as I see him (cmiiw), is a pure assassin who is depending on agility to do the only job he can: to assassinate. His window of opportunity to strike does not seem to be as big as those of other assassins (LeBlanc barely even needs one at all), so when he strikes, he strikes hard.

Riot said they want to allow different play styles through the different evolutionary paths, but now it seems they find him too versatile and want him to have a single and situationally useful playstyle. His poke and ranged damage were too strong (and they were), so they removed the passive proc from his Evolved Spike Racks. He blew targets up too quickly (his specialty, together with his agility), so they essentially removed his isolation mechanic from laning and fights and made it so it only occurs when encountering someone roaming or fleeing on a risky route. What squishy is dumb enough anyway to wander about all alone when the enemy has a Kha'Zix? Now he is too slippery (his specialty, needed to assassinate), so they make his ultimate clunky and extremely risky to use where it was intended (teamfights) by both making him visible for 2 seconds (easliy enough to get CC'ed and killed by 3 spells) and by considering to removing the cover it provided (the damage reduction).

Yes, he I agree he has been (still is) very, very strong, but this is, in my opinion, not solved by flattening him out under a steamroller. They be like: here is an interesting versatile, agile assassin, but he is strong, so we remove his versitality and nerf his agility and assassination. I mean, people accept if their entire team gets caught by an Orianna ult (blaming themselves for standing so close together), yet they cannot accept if they get caught by Kha'Zix on his forte (Kha'Zix' fault for being too stronk rito pls nerf).

I completely agree every champion needs to allow for counterplay. Some champions are countered on an immediate, mechanical level, some are countered on a tactical or even strategical level. If the enemy has a Malphite and an Orianna, you just do not stand close together at the brink of a teamfight. There is no mechanical counterplay to that combo, and people are fine with that. If the enemy has a Kha'Zix, you just do not wander about. If caught, you have already wasted your best opportunity to counterplay. Sometimes I think the communit forgets (and makes Riot forget) the difference between 'to allow for counterplay' and 'to guarantee mechanical counterplay'. This statement may be a bit daring, but I think assassins are not to be counterplayed mainly mechanically, but mainly tactically and only secondarily mechanically. Now Riot has almost guaranteed tactical counterplay by nerfing the isolation, I don't think he needs a lot of additional mechanical counterplay. Assasinating is at least as much (possibly more) about chosing the right moment and angle (tactical) as about the actual assassination (mechanical). I feel this identity might be in peril on a larger time scale.

TL;DR Kha'Zix certainly is strong and probably too strong, but right now, they are hollowing him out and removing his core aspects of versitality (diversity through evolution choices) and agility and pretty much making his isolation mechanic (co)incidental at best. Not only Kha'Zix, but many assassins get their core aspects of mobility and assassination removed (Kha'Zix and Zed players know all about clunkiness), because their counterplay required tactical in stead of mechanical play, so now they grow to be countered by both.

I think it is obvious by now I like assassins and especially love Kha'Zix, so this writing may be biased. Please correct any mistakes, refute any incorrect statements I made and add any information or aspect I overlooked. Here to discuss :)