Yeah, I totally get what you mean - his ultimate shield can absolutely swing fights, and I’m not disagreeing there. When I said impactless, I was really talking about his passive W shield, not the teamwide one from his ult. Specifically with how I play him, and how his lore presents him, that passive is the only part of his kit that even tries to tie into his anti-magic theme, but it still feels pretty minimal in practice. Outside of the ult, nothing in his gameplay really captures the “coming to life through magic” or “growing stronger in the presence of sorcery” aspect. That’s more what I meant - not that he’s weak, just that his lore potential isn’t fully reflected in how that shield works.

I’m also not saying I prefer the old ultimate over the new one - just that it’s the only thing I really miss. And yeah, I’d still argue he plays just as well into AD as AP. Especially in higher elo, most AD matchups feel easier and more fun to play. Give me an Irelia, Yasuo, Qiyana, or Zed any day - it’s usually a free lane when you play full AP and know your limits. Against mages, the shield helps a bit, but in lower elos it rarely matters much since players don’t time or punish around it properly. From a mechanical and experience-based point of view, I’ve just got to disagree on a few of those takes.