I played around 200 games with Orphea. I have a 56% win rate with her, which is good, and I have a very high KDA, between 7-8. I like her because she is very fun to play, and I like her playstyle of dancing around the enemies. She’s very well designed - strong, but has clear counterplay, and she rewards good play - if you land your Q’s, you are rewarded. She feels like what KTZ should have been, more engaging and less faceroll, aka a healthier version of KTZ.
After this change I’m probably never going to touch her ever again.
Blizzard made an already situational mage worse. She was already a hero with a low win rate, that’s overshadowed by other mages, and now she may borderline unplayable. The only reason why I played her was because she’s fun, but now not even that would justify me picking her.
Removal of fright was a BIG deal. Removal of extra chaos from ancestral strength was a BIG deal.
No matter which build I went (Q build, burst build), I always went fright. Fright was such a NECESSARY part of her kit. Let’s say I went En Pointe at level 1. With Fright I can land an almost guaranteed Q on them, which is big because Q can be sidestepped, and if they dodge it then they are free to engage on me. Now without Fright, hitting enemies will be much more risky, and the only way for me to land an easy Q is if there is a tank with me. The new “replacement slow” is an awful addition - first it is at level 1 so it conflicts with En Pointe, and second I have to get in autoattack range in order to apply it.
But let’s say I’m going Ancestral strength build. First, the loss of extra chaos is a big deal since that lowers my damage and mobility. Second, the AA slow from the new Ancestral strength is a poor replacement of Fright since, again, you have to get in autoattack range and you can only slow one target. Third, none of the level 4 talents synergize with the playstyle - Allegrissimo is situational, Backbiter is only good vs 2-3 frontline (which she doesn’t do well into anyways), and the new talent is terrible because as Orphea you have to AA constantly not wait till you’re at 3 stacks (now that you can no longer do that due to the ancestral strength nerf).
But aside from that? Her ults still suck, monster within still suck, level 4 talents still suck, level 7 non-mind devourer talents still suck. Q build is left untouched, but let’s be honest, at higher levels of play you won’t get much value out of en pointe and allegressimo.