Total Score - 18/20
Creativity - 5/5
Starting with the base kit, this is easily high for Creativity. Heroes who spend Health to cast abilities are already on the interesting side, but the constantly draining Health of Ulrezaj takes the interest to the next level. On to abilities, they’re on the basic side for their usage (channeled cone damage, delayed AoE damage, Dimensional Shift but more interesting), but their interactions with Ulrezaj’s Unstable Energy helps them out and none of them are barebones in specifics. Both heroics are very original CC tools, with unique effects/punishments for enemy heroes.
On to talents, they also manage a high Creativity score. Many talents play into elements of Ulrazaj’s unique Unstable Energy resource well for interesting conditions (Wrath of Ulrezaj, Memories of the Alys’aril, Overcharged Form), and plenty others add new effects/usages to Ulrezaj’s abilities (Malevolent Feedback, Dark Vortex, Relentless Torrent). Even the more generic talents get an extra layer of interest specific to Ulrezaj’s mechanics (Consuming Rage).
Cohesiveness - 5/5
Base kit cohesion is pretty solid. Ulrezaj has a good balance of free Unstable Energy sources, abilities that cost Unstable Energy but can generate more if used well, and abilities that just cost Unstable Energy for damage. Oblivion Rush sets up for Chaotic Torrent nicely, and though Dark Feast is a bit isolated from his basic attack and other abilities it works well in the kit overall. The heroics do run together a little bit, both representing a large CC bombshell with a big Unstable Energy cost for Ulrezaj to seal teamfights. That being said, they are distinguished somewhat, with Maelstrom being higher risk with more upkeep for Ulrezaj and Hysteria being more fire-and-forget.
On to talents, I do see some decent build paths. Ulrezaj has options for sustained damage through either basic attacks or Chaotic Torrent, a disjoint build for burst damage, and a variety of sustain/survivability talents. There are also a few options for disruption, which generally fall under sustain/basic attacks too. Dark Feast also has some talent support, but all of the Dark Feast talents together don’t really fit one build type. As for concerns with the talent tree: Chaotic Torrent build feels fairly railroaded; basic attack Ulrezaj is also quite railroaded; Seven as One is probably too powerful overall, as it is just incredibly strong for any build that Ulrezaj uses it in, hurting Tier 1’s talent diversity; and I think there are too many disjoint sustain talents, without enough to make a build from and without any other synergies in the tree (Khalis Focus, Feast of Energy, Focused Instability, Font of Ehlna).
To conclude, Cohesiveness in the base kit is great, and the abilities all serve a place in Ulrezaj’s role and playstyle. The talent tree has some solid builds, but a couple are far too railroaded, and there are quite a few stranded talent choices that don’t feel that meaningful (Seven as One on Tier 1 is great for every build, Tier 2 has general sustain talents only one of which really fits in a build). I think my talent complaints step into the realm of nit-picks, so I think full points are justified here.
Thematic - 5/5
Everything here feels thematic for a Dark Archon, and especially Ulrezaj in particular. Destructive void energy, instability, life draining, and disorientation are all in place. As for the contest theme, Ulrezaj definitely qualifies as a cult member, so full points there.
Interaction - 3/5
Ulrezaj’s kit definitely suffers from being far too polarizing in how it works. First off, Ulrezaj’s Unstable Energy total, large lifesteal numbers, and high ability costs would likely make him very frustrating to contend with. On one hand, he has solid potential to soak a lot of the enemy team’s burst then slingshot back to high health; on the other hand, he could flounder and fail to manage to land his heals, causing him to off himself quickly with costs and decay while being beaten up. I see it as a similar problem to The Butcher, but on a fight-by-fight basis instead of over the course of a whole game (which is why I’m penalizing it far less than I would if it was a whole game thing). Second, both of his heroics are massively polarizing in their effects. Maelstrom comes at great expense to Ulrezaj and it does have counterplay, but when it goes off well you can cripple the entire enemy team and punish them for attempting playing the game without a perfect counter to your ability. Hysteria introduces a new level of frustration, similar to “my idiot teammate walked Kael’thas’s Living Bomb into me”, but now it can be “the enemy walked our KT’s Living Bomb into my entire team”, and so many other horrendous unfun scenarios for the receiving end of Hysteria.
To summarize, Ulrezaj’s general polarity would be maybe a point in penalty, but combined with how crushingly unfun and frustrating each of his heroics can be, I think it definitely builds up to a 2 point penalty.