am a bit disappointed

I am aware I might be in the minority here, and I'm seeing a lot of people happy with the rework. I am genuinely happy for them! But looking at the feedback, it feels like a lot of the excitement is coming from players who just love the dragon theme finally being modernized, rather than people who actually enjoyed her old gameplay loop and muscle memory.

Personally, I'm not a fan of her fighting pattern suddenly being shifted. Shyvana's kit is not that outdated. She needed a midscope update similar to the Olaf or Amumu level to fix her lack of skill expression, not this massive overhaul that completely changes how she fundamentally fights and builds.

I don't really understand why Riot had to change her fighting patterns for a new Q recast system that feels unnecessarily slower. The timing is actually comical. We finally get Dusk and Dawn this season (an AP bruiser item with a Spellblade that doubles on-hits, which should basically be the holy grail for live Shyvana) and the same season it drops, Riot reworks her Q so she can't even smoothly use the item she was meant for.

The new Scalemail passive was a step in the right direction, but they overthought the rest of it.

Instead of forcing a weird new recast rhythm, why couldn't we just get an evolution mechanic like the other dragons?

I know the exact numbers would need balancing, but conceptually, something like this:

Passive (Scalemail): Stacks give Armor/MR. Every X stacks you get to upgrade an ability.

Q: Same as live. X stack upgrade: Gives omnivamp based on stacks, plus additional tenacity in dragon mode (or something like a mini 0.25s stun).

W: Same as live. X stack upgrade: Gives additional MS when running towards targets. In dragon form, gives that new recast shield from the PBE.

E: Same as live. 100 stack upgrade: Adds the PBE slow to the fireball. Hitting champions in dragon form regens 10 fury per champ hit.

R: Same as live. 100 stack upgrade: Double HP on dragon transform.

This keeps her exact identity intact while actually modernizing her kit and rewarding her for scaling. Am I crazy here? I just don't see why we had to lose the core feel of the champion just to make her fit a modern bruiser mold.