They nerfed vlad because he was essentially like a Heavy in TF2 with 2 pocket Medics. Who could turn into a pool of blood to troll you as he escaped a 4 man gank. He was virtually impossible to kill, could tower dive consistently with little to no repercussions, healed out the ass, and had too much damage for that much sustain.

Riot nerfed mordekaiser because he was impossible to damage so long as there was a constant supply of minions (which is a guarantee as this is a MOBA game). They instead buffed his shield generation on champion hits to allow harass on him during the laning phase, but give him the same team fight capabilities.

Akali, Brand, and Morgana all have insanely good burst damage and two of them have good team fight utility. They can outlane almost anybody past level 6, by level 3 for brand and morgana. However, they aren't impossible to lane against/kill. Therefore, while not exactly OP, they are still insanely good champions. As such, that's why they're picked.

Originally Posted by pinheads

ahahahahaaa.... i agree... not rlly... vlad wasnt OP after his second nerf...
he did good dmg and was beefy enough lategame:
he is so underpowered now