Scaphism

That's just part of the metagame biz-mark. Rook's towers are strong enough that the other team needs to develop a counter. Just because a counter exists doesn't make Rook weak. Strategies will develop that counter Torchbearer or Regulus taking down the towers from long range. Counters for the Counter-Strategy, and a metagame is born. Towers are an important enough feature to be worth developing the counter-counter for. If Rook can't do it himself, his tea

Yep, I can confirm that Oak can Shield + Heart of Life. Unfortulately it does not seem to work for the Queen. I'm curious who you think QoT is best to pair off with? As you've said in the thread a few times, she has some trouble giving the coup de grace herself, but she's an ideal teammate. She can wipe creeps quickly with her AOE and debuff armor at the same time, as well as drastically improving everyone's survivability. I'd nominate Unclean Beast as her id

It seems clear that in matches between organized teams Rook's ability to establish battle lines, support weak lanes, and create structrues that allies can warp to defines where fights happen. Towers are his defining feature, no one else has anything that is similar in effect. I'm not sure where he will evolve beyond that - I didn't play in the beta - but I have trouble imagining any 4v4 or 5v5 team that does not include Rook.