Very Little Riot does with Mages Makes Sense

1. They spend years designing the Mage class to peak mid-game, then blanket-nerf Mage itemization by pulling a net 48 AP from item changes this patch. And that's after they nerfed top AP items in the last AP item overhaul a few seasons ago ( and used to be 120 AP, had 100). Now you need at least 3 items and 11 levels to matter. But by the time you get there, Marksmen are well past the point where they out-damage and outscale you. When they get Shiv, then out-push almost every Mage but a scant few, and they do it without wasting mana or cooldowns.

2. Mages, the mid-game spiking class, have the most major items that require a large portion of the game stacking in and they're designed to be used in combination. To make it worse, 's AD counterpart stacks faster in reality for the late-game scaling champs. Getting "on time" means by 12:00, meaning it's not fully stacked until 22:00, which is well after the winner of most games is decided. And these stacking items aren't exceptionally powerful, either. Now take a second to think about that. Ask yourself if there is any good reason for the "mid-game" scaling class to have items that take the longest to grow for very little upside.

3. Non-Support Mages have the highest mana costs and are 100% dependent on mana to do anything, but mana doesn't do them any good. Yes, even for it is a useless stat because if he didn't have mana, his AP ratios would just be higher. Mana has no real upside beyond aesthetic, and major downsides. But mana still costs gold at a rate of 1.4 gold/point of mana. Champions who rely on mana are paying gold to be at a disadvantage and Mages suffer that disadvantage more than any other class. In fact, if you calculate the costs of tank items by stats, you'll find that tanks often get mana for free, but mages don't. Watch: Armor = 20 gp/point, CDR = 24.75 gp/point, attack speed = 25 gp/point, AP = 21.75/point

Costs 2700gp: 100 armor = 2000gp, 20% CDR = 495gp, Passive is 15% attack speed = 375. Value = 2870. Mana was free.

Cost 3200gp: 50 AP = 1087.5, 650 base mana = 910 gp; Passive = 3%xmana = (.03 mana x 650 mana) x 21.75gp = 424gp. Total: 2421.5gp base value. Most mages have around 800 mana at level 11, which is ~ 525 gp. Still 250g short of efficient! See the problem yet?

4. Riot makes sure to help AP assassins - which counter Mages - are plenty oppressive at the same time Mages take yet another hard AP hit.

5. The Baron minion buff is specifically anti-mage. Riot even admitted when introducing it that it was specifically to shut down and

6. This dumpster fire . How many reworks has he had? 4? And he needs another one. People who know what they're doing don't need 5 tries.

7. And this dumpster fire has only been out for 3 months and already Riot has been forced to admit she needs a rework - the playerbase has known that since she hit beta and found out she's a one-shot wonder.

8. And this dumpster fire , which is just a lazy swing at being a Marksman. Except with all the disadvantages of being a mage, none of the advantages of being a Marksman, and can't even buy one of the only two flat magic penetration items in the game. Her only unique "upside" is not being able to buy boots and eventually getting about the same extra speed marksmen get from zeal items. No, her grounding effect isn't unique - AoE silences do the same thing and do it better.

9. And this guy that almost nobody can play. He was released over-tuned and once he's been awful since his nerf.

10. And is constantly juggled between must-pick and don't-you-dare-pick because his kit was so overstuffed that any little tweak above garbage sends him high enough to need an FAA permit. Here's an idea: reduce his W range, allow more W charges, give his soldiers a few seconds bonus duration until the first time they move with Q, let his ult push his soldiers forward and refresh their timer. Reduce individual soldier damage and take away his mobility. He would actually have to commit when he fights and he's not really safe until he takes control of space. Why does an Emperor need to run away?

11. hasn't been a serious, viable champion in what? 5 seasons? 6? Instead of making him work, we're re-doing Ryze 4 times and releasing new champs that have to be re-worked after 3 months. That says a lot of things, but it doesn't say "We know what we're doing".

This stuff is really obvious and glaring. These are not subtle points that could easily be missed and many of them are chronic, consistently-repeated mistakes. Again, that says a lot of things.