Tomorrow's AP item rework, and Karthus: a Discussion
So tomorrow, we're due to get a bit of an AP item overhaul that includes:
- Archangel's becoming a potential 1st item Rush item
- Liandry's becoming the official AP tank-buster item
- Morello becoming the item against Squishies/Healing
- Luden's becoming more appealing to most mages
- GLP no longer being a sustain item due to the loss of Catalyst
- A new item designed specifically toward spell-casters (Spellbinder)
- The return of Twin Shadows
among other changes that include Deathcap getting more AP Amp and building out of 2 NLR now, as well as an AP buff to Rylai's and a MPen nerf to Void Staff, but what I want to talk about is how all these changes will affect my main mage, Karthus.
for a bit of reference, I'm going to include a video from /R/Karthusmains owner and streamer, Kartharsus (AKA known as Deus-Ex-Lacrymae on Reddit) where he discusses the new AP items, and how they affect Karthus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThTFRR6r3bk
One important takeaway that I got from the video is how these new items will potentially change which of Karthus's preferred playstyles will be more prevalent, between his Sustain playstyle that focuses on him surviving in the fights before he dies to maximize his Q and E damage, and his Suicide playstyle which puts more of his power into his passive and ult damage.
#Sustain Karthus VS Suicide Karthus
As stated in the previous statement, the main difference between Karthus's 2 preferred styles of play is that while sustain mode allows you to survive longer to apply more damage via Q and E, whereas Suicide mode means you're sacrificing yourself for the chance to be able to front-load all your damage into your ultimate without any interruption, and supposedly for the most part, without much consequence. (I say supposedly, because things like stopwatch, and certain invulnerability/untargetable things exist lol) Now, I've always thought Karthus's Sustain playstyle was always more healthy for gameplay, because of how volatile and/or Feast/Famine Suicide Karthus can get, where if you're not able to use it to the best of your ability, you're essentially Int-Feeding at that point because with the current state of the game, it's rather easy to get blown up by assassins and champions like Vayne that exist.
The question now becomes, with the removal of Catalyst from GLP, and the fact that most of the other items will be more beneficiary to a Suicide Karthus playstyle will become more prevalent than items like RoA and Abyssal mask (which is good against AP matchups and tanks who don't build MR btw), and considering this new item which I'm going to predict will become a GODSEND on Karthus (seriously, after tomorrow, try going Predator w/ ingenious hunter with sorc > manaflow + Celerity/transcendence, then get Spellbinder, sorc shoes w/ predator, and if you're feeling ballsy, Twin Shadows or Righteous Glory for the SUPER SPEEDY NASKARTHUS WHEEEEEEEEEEEE lol) which will promote more of a Glass Cannon/Suicide playstlye, will Karthus's Sustain playstyle be able to keep up with this more powerful way of playing? Also, if Riot does want to promote this Higher Risk/ Higher Reward playstlye, should they try to tweak anything in Karthus's kit that allows him to either A. give him a bit more utility in his passive, like say allow him to use non-trinket items whilst in passive, or have certain item effects continue into his passive? (supposedly, Spellbinder's active effects wears off when Karthus enters passive)
#Other Mages vs Karthus
Besides all this, my other question is: Will Karthus keep up with other mages who'll be able to use these items, and how powerful will he be compared to other mages? Will Karthus be able to have a role as a champion that no other mage can do better than he can? My hope for Karthus is that he retains his role as the Premier DPS Hypercarry with the Global Nuke that no other mage can compare to in terms of pure Magic Damage.
#The TL:DR
Will these new Items make Karthus OP? Which Playstyle will be the best suited for him once these items hit? Will he be able to keep up in terms of power opposed to other mages similar to him?
I'm just asking since Karthus is one of the more Unpopular champions among the mages, and I'm just hoping he'll be able to keep up. If not, what would riot try to buff for Karthus? I've heard a Maple Nectar mention that perhaps the team might look at his Skill-Cap/Skill-expression in the future, but with these new AP items, things could change, so I don't know at this point. Discussion is greatly appreciated, and if a Rioter wants to chime in, that'd be kinda cool :P
For those who managed to read this far, here's a video of Cloud 9's BunnyFuFuu playing Predator Karthus on PBE which might put some insight for Karthus with the new items (though maybe take it with a grain of salt, since he was being assisted by Baron/Elder Drake as well as Zilean, Nunu, and Sivir). Have a great day, and I'll see Y'all later! :P
[slayer-pantheon-thumbs]
is getting a 15 AP buff.
If you put that with Liandra's + Spellbinder on a regular build, the old Karthus builds are still pretty much meta. In ranked, Predator is a risky rune because it can be disrupted, and it's just not up enough to be scary.
