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Black Cleaver vs Trinity force on Kayn as a late game option?

Sujiren·8/9/2017, 12:06:36 PM·1 votes·1,913 views

http://matchhistory.euw.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/EUW1/3295393569/41586474?tab=stats

So as you see from link above I was playing assasin Kayn mid yesterday, I played it many times now and early build seems pretty simple to me — stack lethality to synergize with the runes and his ad ratios, and pick up last whisper if the enemy team is getting too tanky. Now when it comes to last item Im confused. I know people build cleaver on kayn almost as a staple, but my primary targets squishies already have their armor values brought down close to 0, just from lethality and last whisper, and cleavers shred only happens after my damage is already done via spells, so it does not help me much, and its not my job to hit tanks anyway, if anything it would help my team to do follow up damage.

On the other hand, trinity force would give my lategame full combo additional 400 damage , since Im already doing it for the duskblade proc. W—Q— AA with duskblade + sheen proc.—Ult—Q— AA for another duskblade sheen proc to finish the full combo.

So thats why Im confused, as you see that game I went black cleaver, but I don't know if it was correct, should my final build contain trinity force instead, or maybe even deaths dance for the raw ad, damage reduction and cdr. Id like some insight and opinions on this, note that Im talking about assasin Kayn in the mid lane here.

1 Comments

Dr Av3n 423/23/2018, 4:22:53 AM1 votes

Though it is late, thought i'd leave a comment regarding my experiences! :) The reason black cleaver on kayn is staple is for the same reason it is staple in almost every top lane champion; The Sticking Power. You are melee so you get a speed boost from hitting your combos. While this may not seem like a big deal because you one shot the backline anyway, it is excellent for CLEANUP and when/if the backline has defensive summoners, Ie flash or exhaust or heal. Yes as an assassin you should one shot the backline, but remember you may not ALWAYS get to. They may survive with just a sliver of health. But your movement speed will make the last hit a lot easier. It ALSO provides Kayn with a tad bit of survivability. One thing ive found on kayn is that survivability is VERY strong, even in blue kayn. I've found that blue kayn really only needs warrior, Duskblade, and Ghostblade for raw damage. If you follow that up with SURVIVABILITY ie, Black cleaver, Triforce, DD, GA, your team fight capability becomes EXPONENTIALLY more effective. The problem assassins tend to have is if they happen to misplay their combo, or they have another high burst champion as well, you CAN easily die right after you combo a squishy. Some of this pseudo-tankiness provides a way to mitigate that to a degree.[slayer-jinx-catface]

Edit: Forgot to put the most important part. Lmao. The reason you would typically choose black cleaver over Trinity is because trinity procs off of base damage, and kayns base AD is pretty abysmal which is why in blue form he gets %Bonus Damage and Red form gets %Health damage. Its also why they brought his ratios up in the patch that just came out yesterday :)