Marksmen: Cunning vs. Resolve
DISCLAIMER: I'm a support main, NOT a marksman main, and while I feel I am a higher rank than silver, that doesn't change my actual rank. I in no way am speaking from a point of authority, just creating discussion.
A side-by-side Cunning: Tier 1: 5 damage on hit against minions or 3% movement out of combat - either one is a nice boost, though I'd assume the latter is better. Tier 2: biscuits. A fairly clear choice here - potions will be 10% longer and an instant 20 health and 10 mana. That's a total of 23.33% more healing from a potion, and the instant hit is good too. 10 mana is almost never going to matter, but almost never is not never. Tier 3: merciless/meditation. Kill or poke. This is probably what you're really after. 5% damage when you need it or mana regen when you need it. Merciless might be better, but it's not clear-cut, at least to me. Tier 4: Dangerous Game. You could go bandit, but the gold you get from it will be minimal. Fairly certain it doesn't work if your support uses relic shield to kill them, as it counts as you farming it. And even if it does, that's a little bit more than 1 creep every 2 waves. Dangerous game lets you win fights you would have tied. One of my favorite masteries in the game. Does nothing if you die first though. If you drop low and your team kills 3 people, even if you only get assists, that's enough health to go back in and regain the rest. That can be huge.
Resolve: Tier 1: Recovery. Hey, lane sustain you don't have to do anything for. Nice. And it's flat, so it works even if your champ has garbage regen. Probably better than wanderer or savagery, if only slightly. Tier 2: Tough Skin. If it worked on creeps... As it is, it's cool. You could grab explorer, since you are by bushes a lot. Or if you're Quinn. And late game, tough skin disappears and wanderer gets more useful. Biscuit's gonna be better early game, almost for sure. Tier 3: Runic. Armor. This is honestly why I'm making this thread. First off, it affects lifesteal. You're a marksman. It also works with Warlord's Bloodlust, Feast, and Vampirism if you have any of those. It works with your passive health regen. It works with Recovery. It works with summoner Heal. It works with potions (8% instead of 23.33%, but hey. Something.) And possibly most importantly, it works with your support's heals and shields, including relic shield. That's huge. Sure, it's not as useful if they don't have one. Which is Leona, Braum, Blitzcrank, Tahm, and Annie. Leo, Braum, and Tahm almost always go relic shield and blitz usually does. Meanwhile, Soraka, Sona, Nami, Janna, Lulu, Thresh, Bard, and Taric all have those abilities. And all but Thresh usually grab Windspeaker's. If you have Soraka, it's too good. Really though, if you have any of those supports, runic armor could probably replace everything in cunning on it's own. Even without, it's comparable to merciless and meditation, which it shares a tier with. When almost all of your ability to take damage comes from regaining health, this mastery might as well be "You're 8% tougher." That's a big number. Tier 4: Insight/Perserverence. Did you know Graves has the best health regen of all marksmen? It's pretty alright. If you're not Graves, insight is probably better. If you have heal, both work with runic armor too. Neat. If you don't need to flash again for another 5 minutes, then 15% is not helping you. If you need to flash in 4 1/4 minutes, then this mastery saved your life. Dangerous game is probably better than both.
Really, the best strategy is to have different pages and change based on your situation. My point is, they're comparable enough to do that. Thoughts?
EDIT: Was ugly, I fixed. EDIT 2: I suck at boards wow EDIT 3: Forgot about Feast and Vampirism.
