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The Final Nail in the Coffin for the BorK vs Gunblade on Jax debate

Cards and Dice·4/29/2015, 2:20:20 AM·19 votes·2,676 views

So, although Jax's meta build involved building a Cutlass item and a Triforce, people have been arguing whether Gunblade is complete trash or not on Jax.

Let's say this: it still isn't, but BorK's power just simply became too good after Patch 5.8 for Gunblade to ever replace BorK as the cutlass item. It is now the universal standard non-AP Jax item. Well, at least for this meta.

Why, you may ask? Consider the following:

Gunblade's advantage was that it was suited for a more defensive approach to Jax. It also gave more upfront burst to any fool who tries to duel him. It also had superior sustain compared to BorK, and a more spammable active.

Well, with the patch coming out, BLADE OF THE RUINED KING WILL OUTSUSTAIN GUNBLADE. Lifesteal now applies to the passive procs, which means the life stolen this way is enough to match or even exceed the spellvamp provided by Gunblade, ESPECIALLY WITH CINDERHULK GOING AROUND. Not only that, Gunblade's Lifesteal was nerfed as well, with an AD nerf tacked on, all in favor of Akali.

Now that the meta favors HEALTH tanks, there's no way Gunblade stands a chance until ADCs or assassins start coming back. You can't simply upfront burst someone down anymore, other tanks will outdamage you while being more tanky with your Gunblade even when you ult, and your sustain with Gunblade got nerfed while BorK's sustain got buffed.

With that, the only thing left for Gunblade is its ability to bypass armo- Oh wait they just bought a Spirit Visage or Warmogs. Oh wait, Wit's End exists to deal with Thornmail. Oh wait Last Whisper/new Black Cleaver.

Tl;dr: Unless tanks fade out of the meta or Gunblade gets buffed in a way that DOESN'T buff Akali, Gunblade has lost its purpose on Jax. No more is it a situational item on Jax. Now it is an Akali/Poppy-only item that will inevitably be removed if Riot doesn't change it fast to favor hybrid champs, along with Rageblade.

16 Comments

PhDs Nuts4/29/2015, 2:56:35 AM13 votes

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vIbvdOwbko4/29/2015, 3:18:24 AM3 votes

BoRK has always been superior over Gunblade on Jax since BoRK's rework. No matter how big the advantage, BoRK worked better in almost every situation.

The only people that questioned this fact are low elo people that still build Sunfire. Gunblade's added damage to his spells just doesn't match up to the potential of BoRK's attackspeed and on-hit synergy with Jax.

LilxPaprika4/29/2015, 2:53:32 AM2 votes

I think a buff to rageblade would give a three item jax with gunblade,triforce,rageblade considerable superiority over triforce bortk. At the cost of making him squishier of course but also deadlier especially if left ignored in team fights he could sustain considerably. There's not enough risk taking to reward IMO. If you go heavy sustain and squishier all enemy team needs to do is buy Morello and cc you dead in your tracks. There are counters everywhere. By buff to rageblade it wouldn't have to be much, just removing the cool down on the surge would be a good place to start IMO. Since rageblade has so much synergy with jax a a little goes a long way.

Verxint4/29/2015, 8:05:41 PM2 votes

Bitches still don't know about mah Rageblade...

Crett4/29/2015, 2:47:58 AM2 votes

Give Jax a Botrk against Sion and that's technically an infinitely scaling heal

Shrek Luigi4/29/2015, 2:49:49 PM2 votes

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A lot of melee-oriented junglers with magic damage somewhere in their kit can make use of this.

I would pick Gunblade over Bork on Jax, as I'm sure a lot of other players would. It really comes down to what else you're building/how much you feel like investing in Spellvamp on Jax.

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Earl Eulrich4/29/2015, 2:15:44 PM1 votes

the thing is...you will outsustain and kill tanks with both items, but gunblade is still more efficient at killing squishies fast.

Stonington4/29/2015, 2:26:15 AM1 votes

What do you mean debate? There was never any debate. Bork gives AS which stacks with Jax passive. It also gives MS along with a slow that allows him to stick the enemy better.

ChoGathsSon4/29/2015, 2:39:34 AM1 votes

I would only ever consider running Gunblade against a heavy AP comp with an ADC like Corki or something. Other than that, yeah, Botrk is far superior