Ekko is once again extremely oppressive with no real tradeoff for building damage or going in.
His AP buffs that shoehorned him into playing mage were already on the overly strong side. Now that he got a MASSIVE buff to his jungling, he's almost impossible to play against.
From the very beginning of the game he's one of the most mobile champions available, with extremely high base damage, low mana costs and insane wave clear.
Despite building full damage, current AP itemization lets mages grow extremely tanky without actively opting into defensive stats.
Ekko is overperforming both in lane and in the jungle - he needs some sort of tradeoff for this extreme power. Compare him to fizz, who sees WAY less success across all ranks.
Then again, who am i kidding? Flashy plays for the LCS will always trump game balance.
as a first item means ekko can easily burst down the majority of the champions in the game, while easily surviving any retaliation - even from multiple enemies.