My (Disappointed) Review of Every Mastery Option

I'm actually someone who likes change so I've been really excited for the new masteries and new items. I was sold on the idea that every game would be "unique" in that you could have some crazy builds for specific situations. Perhaps some of the new items offer different opportunities in paths, but the masteries are utterly lacking in options.

Fury or Sorcery: Am I based on attack speed or am I based on spells an abilities? For most champs not a real choice.

Double-Edged Sword or Feast: For any ranged unit double-edged sword can give an advantage if you can hit without being hit, but in any case its a risk-reward pick, not a straight gain. Feast gives a little sustain but is rather unexciting.

Vampirism or Natural Talent: Vampirism is cool as is certainly a talent you could make some cool builds with. Natural talent feels rather weak and feels like a waste if the champ doesn't use AP at all. I haven't done the math to say Vampirism is a slam-dunk choice, but if your champ has no AP involved... In any event, Natural Talent feels like its suited for mixed damage champs like Corki or Kogmaw. So if you're not one of those you'll probably pick Vampirism.

Battering Blows or Piercing Thoughts: Am I building AD or AP? No real choice.

Keystone Ferocity Masteries: Ok, at least these are fun. And for Marksmen there are definitely two clear options. But Warlord's Bloodlust is worthless if you aren't planning on building crit, perhaps removing it as an option. Fervor of Battle is useless if you won't be spamming auto-attacks, removing it as an option to many champs. Deathfire Touch has the most flexibility of any of these masteries, but for Mages its realistically the only option. So again, a large number of characters have no option here.

Wanderer or Savagery: My issue here is that you can't put points in both, as both of these things can be very key for a Jungler. A support obviously will always opt for Wanderer, but outside of that most characters have a legitimate option.

Runic Affinity or Secret Stash: Thus far, this is my least favorite choice, because I really dislike both. Runic Affinity is absolutely worthless for support and top and really only has good value for jungle and mid-lane (assuming you have an AP mid-laner and Jungler gives you blue buff). If you are planning on using flasks instead of potions, the biscuit aspect of secret stash is wasted. And 10% more gain on potions doesn't seem like much. There is simply too much waste between these choices where player's will be missing value.

Meditation or Merciless: Two potentially valuable choices. Of course, for all champs that use no-mana, there is again no choice (that's bad, remember). Again, there is an issue that you can't max both instead of something somewhere else.

Bandit or Dangerous Game: Probably always Dangerous Game outside of support, but perhaps a constant harasser in lane could pick bandit for extra gold. Not much choice though. If you aren't a support one element of bandit is completely lost.

Intelligence or Precision: Intelligence is a really fun new mastery that can allow some fun builds. The mix of armor and magic penetration in Precision makes it questionable for many champs, who will likely be losing out on one of the elements. Whenever your champ/build will not fully utilize the mastery, it feels like a bit of a waste, and that's bad.

Keystone Cunning Masteries: Nothing wrong with Stormraider's Surge but it is very specific and wouldn't work well with any character that doesn't burst you down. Even characters that do burst you down might prefer a different option than movement speed when they land that burst. It seems pretty niche to me. Niche masteries are a good thing when there are lots of options. They are bad when you only have several choices. Windspeaker's Blessing is also very niche for the few champions that heal or shield allies. Nothing wrong with Thunderlord's Decree individually, but your choice here is probably going to be pretty straightforward based on your character.

Recovery or Unyielding: If you won't be building armor or magic resist you're going to take the health regen by default.

Explorer or Tough Skin: Again, two options a Jungler might want are pitted against each other and he can't sacrifice elsewhere to pick both. A lot of players probably aren't very excited by these options. 12 movement just doesn't seem like that much. And who notices when they take 2 less damage from an auto-attack? Neither of these are very fun.

Runic Armor or Veteran Scars: Does my team have a heal/shield support? Do I play a character based off of self-healing? If the answer is "No", I pick the max health. Thanks for the options Rito.

Insight or Perseverance: Nothing wrong either of these masteries. Not really sure why I have to pick between them, though, as they are completely different. Why not let me pick both and sacrifice a point somewhere else? Would this combination be OP?

Swiftness or Legendary Guardian: Maybe the most legit choice in the mastery pages. Get protection from CC or get protection from damage? All teams have damage sources and almost all teams have CC, although it varies in degrees. You could definitely make this decision based on who the other team has, i.e., its a legitimate team comp decision and often times it might be a tough call.

Resolve Keystone Masteries: My favorite of the keystone groups, because if you are building this far in the Resolve Tree all three of these are likely attractive options. Fix the tooltip on Strength of the Ages, and we're good here.