So, why not have items that have negative effects? to allow them to have heavier positive effects?
Like... Rabadons gives a person like... 160 AP or so... Why not have an item that gives like 200 or more, but gives you an armor/MR penalty and a passive that makes you unleashing a surprise attack a little harder... (like you get revealed in brush or fog of war automatically if you enter a certain range to an enemy champion)
^ this is just an idea people, relax.
I think Morello went over this at one point a few seasons ago explaining why items with negative effects wouldn't be healthy for the game. I'm not sure/don't remember what it was though.
Because paying to weaken yourself feels horrible and the weaknesses are either utterly inconsequential (sure, my AP Kog'maw has less armor/mr. He already died if anyone got to him though, so having an extra 80 etc. AP for free is fine) or large enough as to make the item never bought (sure, my Renekton has more damage. But he also just lost movement speed and defence, so for damage I lost my only ways to get close and do damage).
