DFT broke Brand but RoA broke all the champs that use it

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Your assertions would be much more plausible if the RoA champions werent also DoT champions. Cass, Kass and diana were also RoA champions, but none of them have nerfs slated.

Anivia, brand, and malzahar have been off-radar for a very long time and are only occasionally used as counter picks instead of primary picks. The only reason cass isnt up for nerfs is because shes a failure and riot wants to do everything they can to forget about her.

The reason DoT mages are gaining popularity and a "broken" reputation is because deathfire adds so much more damage to them. Lets use malzahar as an example; 「 TOTAL MAGIC DAMAGE: 80 / 140 / 200 / 260 / 320 (+ 80% AP) 」 (over 4 seconds) 「 TOTAL MAGIC DAMAGE WITH DEATHFIRE: 130 / 190 / 250 / 310 / 370 (+ 130% AP) 」(0ver 4 seconds) +50+0.5AP for 3 seconds after malefic visions ends.

Which of those seems like more of a problem?

I realise that they're all champions with damage over time too, that's why they're using DFT in the first place. But my point is that with them both being DOT champions and liking to build Rod of Ages, it's impossible to pick one specific factor out as the problem. At the end of the day all I know is that while all of the champions getting nerfed use DFT, most of them use ROA too. It's just silly to decide that only the mastery could be impacting when the stats line up like that.

The fact that a variety of ROA champions aren't getting nerfed means nothing because I could bring up way more DFT champions that aren't, too. I mean one of your examples can actually be used to show DFT not breaking every DOT champion - Cass uses Deathfire Touch due to having damage over time, yet does not build Rod of Ages (she builds Seraph's). She's not getting nerfed and remains as terrible as she ever was. The mastery does not actually seem to have buffed her at all, meaning it does not instantly break all champions with damage over time. Zyra does not use Rod of Ages but does use DFT thanks to her huge DPS - not overpowered. Diana doesn't ever build Rod of Ages in either mid or jungle, and Kassadin isn't getting nerfed because his balance situation is virtually impossible to assess - he could be ridiculously broken right now and none of us would know because nobody can play him. Same as Ryze.

I'm aware that DFT adds a lot of damage to long-lasting DOTs, though by my calculations the numbers for Malz's E max out at 331 (+ 113.3% AP) over 5.5 seconds. The numbers look impressive regardless but that doesn't mean much because everyone's combos have gotten stronger with the new masteries. Why shouldn't Malz get big damage buffs to his DOTs when every burst mage/assassin has a new 190 (+ 10% AP) ratio on their combos at level 18, every tank can have 300 more health than they did last season or just 8% damage reduction, supports can give everyone on their team +15% armour and magic resist, etc?

Everyone's been buffed by the masteries they like. Malz, Anivia and Swain are some of the few who've been buffed by their mastery -and- their itemisation.