I was excited for this item until I actually built it. The stats are nice but the spell shield is completely worthless because surprise surprise, in all situations I found I'd have been better off with just building an Hourglass for better playmaking and defensive utility. I'd rather just build Abyssal as it is because I'm pretty sure that the 10% extra damage outclasses Banshee's 70ap. All while giving better survivability with the HP to back up my MR.
Paquay3 votesSo you think an hourglass that has armor is better than veil that has mr in all situations?
Seems logical.
Catastrop1 votesNo one builds Hourglass for the armour, we build it for the stasis active. And like I said, I'd much rather get Abyssal Scepter since it's better survivability either way unlike Banshee's "always down" spell shield.
Jamaree2 votes...You build Banshee's Veil vs Burst mages while you yourself are AP, of course against an AD champion Zhonya is better because it gives...armor, are you dumb?
Catastrop1 votesI'm not sure what your point is and how it relates to what I'm saying.
But for clarification, Hourglass as my sole defensive item is leagues better than Banshee's is imo. The amount if mindless spell spam invalidates the shield so easily I'd have been better off having the stasis active because it would actually be up when I needed it. So yeah, I'm salty we lost a 10% damage amp for a garbage spell shield.
Jamaree3 votesBut for clarification, Hourglass as my sole defensive item is leagues better than Banshee's is imo.
That isn't how itemiazation works. In ARAM, which seems to be the only game mode you play, yeah, Zhonya is better because you don't have to worry about lane matches and stuff and spells are constantly being flung at you making the shield useless, however, as stated multiple times, this game isn't balanced around ARAM, it is balanced around SR, where spells especially early on will be coming at you at a far few frequency.
The amount if mindless spell spam invalidates the shield so easily I'd have been better off having the stasis active because it would actually be up when I needed it.
Except that isn't true, seeing as the spell shield comes up every 40 seconds to the active's 3 minutes.
So yeah, I'm salty we lost a 10% damage amp for a garbage spell shield.
Except it isn't garbage, you just play the game mode that makes it garbage.
Catastrop1 votesI didn't base off just my ARAM games, I'm not that daft. I also spectated several of my brother's games and his plat friend's ranked matches. The item seemed great for lane phase but eventually they generally ended up selling it for something else because spell shield just wasn't that great after a certain point. It also didn't even benefit all ap champions that greatly, long range mages who were already hard to engage on were great with it because now they had a double safety net with range plus the spell shield.
However a lot low ranged ap champions pretty much got 0 use out of the shield because they were more prone to danger because of their less than stellar range. At a least with old Abyssal they got a sweet 10% damage amp for being so close to the enemy, now they get nothing because it gets popped so easily. Now before you bring it up, I also acknowledge that high range ap champions had the same issue with old Abyssal, as they rarely got the 10% damage benefit.
Really the item feels pretty much catered to melee ap assassins, because so far, it seems fantastic on them. Now I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I'm just really disappointed with how underwhelming the item turned out.
So yeah, maybe I'm just channelling my inner memes and gameplay poster with this thread considering this is all based on 20-30 games I spectated, but I honestly feel this item is terrible.
BlueBilberry1 votesFrom a support perspective (e.g., Rakan), who is looking at a shield nerf soon - I think it could be useful (cooldown + shield + MR). But right now, even with that idea down the road in the next patch, it is a bit meh and will probably be my last item - if I do even take it.
Catastrop1 votesThe item could be good, and it is tbh, but it sucks because of how the game is currently. There's too much mindless spell spam because Riot insists on plugging CDR in every item. Like there's nothing more annoying than watching the shield get popped by a godforsaken Luden's proc.
ForgiveColour1 votesLUL
Catastrop1 votesKEK
MrHaZeYo1 votesLol, uh what?
We now get a spell shield and friendly tanks to build Abyssal for us.
Dominick Destine1 votesI thought it was going to have scaling cooldown , but apparently at some point that version was scrapped and now it has the same 40 second cooldown.
Sigh. I was so excited about this item as an Evelynn main too...
k wìx1 votesYou have no idea what your talking about, 
is the new meta item for midlane mages and offensive supports. I cannot think of a single reason why you wouldn't take it. It's good on everyone, and useful in almost every situation.
Of course hourglass is better - are you kidding? Hourglass is one of the best AP items in the game. **You don't buy one or the other, buy them BOTH. **
The reason why they are so good is because they provide offensive stats paired with STRONG survivability tools. There arent many items that do this, and those that do are usually pretty nuts. **All that being said, I really don't like this trend of seeing 'best of all worlds' items. **