A New Kind Of Mage Regen?!
No, this isn't just a 2-icon post. So! CONTEXT!
Mage itemization got another pass today! And unlike certain very, very slow people who are posting in these forums- I'm HAPPY about it! Yes, happy. Spellvamp, an impossible to balance and unhealthy stat, has been removed. Hextech Gunblade retains its omnivamp, and Revolver has gained a compensation active. In place of that, core Mage itemization has been graced with sustain! Let's start with changes to Catalyst:
Catalyst the Protector of Aeons
Valor's Reward passive removed New Passive - Eternity: 15% of damage taken from champion is gained as Mana. 15% of Mana spent is gained as Health. (Healing limited to 25 per spell cast or 25 per second for toggled spells.)*
Yes. Half of a potion every time you cast a spell. Immediately. (Well, not at level 1, but still.) Lategame, especially in teamfights, this WILL stack up on mages, especially sustained damage mages like Azir or Aurelion Sol- and unlike Spell Vamp, which depends on stacking offense- this item is easily core for the champs that can use it well! It still builds into Rod of Ages, which retains the passive. It's unclear if Righteous Glory will also get this passive (it'd be nice) but it makes Catalyst a perfect first-back item.
Secondly, we have Tear of the Goddess buffs.
Tear of the Goddess
Mana Regeneration: 25% --> 0% Additional Passive - Awe: Refunds 25% of Mana spent
25% of base mana regen is not much. 25% of what you pay for every spell, by contrast, is a LOT- especially if you combine it with Catalyst, which also refunds 15% of the initial cost as health. (Yes, they stack.) It benefits burst/combo plays, while making sure your big mana spells don't 'bankrupt' you at the wrong moment.
Last, but not least- Chalice.
Chalice of Harmony
Passive remade: Increases your Health Regeneration by 100% if your Health % is lower than your Mana %. Increases your Mana Regeneration by 100% if your Mana % is lower than your Health %. Mikael's Crucible and Athene's Unholy Grail gain this passive instead of Mana Font
Again with the double-sustain, and I love it! Twice as much health regen on low life, twice as much mana regen on low mana. This one item can help you shrug off harass from an opposing mage while you conserve your mana, then turn the tables by letting you harass them back and get the mana back twice as fast. Yes PLEASE. Except for Lux. Don't give Lux this item- specifically ban Lux from purchasing this. PLEASE. Seriously please.
If you notice, these are all 'advanced' tier items. These are all buffs to the early game of mages, and mages who are behind- a serious problem in a meta dominated by AD assassin mids. You can build all three before you complete a single item now, unless you absolutely MUST rush Zhonyas- which is cheaper now, by the way.
Zhonya's Hourglass
Recipe Change: Seeker's Armguard + Fiendish Codex + 900 Gold = 3000 Total Gold Total Cost: 3500 --> 3000 Ability Power: 100 --> 70 Armor: Unchanged Cooldown Reduction: 0 --> 10% Active Stasis Cooldown: 90 --> 120
Yep. 500 gold cheaper. That's significant. You lose 30 AP, and the cooldown is 30 seconds longer- but hey, it's now in a support's price range, gives 10% CDR, and makes Ruby Sightstone not suck! Though.. 33% increase is a bit of a steep nerf to the cooldown. I'm predicting the cooldown will either go down or the price will fall even lower- maybe (hopefully) a combination of both; a 100 second cooldown and a 2800 price tag would be amazing. I'd even say 'go ahead and knock it to 60 AP, like Lichbane, because I'm already buying it for the active.' Just totally cement its role as a defensive pick.
There are some other changes, like Morello getting flat mana instead of mana regen, but let's scroll on down.
... Wait.. What?
Hextech Rocket Belt (Temporary Name)
Recipe: Hextech Revolver + Kindlegem + 800 Gold = 2750 Total Gold Health: 300 Ability Power: 80 Cooldown Reduction: 10% Active - Fire Bolt: Dash 300 units in a direction (at 1200 speed) and then unleash a nova of fireballs that deal 100 - 250 (+25% of your Ability Power) magic damage to enemies hit. Enemies hit by more than one fireball take 15% damage from additional balls. (30 second cooldown, shared with other Hextech items). This Dash cannot go over walls.
WHATWHATWHATWHATWHAT?
... Yes, I did just read that. Okay. An item that makes you half of LeBlanc but won't let you hop walls. YES. TAKE MY GOLD. TAKE IT. This is going to either get nerfed or get more expensive, so don't get too excited. I AM STILL GOING TO BUILD IT ON JINX AND GET EXCITED.
SCROLLING BEFORE I FALL OUT OF MY CHAIR.
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Thud
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NO. YES. OH MY YES.
Most people seem to have stopped at the Zhonyas buff 'nerf' rebalance before crying 'OMG MAGE ITEM NERFS'. Those people didn't see this at the very end.
Quick, think of every item in League with a significant MR stat.
Okay, so.. That's kinda all of them. Now among those, what is a pure tank going to build?
Probably one or two of these fellas. But according to this thread, the devs are nerfing/adjusting MR itemization.
Banshee's Veil
Recipe Changed: Spectre's Cowl + Negatron Cloak + 530 Gold Total Cost:** 2900 >> 2450** Health: 500 >> 300 MR: 70 >> 70 (Unchanged)
Banshee's Veil is the same, with less Health.. And also a higher price tag. Now harder to rush for the active, and not as slot efficient as before. AP toplanes? BUFF. 
Spirit Visage
Combine Cost: 900 >> 800 Total Cost unchanged MR: 70 >> 55 HP Regen: 150% >> 200% Passive Healing: 20% >> 25%
Oooh, wait- even less MR!? This isn't even as much of a nerf to tanks who built it as it is a buff to mages. Mages will do more damage to leech tanks that rush Spirit Visage, and it will, again, shut down AP tops less severely- 15 MR is a big reduction, but it does balance out with the other changes.
Oh, and I should also make note of this:
Spectre's Cowl
Total Cost: 1100 >> 1200 Health: 200 >> 250 MR: 35 >> 30
Again, nerf! And again, if you look at the build path change to Banshee's.. The devs are looking at Advanced items this pass. It's actually a good idea to not finish Banshee's Veil unless you need the passive. You have the same total MR, you only gain 50 health in pure stats- making Banshee's an awful item in terms of slot-efficiency- even worse than Ruby Sightstone used to be! Spirit Visage has shifted more toward leech/regen tanking with the MR being dulled a bit- and the two together now give 15 less overall MR. This patch may take a SMALL amount of flat AP away from mages on Zhonyas and Rod of Ages, but the plan overall puts Magic Damage closer to True Damage overall- by reducing the amount of MR available even further, and making it a less worthwhile investment. These changes in turn make items like Morellonomicon and Liandry's Torment even stronger- so I'm going to just tell you all right now, all of these changes are buffs to mages as a whole.
