Community makes (good) points about Athene's nerfs, Riot gives no f#cks. Typical.

darkdill·Jan 6, 2015·9 votes·859 views

If Riot was going to address us about how Athene's right now is such a craptastic item now that Mana Font has been nerfed into the ground, they'd have done it by now. But nope, they insist on silence.

Cases in point:
http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/HJ9Badqw-phreak-outside-of-athenes-all-the-mana-regen-items-were-pretty-significantly-buffed
http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/W4NIHPnR-i-presently-find-athenes-to-be-obnoxiously-weak-at-mana-regen-now http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/akXUKmaJ-the-problem-with-mana-regen

Does any Rioter reply to why Athene's must become a sh!ttier version of Morello's (even after they increase Morello's price)? Nope. They're more likely to say "Shut up, you're banned for trying to raise a point!"

15 Comments

Kowe The EwokJan 6, 20154 votes

Their response is gutting Morello's @PBE, completely misjudging the situation.

Meanwhile manaless champions define the meta: Riven Zed Akali LeeSin Rengar Gnar Katarina RekSai

darkdillJan 6, 20153 votes

A 200 gold cost increase isn't per se "gutting" Morello's, but yes, they completely misjudged the situation and just ignored our Athene's topics.

SmokingPuffinJan 6, 20153 votes

Their response is gutting Morello's @PBE, completely misjudging the situation.

Morello's is absolutely stupid strong. Strong enough that rush two Morello's is a build that's showing up in places: http://www.probuilds.net/guide/EUW/1905779820/372983

Athene's may be too weak. It's probable, but not entirely clear. Morello's is a very high priority nerf though.

Kowe The EwokJan 6, 20151 votes

It is a high priority item not because it's good, but the alternatives are good damn worse. Building a tear ruins your level 6 killpressure to 0 on a bursty midlaner. You are no threat to your enemy. Purchasing a tear (or chalice, derp) instantly looses your lane against somebody like Zed. Same when facing Blanc, Akali etc. Morello is the only decent choice in a meta where basically any midlaner who can SKIP mana regeneration is a burst assassin which will go ham if you don't purchase early Ap as well.

SmokingPuffinJan 6, 20151 votes

On live, Morello's would still be quite cost efficient if they removed the mana regen entirely. It's just an undercosted item.

Kowe The EwokJan 6, 20151 votes

Opportunity cost. The "what could be in this item slot instead?" matters here. Morello's is one of the worse items in terms of flat AP. (Not to mention that this relation gets worse one you have DC and each AP gets multiplied by 1.3)

SmokingPuffinJan 6, 20151 votes

item 3165 has 3093 gold value and a pretty good passive. It has no worries on slot or gold efficiency.

Even in terms of just AP, there are a ton of AP items with 80 or less AP on them: item 3001 item 3174 item 3060 item 3025 item 3151 item 3100 item 3023 item 3135 item 3152

There is a reason why every pro's mage build has a Morello's right now, and some have two. It is a fantastically strong item on live.

Kowe The EwokJan 6, 20151 votes

And how many of these items are viable on midlaner - other thaan voidstaff?

(Since Void Staff also amplifies your damage by a significant amount similiar to deathcap)

SmokingPuffinJan 6, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Kowe The Ewok,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=TQB53z5L,comment-id=0000000100000000000000000000,timestamp=2015-01-06T16:48:34.626+0000)

And how many of these items are viable on midlaner - other thaan voidstaff?

(Since Void Staff also amplifies your damage by a significant amount similiar to deathcap)

item 3001 item 3174 item 3151 item 3100 item 3023 item 3152 are built on mids. The first 5 are most popular on mids; WotA is more popular on AP tops.

Big picture, it's hard to find a mage that doesn't want to build Morello's first. In fact, it will be hard to find a mage that doesn't want Morello's first even after it gets nerfed. It's 147% gold efficient on live and it will still be 134% gold efficient after the nerf.

Try to find another AP item that's 134% gold efficient.

LankPantsJan 6, 20152 votes

"Shut up, you're banned for trying to raise a point!"

To be fair I never got banned.

MuntaqaJan 6, 20151 votes

To be honest, with the old chalice, the moment someone built that, the base mr it gave, though it may have been weak late, earlygame it was insane. In addition it gave an extremely high amount of mana regen. If a champion with sustain went mid with that item, that champion, such as Ahri Maokai Swain Sona Morgana would never have to leave lane.