This trend of % damage reduction needs to stop

First it was given to Urgot on his ult, and no one really complained because "meh, Urgot's trash either way".

Then came along and everyone thought "well, ok, at least it's only for 1 target, and wasting it on a champion may make it unavailable for objectives".

But then the Warwick rework happened and people started to get worried, because they started to realize just how broken such a mechanic is to have around. Regular armor and magic resist can be worked around to some extend with penetration items. They promote healthy gameplay because armor and magic resist have obvious strengths and weaknesses.

But % damage reduction? No such weaknesses exist. You simply press a button and suddenly ALL incoming damage is halved, and that's not counting any armor and magic resist you may have.

I'm sure you're all also familiar with the Ninja Tabi fiasco that's going around the rift nowadays. Everyone and their mother is buying Ninja Tabi because they suddenly realized just how obnoxious it is to take less damage with no possible workaround.

There's also the issue of + + , or rather anyone that can buy both and (or, hell, even just one of them). Both of these items essentially give % total damage reduction; I mean let's be real, with the healing granted by Death's Dance, along with the lifesteal items that frequently accompany it, you're not going to be noticing that DOT any time soon.

Now with the Galio rework out we have yet another champion who reduces all incoming damage by a flat % for no apparent reason. And from what I've been seeing these past few days, I'd wager it's not long before people start complaining about how Galio is busted.

Granted it's still early into his rework so I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but I think it's safe to say the majority are unhappy with the direction being taken lately.

Here's the bottom line: something is SERIOUSLY wrong with the state of the game when front liners have to be given flat % damage reduction in order to do their job. Is it a problem with tanks specifically? Has damage creep gotten out of control? I honestly don't think there's one single factor we can point to and conclusively say "yes, this is the problem". But we can't really deny that a problem indeed exists at this point.

Tanks (or, if you prefer, Vanguards and Juggernauts) shouldn't need % damage reduction just to be tanky. And with the upcoming changes to Amumu's passive, I can't help but feel that Riot will try to remedy this problem with % damage amplification added onto a bunch of underperforming champions. If this indeed comes about, I think it will mean the end of League as we know it.