Haunting Guise For Brutalizer 2018
I know the Ardent Censer fiasco's been masking this issue, and that the PBE isn't necessarily meant for balance, but I've noticed that AP champions are both being cripplingly nerfed via rune compensation, and seriously buffed via Magic Penetration. For runes: Compare the Lvl 1 stats: 9 AD (315 gp value), and 9 Armor (180 gp value) (495 gp total) (Marksman Changes) and 12 HP (32 gp value) (Mage Changes)
Sure, the HP scales up to 576 GP value, but let's not pretend that 80 GP benefit at lvl 18 is better than 450+ GP deficit at lvl 1.
But now mages can hit True Damage with just Sorc Boots + Haunting Guise on all enemies that don't have an MR item. Proper True Damage, no MR-by-level or Windspeakers Blessings or anything to get in the way.
The problem is, I'm pretty sure this is going to result in a situation reminiscent of brutalizer rushing for anybody who even remembers what that is, but actually fixing the core of the issue will be a problem since now all AP champions have been dealt a handy blow from the rune compensation, and balancing around the new state of magic penetration means that mages will have very cookie cutter builds with near-zero deviation.