Reduce price cost of Merc treads and / or Doran shield buff

Heya, I've been seeing . . A LOT of ryze / AP top picks lately that are completely dominating any other picks - melee champs etc

I think the base of this problem is because merc treads are too expensive to buy.

As a bruiser top you are either forced to rush The only option for offense is But this item offers no sustain But if we think about it, the only way to OPTIMALLY use magic resistance, is to gain levels - which you will always be behind since the other player is landing more CS than you.

So it's pretty expensive to get MR, and it's really one sided since building so defensively with low farm = not enough burst to gank the top laner Falling off in teamfights (enemy adc nuking you down with no armor) and countless amounts of CC coming from sup top mid combined puts you at a huge disadvantage.

Ninja Tabi are CHEAPER than Merc treads Seeker's armguard offers offensive options for top ap champs (into the amazing hourglass)

Another item that comes to mind is the It was an amazing item for top lane pre nerfs, but after the nerfs what do we see? A rise of AP top picks. Literally a jokes. lol

The sustain from doran shield let players tank auto attacks from AP top laners --> and health regen to give us the chance to fight back when they were out of mana.

I don't know, players forced to Doran shield because it's a good item (fewer doran blades) or. . fewer options for champion select BECAUSE there aren't many good items for you at top. I remember the Doran shield nerf was due to it being > Doran blade.

So to sum everything up. Essentially without a good base item for top laners, we will be seeing MORE AP top picks. Bruisers like Tryn, Fiora, etc etc, will never make it to high level play. . because of this awkward laning phase and items + crowd control. The solution? Cheaper merc treads, better doran shield.

So let's say we did Buff doran shield. . we might be seeing more bruiser supports / tops. I don't see no negative from this. Worried about tank meta? magic penetration is easy to get. But then again. . ryze is pretty tanky, so is maoki, so is kennen. . vlad and they have tons of damage.