Concerned about Gargoyle Stoneplate
By now I think everybody already saw the new items that will be introduced soon™. If not, here's one of the two:
**Gargoyle Stoneplate **
Aims to make tanky champions especially durable in the context of a teamfight, without making them so durable in solo play.
Cost: 2500g (980g upgrade) Build Path: Chain Vest, Negatron Cloak
Effects: +40 Armor +40 Magic Resist Unique Passive - Stone Skin: If 3+ enemy champions are nearby, grants +40 Armor and Magic Resist Unique Active - Metallicize: Increases maximum and current Health by 40% and increases champion size, but reduces damage dealt by 60% for 4 seconds (90 second cooldown). If Stone Skin is active, the Health increase becomes 100% instead.
Now here's what concerns me. If this item turns out to be just SLIGHTLY too strong then teamfights will drop in numbers and a splitpush meta could start. It'd promote a "1v9" playstyle, and while I see splitpushing as a viable option to win a game seeing it in every single game would get boring rather fast. If Gargoyle Stoneplate is too strong it could potentially take away a lot of interaction between players, changing the game from an objective based PvP game into an objective based PvE rush.
Not to mention that a lot of champions with a teamfight oriented kit (Amumu for example) would barely see play because they'd just fall out of meta.
On the other hand, if this item is too weak then nobody will even bother buying it because, as mentioned by RiotRepertoir already, it would be sub-par.
>_As an example, we’ll be putting a new Armor/MR item on the PBE that is statistically very inefficient, but doubles its Armor/MR when around enemy champions. _
I don't have access to the PBE so I can't really talk about it's current balance, that's why I'm writing down my concerns over here.
TL.DR: I want splitpushing to be a viable option, not the meta. A double splitpush meta with a high waveclear mid and ADC + a pure peel support (Janna) would literally take away most of the interaction between players. And I'd hate to see this item go to waste.
