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Mostly built by a niche group of battlemages and short ranged mages. You won't be seeing it on Xerath. And my Zac jungle sure as hell won't be building it.
I build it on 
when against heavy ap.
Unlike AD assassins/ bruisers, mages lack defensive options so its not surprising they are using whatever they can.
That's partly the fault of the damage passive being worth 30+ AP on purchase, and upwards of 80+ AP late game (dependent on champion). It's a raw numbers thing.
Of course 
users buy it. It gives mana, dmg amp, tank stats and cdr (which may become AP).
It's still a tank item. I especially like to buy it for the mana sustain on champions like Maokai.
Idk if its the item iself being broken or just cass/ryze/veigar being stupid.
It's an AP Bruiser item dude. Tanks don't build it because it's not a Tank item. It wasn't a Tank item back when it was Abyssal Scepter either. I'm no expert on Cass, but I would say Ryze is pretty close to an AP Bruiser.
Who would have thought that short range mages that are expected to take dmg would benefit from buying it! Shocking ikr?
isn't ryze like an ap bruiser? seems fine, either way both are mid rane Battlemages so i don't see why it's a big problem. It's not like cass suddenly tanks like a maokai.
Remember when it didn't give mana?
They should revert it
######Not due to biased reasons at all I swear
It's really god damn annoying on Veigar as well. Once he gets that item, as long as he has gone at least even you can't push him out of lane or stop him from farming. So fukin annoying.
I fucking said way back when that it was a stupid idea to take away a tank item (Banshee's Veil) and replace it with an item that gives an aura of "Those guys take 10% more magic damage LOL". But everyone was so happy tanks were getting gutted that they acted like Mask would ever be a good item for tanks. We need an actual replacement for banshee's veil.
Dude it's a good battle mage item because they have to get in close to deal damage and need some form of tankiness.
To solve the problem change the passive so that it only applies to the user, or has a lesser boost on the person who is wearing the item.
they should revert it into abyssal scepter in 8.4 item changes imo
I’ve been building it on Sejuani.
Abyssal should never have been redesigned as a tank item, imo. At it most basic, it amplifies your magic damage by 10%, and personal damage output isn't something most tanks should ever specialize in. This is also why the item is picked on some mages, usually battle mages, because its core function is to provide more damage and durability.
Because of this, I think it might be better to swap either the item's health or MR with AP, and replace the aura with a mini-DFG damage amp effect, wherein a single selected target takes additional magic damage. If the intent is to avoid immediate burst, it would then help to have this damage amp ramp up over time, and have its duration refreshed/extended with damage, rather than concentrated into a shorter period. That way, the item would still fulfill the function of amplifying magic damage against targets, but would work in a manner that would fit battle mages a lot better. Worth noting is that removing the item's health implies removing its Catalyst passive, which could help manaless and/or shield-based AP champions such as Mordekaiser, Vladimir or Rumble, but could potentially harm the likes of Cass or Ryze, whereas removing the item's MR would make it less of a direct lane counter, while still putting it out of reach of the above manaless champions.
you pick 2 very unique mages for this... both with short(er) range and facing an opponent that is likely to get close as well...
Change the Catalyst to a Kindlegem. No mana means mages don't want it. Problem solved.