Guinsoo's FIX!

So, it's very well known that a SMALL HANDFUL of champions abuse to a degree that makes them unfun to play against. These champs have ALL had adjustments made to their KIT around the ITEM. Meanwhile, the item is actually somewhat lackluster on other champions where it's fun to use!

So, problem one- who uses it abusively right now? seem to be the worst offenders, followed to a lesser degree by - it's only core for her because it synergizes with her playstyle so well!

You might notice that every one of the primary abusers is a FULL AD AUTOATTACKER picking the item up to deal mixed damage. They all have some sort of steroid that lets them stack the item near-instantly (and in the case of Yi, one that grants a large amount of bonus AD), rather than the slow buildup and rising threat that the item SHOULD represent- stacking on minions, telegraphing the best time for you to go in for both parties. This part of the passive is fine! See this:

"A stack grants +8% attack speed, +3 attack damage and +4 ability power for 5 seconds, stacking up to 8 times, granting a total of +64% attack speed, +24 attack damage and +32 ability power."

The part that our problem cases abuse is the passive at full stacks:

"UNIQUE – GUINSOO'S RAGE: Deal 20 (+ 15% bonus AD) (+ 7.5% AP) on-hit magic damage to the target and nearby units in a 350 units radius area of effect."

For , this effect is at best balanced. You're going to have a decent amount of AP, not so much AD. This and Nashors both offer attack speed- but as Kayle has to stack the passive first, Nashors is always going to be the first bought. It offers the attack speed and a passive with better AP scaling up front, so when it comes to a choice between the two- Nashors generally wins out for Kayle, the PENULTIMATE example of a hybrid champion! Meanwhile, playing Yi, Xin, or Kog'Maw- this item gives you 20 additional base magic damage and a passive that scales with your other bonus AD- and that scaling is the problem.

Yes, Guinsoos is a hybrid item, but Magic damage that scales with AD on an item is innately unhealthy! It makes high damage, high attack speed champions that are innately hard to build defenses against even harder to counter build, while not offering a lot for AP champions or hybrid champions!

My suggestion is a tweak to the fully stacked passive.

UNIQUE – GUINSOO'S RAGE: Deal 10+(20% AP) on-hit magic damage to the target and nearby units in a 350 units radius area of effect. This effect applies to spells at 50% effectiveness.

BOOM. You now have an item that can be built on almost ANYONE! It provides a huge nerf to the builds that abuse it right now without having to 'gut' the champion- I do not agree with changing Yi's E, the true damage is no more a problem than it has ever been. By decimating the base damage and removing AD ratio, you eliminate the AD abusers almost entirely. By changing the ratio to 20% AP, you have slightly less 'base' damage picking up this item on its own, while buffing it when picked up in an AP-heavy build; assassin Akali, Azir, Anivia, Aurelion Sol, Zyra, Varus, Sona, even Brand could benefit from both that higher ratio and what is essentially a bonus AP ratio to spells! In the case of Yi, Xin Zhao, and Kog'maw- hah, hope you like playing off meta if you want to do a lot of magic damage. This change would shift the focus of the item from 'get a lot of magic damage on top of a full AD build practically free' to 'become more hybrid'. Giving the autoattacks of mages a degree of relevance and offering manaless waveclear would make it a better pick up when behind, while picking the item up to get 'more fed' would become far less prominent- by taking it away from its worst abusers, the item would be pushed closer to an audience whose engage would be telegraphed by the stacks of the item, meaning counterplay enters the field for someone being oppressed by a Rageblade laner.

Anyway, these are my thoughts on how Rageblade could be fixed by providing a net BUFF to the item. Under this new passive, the item would give 24 magic damage on hit on its own- 10 base and 14 from 20% of the 72 AP given by the stacked item. (Previously the item alone gave 34-ish base damage on its own) When first picked up as a first item, almost no champion aside from Yi would immediately feel the difference (because of his E passive) but over time, champions building more AD heavy would see it fall off for all but the huge attack speed provided while AP champions (or AD/hybrid champions following a full AP build) would see it become a serious source of damage and waveclear.

All hail the return of full AP .