Why These ADC Changes Are Actually More Brutal Than Most Seem to Be Seeing

Ok, let's get the obvious out of the way first: Every Zeal item has had it's cost increased by 200 gold and Zeal itself has had it's cost increased by 100 gold.

That is a pretty big deal in the long run, adding up over the 2-3 Zeal items you might get in a game.

The biggest hit, however, is definitely Infinity Edge. This item, while still good late game yes, is being absolutely erased from the early game unless the enemy is just insanely fed.

OLD INFINITY EDGE 3400 Gold Build Path: + + + 425 Gold = 3400 Gold +70 AD +20% Critical Strike Chance UNIQUE Passive: Critical Strike bonus damage is increased by 50%.

NEW INFINITY EDGE 3700 Gold Build Path: + + 1100 Gold = 3700 Gold +80 AD UNIQUE Passive: Double your critical strike chance. UNIQUE Passive: 20% of damage dealt by critical strikes is converted into true damage.

has been removed.

This item is now probably the MOST useless first big item purchase in the entire game. It's two passives are completely useless if this is your only item unless your champion can innately crit in their kit, upon which only the true damage portion is made use of. Worth 3700 Gold? I still would say no. This item isn't useful until at the very least your third big item purchase, which is going to take longer to get to now as an ADC due to Zeal item changes. On top of this, non-crit items are being buffed, making critical strike chance as a stat as a whole just much worse.

Sure, ADCs do have some pretty scary new tools. Stormrazer is a pretty freaky looking item that just guarantees a crit, which can make a few ADCs a little scary like Draven, Jhin, and maybe Twitch. Maybe Caitlyn too. However, it is overall a pretty meh item on most ADCs. Essence Reaver got a pretty big buff, being a huge purchase for a few champions like Corki, Kai'sa, and maybe Quinn. However, I am actually much more interested in using these items on non-ADCs! They look delicious on a few champions, such as... Stormrazer: Essence Reaver: You just have to look at some of these to imagine the abuse.

TL;DR The ADC item changes are not just straight nerfs, admitted. However, they nerf the big issue most have with them, which is how effective their Crit Burst Build is right now. It may still be a viable build late game, but it's probably the weakest build to build into in the early game out of every champion build out there right now. I expect ADCs to be MUCH weaker early game, which is welcomed 100%.