Mages are overloaded and too overpowered and runes blanket too much
This is kind of a two-fer post. I think mages, in there current state, are just in general, best in pretty much every role, save jungle. They out damage almost every opponent in a match up, their items are too cost/stat efficient and they have so many more tools and variety than almost every other role. Mages are so bad, they're infecting top lane now. Picking something like
or
top is like a new, better
top. It's
levels of oppression, just without the healing most of the time. I can't tell you the amount of times
can just press Q and W the entire lane phase and basically still have mana and have both back up very shortly. It's nearly impossible to farm without taking tons of damage from just one Q or W glimpsing you because of Comet and Scorch. And then he is rewarded for it because of Manaflow Band and when he gets Luden's just another free bit of damage for next to nothing. I rushed straight MR and just a touch of his W+plus Comet+Luden's and you'd lose 120 hp. That's ridiculous. The only thing in his kit that seems to at all have a cooldown or mana cost, besides his R, is his E. And his R, after a certain point, you don't even need to combo with anything to kill anyone, including a tank like
. And
can practically do all of that, though usually she doesn't take Comet obviously, while also having free sustain and three
's on a low cooldown, which can also be used just to chase you down and kill you without little to do. But, it's not just top lane and it's not just these three mages. Other mages also reward the same low effort, high reward/low counterplay, high safety style.
at level 1 or 2 is extremely oppressive with even just autos, qs, and Aery, Zoe after a certain point doesn't actually have to land bubble or long range Q, she can just beat you with passive procs out the wazoo,
can just spam Q with comet or aery while also getting a shield and free sheen at level 1 and having a safety net of W and the shields/ms from Q.
is basically back to Season 3 op status, and she can even get away with the mechromancer build; the glacial augment and glp/spooky ghosts combo while still retaining and extremely high damage/high range combo. And these don't even come close to the biggest offender, in my opinion;
. I cannot think of a champion besides
that's as broken as
. Even if he just goes even in lane, you've lost. He gets rewarded from just playing the game like every other mage by just hitting abilities and farming, his E is such a ridiculously overpowered cc tool that ccs you regardless if you get stunned or not because you are forced to get hit by W and Q if you are in the middle anyways, and he can just remove someone from the game with an R press mid-late game aka 3 items, not to mention ginormous base damage on all of his abilities which makes a more defensive/hp oriented item path possible and viable. ADCs, which are the closest comparison to the mage role, are just so easily eclipsed by everything a mage offers. Mages have the same tower destruction, mostly better wave clear, better safety items, most of the time better range, and better cc. So why pick any ADC, other than maybe
because he's just completely broken at the moment, when you could play
,
,
, or even
as a bot lane carry and have the same effect, if not, always better? And you get to have
which is EASILY the best item in the entire game. Very few Assassins can even beat most mages, if any, only really
stands a consistent chance because he also benefits from the completely ridiculous AP items and his numbers being crazy, on top of a huge blanket from runes. Few fighters can compete, strictly because they can barely get on a mage.
,
,
,
, and
are the only fighters that have a distinctly easier time just getting a mage strictly because their kits allow them to ignore a second or two of CC. Tanks definitely don't fair well against mages, especially because of how much raw pen and scaling they have comparatively to any other role. So, who is supposed to win, if not only other mages? And mage vs mage match ups are EXTREMELY boring and un-interactive.
Now, for the second part of my title; the blanket that runes provide.
I think runes are the center point for a lot of things getting out of hand or even just underpowered, and in turn, creates the metaphorical/literal blanket I'm talking about. Think of how many champs can get nerfed or buffed with the introduction, removal, nerf or buff of just one rune. The removal of Kleptomancy because it was being abused by too many ranged champs to snowball leads, Fervor of Battle having to be removed because it was just so ridiculous, pre nerf Triumph, Perfect Timing, all of these things just completely changed the game, and it was something outside that you took in, not even a champion. And how many runes which are basically worthless? Celerity after all the nerfs it got because a small group of champs used it better than others, Future's Market, Absolute Focus, Overheal, Cut Down, Ghost Poro, Zombie Ward, Ultimate Hunter. Easily the worst runes in the group, excluding keystones, because at least they are all useful on a group of champs, including Omnistone. But there are also keystones which are just completely overpowered compared to others; Conqueror, Aery and Comet are just completely ridiculous compared to all the rest. Fervor of Battle was removed because it just added too much free damage for basically nothing, why add it back, but better than before? With basically 15-20 free stat at level 1 plus healing on top of it which isn't reduced to any source, unless you're ranged? Why not reduce healing for dots and aoe? Why even have so much stuff in one rune? Why can some champs get multiple stacks with a single ability usage, like
,
,
,
? Why can you get something that potent, from one ability? Shouldn't you have to weave or utilize more things in order to get that kind of reward? Aery procs far too often on too many things for free, uninteractive damage, same with Comet and you can't dodge either one, unless it wasn't procced on you or with comet, unless you move fast enough. At least Harvest you can avoid and it requires a condition. And that's keystones, there are minor runes which are ridiculous on their own merit as well. Ravenous Hunter, Transcendence, Ingenious Hunter, Taste of Blood, Triumph, Legend: Tenacity, Manaflow Band, Scorch, and Demolish are completely overtuned and easily the best in their respective categories 90% of the time. It's too much free stat or free sustain or free damage and frankly it makes the game so unfun to play because it all comes down to a stat on a page, not something the player is doing inherently. This is obviously closer to a rant and I haven't posted statistics, but this is just my thoughts, feelings and opinions from playing the game. Feel free to leave any sort of comment or critique or whatnot. I'm sure this post will end up with negative downvotes anyways. This isn't just pure hatred or complaints, this is because I care about the game and I want to see it get to it's full potential.

most the time the enemy team if they are not blind. will just dogpile the hourglassed mage and kill them.
gives you a good amount of hp when you come back.
even before his rework.
is a good counter to mages so is 