League needs to take a hard look at AP bruiser itemization.
I've been playing a lot of AP bruisers lately, all the way from 
, 
and 
, to 
and while AD bruisers have always been a thing, there's a big hole in the wall it comes to itemization for AP bruisers, especially the manaless ones.
- First - These guys don't even have reliable starting items.
So Vladimir and Mordekaiser used to go
, which is a fucking stupid item on both. In face so stupid that both these guys benefit more off 
instead.
Doran's blade on the other hand is a far better item for most AD bruisers to start with, and gives them everything from HP to a significant amount of AD at the start of the match.
Manaless AP bruisers need an item better than Doran's ring, without the mana regen feature, but more HP.
- The AP items don't give nearly as much HP as their AD counterparts.
Let's face it. AD champions have way better tank/juggernaut items.
There's no equivalent of
or 
for AP bruisers who want to stack HP and AP simultaneously onto their champions. While items such as Morello, Liandry's, and Rylai's are the best substitute, 
is the only optimal first item which rewards most AP juggernaut/divers with the stats they'd need, namely a significant amount of HP, AP, CDR, and a very useful passive.
What with CDR being available on pretty much every class of item, Tanks and AP juggernauts have it the most difficult when it comes to even hitting 30% without having to sacrifice building extra bulk.
- AP itemization is too geared towards burst damage. Notably mages and AP assassin items.
With the exception of 
, none of the AP items incentivize long trades and consistent damage.
One of the most broken items in Zhonya's has an active which is better suited to assassin and mages allowing them to blink out of combat temporarily. Bruisers on the other hand want to stay in battle for as long as possible, allowing them to duel the opponents as they blow their spells.
Literally no AP item other than and perhaps 
awards the user for staying in combat but instead rewards with methods of escapes (, 
).
This effect can especially be seen in champions such as 
and 
who do better in shorter trades over full blown skirmishers despite having been designed as skirmisher/diver due to said items promoting an assassin/burst playstyle.
Tl;DR : AP bruisers, especially the mana-less ones require items to give out more tankiness, and rewards the user for staying in combat. Atop that, it's very difficult to build CDR on such champs without having to sacrifice HP.
AP Bruisers have no , , or 
to powerspike on, with being the only rounded starting item which gives out damage, HP, and CDR to provide a significant powerspike.
AP items other than are geared shorter trades, and hardly any AP item make extended trades stronger.
.