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Spelltheif's Edge's unrealiable transform times causes ranged supports to be off meta

DayLight V·3/23/2018, 3:17:03 AM·1 votes·374 views

TLDR I think spellthief's transform times when behind is too much of a gamble for ranged supports atm especially when the transform gives you access to wards/sweeper which is your primary role for the team.

I'm a high plat/ low diamond support main. Lately I feel the meta in the 5man tournaments I play in and the LCK I follow has been mostly tank supports, sure this is fine considering worlds was all about Ardent Censor but its now gone on for a while and Im not sure if It's because tanks are strong and bring cc or if its because of a problem with Spelltheif's Edge.

I think with the changes to vision (jung vision removed) meaning less vision on the map going a ranged support with spelltheif's is just unreliable. If you fall behind or a jungle ganks and you lose flash and are no longer able to poke effectively, your transformation time becomes crazy long compared to a tank who can reliably get his relic procs off.

When I'm on a tank relic transforms at 10mins in any situation whereas spelltheif's could ranged from pre 12mins when ahead to post 18mins when behind. Since the transform is now really important as it unlocks warding and sweeping potential not having access to these things is something no team wants to gamble on.

Sure I could go coin but then I cant feed into the new AP ratios supports have been getting on their utility or damage. That and the coins can also be hard to collect when behind.

What do I purpose to fix this? Dont nerf relic again! Tank supports don't have enough item stats as it is and can get 1 shot from behind. Especially with the new assassin buffs. Instead, change spelltheif's.

Sure spelltheif's can stay as a bit of a gamble as it can be oppressive while ahead and lack luster when behind but don't make the gamble on the transformation time because access to wards and sweeper is the most important thing for a support.

Something has to change for it to feel good to get spelltheif's to not be gank them once early to waste the supports flash and then they can't poke and wont have access to wards and sweeper until post 18 minutes.

Thoughts?

3 Comments

chipndip13/23/2018, 3:38:05 AM2 votes

This is a huge point to make. STE just DOES NOT make the gold it needs to actually finish up on time and Riot keeps nerfing its gold gen. Like...really...sometimes I get my quest done at 9 minutes, sometimes it's freaking 16 minutes. Meanwhile the other two STILL get done way faster and easier.

Professor Ward3/23/2018, 4:11:18 AM2 votes

Spelltheifs edge needs to be effective at giving gold when enemy minions are around plain and simple.

Mid-late, and even sometimes early, Enemy champions and towers are in low supply.

If youre defending base, spelltheifs is almost useless.

DayLight V3/23/2018, 4:38:51 AM1 votes

My mate just posted this, thought I'd post here to further discussion

@Daylight definitely agree there but any kind of buff to spellthiefs always gets abused by midlaners bc of efficiency etc. So it is very tentative there. Currently on some ranged supports in matchups that aren’t favourable/where you may not be able to get many spellthief procs off it is actually better to get coin -> medallion as the gold gen/mana regen is like 2x as much and more reliable. If you find yourself getting ahead and wanting ap dark seal + aether wisp into ardent/twin shadows/(liandries if brand) is actually really good and you dont have to rely on the unreliable income from spellthiefs since you have medallion. I think overall yes there should be some buffs to the gold gen to spellthiefs but it’s quite hard when midlaners can just abuse it easily. Just my 2 cents, take with a grain of salt. Also ranged supports are decent atm, esp into the standard tank supps in good matchups They can bully the melee supports out quite easily but i think the reason why they arent fully meta is due to comps lacking tanks (as the meta is 2-3 frontline champs in team comps) In general, i think its good to go spellthiefs into melee supps and coin into other ranged supps Another reason that ranged/poke supports arent top tier could potentially be the lane sustain/regen from resolve + relic + biscuits, which is already pretty strong as is, combined with the melee champs already having built in sustain which is buffed by that resolve rune too (e.g ali passive, tahm e passive)