The problem with CDR itemization

It's no surprise that a wide range of character archetypes like to have CDR. We have mages, AD casters, and tanks all alike that want to have a reliable way to hit 40% CDR during a game. While the first two can do so fairly feasibly, the latter distinctively runs into issues, due to having to vary their build more with the enemy team comp.

Mages seem to be in a fairly good spot right now, in terms of CDR options available to them. Athene's is an excellent slot efficient item, providing useful mana regen, AP, magic resist, and 20% CDR. It isn't hard to pick up a DFG (10%) and blue elixer or blue buff (10%) to then hit the cap (or go 5% over with masteries). If magic resist and (very large) mana regen are superfluous, Morellonomicon serves as a lower cost, higher power alternative to Athene's. Unfortunately, the only 20% CDR mage item that lacks mana regen entirely is Banner of Command, which is underwhelming at best.

Even AD casters are in fairly salvageable condition, in that Cleaver (10%), Boots of Lucidity (15%), masteries (5%), and blue elixer (10%) will easily hit the cap on a class that doesn't get any particularly great benefit from any of the other boot options. It is also possible to substitute the blue elixer for Youmuu's Ghostblade, as armor pen and movement speed are often synergistic on these characters. However, there exists no good CDR itemization option that omits Boots of Lucidity, due to the lack of 20% CDR items designed for AD Casters.

The problem comes when trying to outfit a tank. With Spirit Visage going down to 10%, that is now the only "guaranteed" CDR a tank will ever have in their build (for the rare case that it isn't picked up, the enemy team will have full AD, which is comparatively easier to itemize against for CDR). Frozen Heart, the tank's sole 20% CDR option, is a niche pick against teams with heavy AD, specifically as a counter to heavy autoattackers. A tank that wants to hit 40% CDR will often have to pick up Frozen Heart, which is, frankly, an extremely suboptimal buy against certain team comps. If the enemy's only source of AD-based damage is their ADC, once that threat goes down, Frozen Heart becomes a 2900 gold purchase for 20% CDR and some mana. Even if they have multiple AD, building health and armor is nearly universally preferred over building just armor.

The other tank options for CDR give only 10%, and are limited to Iceborn Gauntlet (which shares Frozen Heart's problem of providing large chunks of mana and armor, with no resistance whatsoever against magic) and Locket of the Iron Solari (which is supposed to be a support item to begin with). That's about it. Spirit of the Ancient Golem and Face of the Mountain are available to junglers and supports, respectively, but top laners do not and should not pick up these items. Unlike AD casters, tanks have a pretty strongly invested interest in their boots; the opportunity cost for picking up Boots of Lucidity on a tank (thereby not taking Ninja Tabi or Mercury Treads) is much greater than the opportunity cost on an AD caster (not taking... Berserker's Greaves?).

So, the tank that gets both Visage and Locket has 20% CDR, and if they don't particularly want Frozen Heart or Iceborn Gauntlet, they're immediately screwed. This is significant, because against teams with heavy AP, it is extremely disadvantageous to invest in an armor item that does not also provide either health or magic resist; no matter what the tank picks next, it will be suboptimal.

The simple fix to this problem would be to create a tank item that offers 10% or 20% CDR and either health or magic resist (though not necessarily both in large quantities, otherwise we end up with Spirit Visage mkII). This could be done by reworking Zeke's Herald into providing 450 or 500 health, making it a much more desirable buy in general (this item is incredibly slot inefficient presently, and due to its build path, most supports don't even buy it). Alternatively, creating a whole new item might be the way to go. Perhaps stats like... 400-450 health, 30 armor, and 10% CDR, with an appropriate price tag attached, building out of Kindlegem, Ruby Crystal, and Cloth Armor. Or perhaps something with 600+ HP and 10-20% CDR building out of Giant's Belt and Kindlegem. A cool active wouldn't hurt either, although that's outside the scope of this topic.

TL;DR: Tanks need more/better CDR itemization options, because they have to vary their build more than other classes based on the enemy team comp. This could be fixed by the addition of a new 10% or 20% CDR item that provides health in quantities tanks want.

PS. Don't nerf Boots of Lucidity down to 10% CDR. It ruins AD caster CDR itemization, which is already stretched thin as is.