Every year, Riot Games adds, removes, and brings back iconic items to League of Legends to keep the game fresh and dynamic. But, sometimes, tuning items is quite a challenge for the devs. The best recent example of this is one marksman item which was nerfed for three patches in a row, and now the devs are at it again.
After AD carries have lived three full seasons without Statik Shiv, League devs returned this item to the game in Patch 13.10. But, as it turns out, the item was overpowered and a number of mages abused this item in the mid lane. According to League mod, Spideraxe, Statik Shiv has one more nerf lined up in Patch 13.17—its AP ratio will be reduced from 30 to 15 percent.
Statik Shiv made a return to both Summoner’s Rift and Howling Abyss in Patch 13.10. Initially, no one liked the item and all AD carries were opting for the then-broken Stormrazor. Riot then handsomely buffed the iconic item two patches in a row and little did devs know what would follow.
Suddenly, everyone wanted this item—LeBlanc, Kai’Sa, and even Twisted Fate. The devs nerfed it to the ground with the next three patches and it seems like it isn’t enough because Patch 13.17 is bringing one more tuning change for this item.
As far as I understand this, AD carries have nothing to worry about. This nerf is looking to entirely stop LeBlanc and other mages from building it ever again.
While this is a quite reasonable nerf from that standpoint, I’d say this is indicative that mage items really lack versatility and damage, especially when you compare it to bruiser and assassin items. Riot devs will soon share the updates for preseason 14 and I hope item diversity will be on their list.
