Mid Lane Itemization Analysis Part 1: AP Casters

The mid lane can be a terrifying place. Concentration is paramount and the fear of the enemy jungler presence is absolute. Ask any veteran mid laner what kind of nightmare they had last night and they will whisper, in harrowed tones, "side bushes." With such nerve wracking, gank hiding brier on both sides and an enemy laner square in front of you, the only obvious place of solace that exists for a mid laner is their own turret. But take heart, faithful summoner, for there are other things that can keep you safe on the Rift, and you've got room for 6 of them at a time in your pockets.

I am, of course, talking about the items sold by the genial little shopkeepers who have taken up residence beside their resepectful sides' fountain. In particular, the items with a focus towards ability power oriented mages. Fret not, AD assassin mains, that article will come at a later date. This article will focus on the more conventional, more popular picks.

Foreword: The following items and their stats are specifically the versions found on Summoner's Rift. On other maps such as the Crystal Scar or Twisted Treeline, some items may have different names and stats. 

Doran's Ring:

A member of the ever popular Doran line of items, Doran's Ring is the most common starting item for AP casters. Picking up a Ring, 2 health pots and a warding totem is an ingrained start-of-game routine for many midlaners. And that shouldn't surprise you. For just 400g, Doran's Ring gives you 15 ability power(AP), 60 health(HP), 3 mana regen(Mp5) and a passive that restores 4 mana every time you kill an enemy unit. With a Ring, your harass is stronger, your frail, caster body is a little tougher and your mana is more sustainable. In other words, you're simply statisically stronger than an opponent without one. There is a tradeoff for this early game power, of course.

A Doran's Ring is not a component of any other item. This means that you're sinking 400g into an item that you will be selling eventually if the game goes on long enough. Most think that the early game power the Ring gives you is worth the delay towards your first real, powerhouse item. If you disagree, consider an Amplifying Tome for AP, Cloth Armor for armor, a Null Magic Mantle for magic resist or a few Faerie Charms for mana regen. All these items build into stronger items that you'll keep with you all game long. 

 

Athene's Unholy Grail:

For the total cost of only 2600 gold, you can purchase yourself the end-all be-all item for mana driven AP casters, the Athene's Unholy Grail, or as I like to call it, The Cup. Building out of a Chalice of Harmony(880g) and a Fiendish Codex (820g), the Unholy Grail is 116.8% gold efficient with it's base stats alone! Add a killer passive and affordable ingredients, it's no surprise how often the Grail is picked up. Having the Grail in your backpack will grant you 60 AP, 25 magic resist(MR), 10 Mp5 and 20% cooldown reduction(CDR).

The Grail also has a passive effect called Mana Font that increases your mana regeneration based on how much mana you're missing. This passive is often misunderstood, but it basically works as follows. If you're missing 100% of your mana, Mana Font will increase your Mp5 by 100%. If you're missing 50%, regeneration is increased by 50%. The lower you are on mana, the more mana regeneration you have! This is especially useful when you're stuck farming under tower against a pushing enemy and you're near empty on mana. Mana Font is just the support you need to continue casting spells until you get a chance to return to base. Try picking up Athene's Unholy Grail on Orianna, Ziggs, Xerath or Lux. 

 

Rod Of Ages: 

If scaling items are your proverbial cup of tea, the Rod of Ages (ROA) is the item for you. Costing 2800g and building out of some pretty hefty components, the ROA isn't cheap by any stretch of the imagination. However, with its base stats and 2 passives, a fully stacked Rod of Ages is one of the most cost efficient items in the game. When you first complete your ROA, you'll get 450 HP, 450 mana and 60 AP. You'll also get two passives, the first being a unique passive called Valor's Reward. With Valor's Reward, your champion will restore 150 health and 200 mana over 8 seconds every time you level up.

This is a pretty substantial source of sustain at the lower levels, but has fairly diminishing returns so it's important to get this item early if you're going to get it at all. It's worth noting that one of the base components for this item, Catalyst the Protector, shares this passive. The earlier you get it, the more often you'll level up with it in your inventory, the more often you put the passive to use! Another reason to get our ROA early is its second passive, which states that the item gains 20 health, 20 mana and 2 ability power every minute, up to 10 times.

This means that every minute for ten minutes after you buy a Rod of Ages, you get a stat boost. The item is cost efficient without this passive, so getting a ROA late game isn't disastrous, but I would reccomend against it. You want to squeeze every little bit of power out of every piece of gold you accquire. If you're gonna get the Rod of Ages, get it early so you can put both passives to use and get the most out of your gold. Try picking up the Rod of Ages on Ryze, Anivia, Swain or Diana.

 

Void Staff: 

If you're having trouble against enemies that stack magic resist, the Void Staff is officially your new best friend. If you're willing to drop the 2295g for it, the Void Staff will give you 70 AP and a cool 35% Magic penetration. Nearly 3k gold for 70 AP is pretty expensive and magic penetration gets less effective the less magic resist the enemy has, so this item tends to be a late game purchase rather than an early one. There's not much more to say about this one. If they build MR, you build a Void Staff. 

 

Rabadon's Deathcap:

We'll wrap up this article with the trio of items in the "Needlessly Large" category, starting with the Rabadon's Deathcap. A wizard's hat and a pun, all rolled up in one. If you ever want to terrify your opponents, simply type in all chat "Got my deathcap."  Rabadon's is the number one choice for mages everywhere if their goal is to inflict as much pain as possible on the other team. And let's be honest, that's almost always their goal. Costing a whopping 3300g, the Deathcap is your go to item for pure, unadulterated damage. Just like its brothers, completing the Deathcap will net you 120 AP.

Unlike them, that 120 AP is the only base stat the Deathcap gives you. It does however, give you a passive that increases your ability power by 30%. With that 30% increase, the Deathcap gives you 156 AP making it the single highest source of ability power in the game. The passive also applies to any other ability power you get from any other source including items, runes and masteries. The more AP items you buy, the more AP you get from the passive. With that said, this item is rarely bought first because it is much more efficient when you have AP from other sources and it's components are quite costly themselves.

Consider buying it as a third or fourth item. I won't give you suggestions on which champions you should purchase this bad boy on. If your abilities scale on AP and you want to do a lot of damage, pick up the Rabadon's Deathcap.

 

Zhonya's Hourglass: 

The modest homebody of the trio, the Zhonya's Hourglass is more protection oriented than its brothers. Don't mistake me though, the Hourglass still packs a punch. Costing 3260g and combining the typical 120 AP of its siblings with a mighty 50 armor, Zhonya's will keep you safe from those pesky AD carries, assassins and bruisers. The unique thing about Zhonya's Hourglass is it's active ability, Stasis. When you activate Stasis, your champion becomes completely invulnerable and untargetable for 2.5 seconds. During this time, you're unable to move, attack, cast spells or use items.

On a 90 second cooldown, Stasis is an absolutely invaluable ability to have in your back pocket. One well timed Stasis when you're the focus of the enemy team can completely turn the tides of a battle. Use it to dodge an otherwise undodgeable ability, to buy time for your teammates to assist you or for its most common purpose, style points while killing the enemy Nexus. There's no feeling quite so satisfying as activating Stasis and turning into a golden, invincible statue while your opponent burns to death from your Ignite. It takes gold to make gold, as they say.

Try it out against AD assasins or on dive oriented champions like Diana, Katarina or Akali. 

 

Deathfire Grasp:

If you're buying a DFG, it's because you're committed to killing a single person as fast as you possibly can. This third and final sibling is designed around massing damage on a single target. If you can't make your opponent say "Insert Champion Here is sooooo OP!" you're not using DFG to its full potential. You know the drill by now, DFG comes with 120 AP. It also nets you 10% CDR and an absolutely killer active ability.

When you activate this ability, which you can do every 90 seconds from a range of 750, you fire a targeted bolt that deals 15% of target champion's max health in magic damage and apply the aptly named debuff, Doom. Doom amplifies all magic damage that champion takes by 20% for 4 seconds. Note that's all magic damage, from your own burst to your top laners Sunfire Cape. This active is best used with your intital burst to guarantee you get the most out of the increased damage. Give Deathfire's Grasp a shot on burst champions like LeBlanc, Fizz or Annie. 

 

That's it! Before you crucify me for not including your favorite item, note that I'm only naming a few specifics. Feel free to pick up that Liandry's Torment or Lich Bane if that suits your champion or playstyle. Look for my AD assassin itemization article in the future. If you have any questions about item viability or simply want to criticize my life choices, you can reach me at @xNovacursed on Twitter.

Thanks for reading and good luck, Summoners.