ADC itemization may not be as versatile as for  other roles in League of Legends season 11

Image via Riot Games
Image via Riot Games

A League of Legends Redditor recently came up with an interesting analysis on the usage ratios of three main ADC mythic items.

The mythic items of League of Legends structure the core build of each champion's changes. These items can be purchased once per match, and they provide huge buffs to champions.

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A League of Legends player can use these mythics for building a champion to suit a specific role. There are few typical mythic items like Kraken Slayer, Immortal Shieldbow, and Galeforce. They are used to build up ADC champions like Aphelios, Kai'Sa, Samira, Tristana, and others.

Analysis of the usage ratio of ADC Mythics in League of Legends

ADC Mythic Items (Image via Riot Games)
ADC Mythic Items (Image via Riot Games)

League of Legends fan and Redditor u/Jandromon suggested that Riot bring in some tweaks in ADC mythic items and suggested a few possible solutions. He stated:

" I've analyzed the usage ratios of the 3 ADC Mythics in pro play so far this season (major regions only). The results are very interesting and suggest that Riot could be going in the wrong direction. "

He picked nine popular ADC champions and tallied them with their pick rates of Kraken Slayer, Immortal Shieldbow, and Galeforce.

Observation-Chart for Analysis (Image via Jandromon's Imgur)
Observation-Chart for Analysis (Image via Jandromon's Imgur)

From the observation chart, it is clear that Galeforce has the highest pick rate of 53.7%, followed by Kraken with 28.7%. Shieldbow is the least picked ADC mythic with 17.6%.

Conclusion

All but one AD carries have just two available item options for their builds, as Immortal Shieldbow's effective usage is limited only to Samira.

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Galeforce is slightly ahead of Kraken Slayer in pick rate for League of Legends ADC builds. Jhin has unparalleled synergy with Galeforce but can't function with Kraken Slayer. Without Jhin, Galeforce's play-rate would have been close to Kraken.

Shieldbow is not very effective now. Ideally, it should counter Galeforce's burst. In the future, if Shieldbow gets a buff, Galeforce will have no use, especially in bot lane fights.

Galeforce is about to get a massive cooldown nerf in the upcoming League of Legends patch 11.2. According to fans, this nerf was not needed. It will hardly affect gameplay as ADCs rarely fight twice in under 90 seconds. Rather, Galeforce will lose its effectiveness in the Solo queue where ADCs already struggle to keep up with the skirmish-heavy games.

With Galeforce and Immortal Shieldbow slowly losing their credibility, the entire solo queue ADC player base might be left with just one mythic item by patch 11.2.

Possible Solutions

Riot can think of nerfing Galeforce's burst damage instead of its cooldown. This won't gutter it for the solo queue, and it would preserve its mobility identity.

The devs should consider buffing Immortal Shieldbow once and for all. Currently, this item is a useless buy for non-Samira ADCs. Buffing Shieldbow will slightly auto-nerf Galeforce too.

AD carries are enjoying smoother build paths and DPS in the current season. But many League of Legends fans think that Riot should consider improving the mythic item variety of choice. Otherwise, it's only bound to get worse for the ADC mains in Season 11.

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