In League of Legends, items are constantly being removed or new ones added. Some players demand that a certain Mage item be removed because players buy it even though it is actually not good. However, not all players agree.
Which item is it? Stormsurge is a relatively new item that was only introduced in Season 14. It is a Mage item that provides you with AP, Magic Penetration, and Movement Speed. What makes the item special are its abilities, Stormraider and Squall.
- Stormraider: If you deal damage to an opposing champion within 2.5 seconds equal to 35% of their maximum health, you will gain 25% Movement Speed and the opponent receives the Squall status.
- Squall: After 2 seconds, the opponent is struck by a lightning bolt that deals different damage depending on whether you are melee or ranged. If the opponent dies before the lightning comes down, all nearby opponents are stunned and you receive 30 gold.
Basically, the item sounds good, but Reddit user Redditpaslan finds that the item is useless and only entices players to buy it.
Stormsurge sounds better than it actually is
Redditpaslan made a Reddit post stating that if Riot removed the item, most Mages would have a higher win rate. He thinks the item is fun, but the damage is not worth it and the item is likely only good for a few Assassins. Riot regularly removes items if they are too good or too bad.
Among the comments on the post, some agree with the contribution. User xChrisMas finds the item to be true bait. onitram52 agrees with him and sees as a big problem that the item is suggested to many champions.
Other users, like Lipat97, believe that the item is actually well designed, but that Riot has nerfed it too much. FunkyXive also agrees with this argument: They have nerfed the delayed damage effect to insignificance.
Is the item really that bad? Looking at the current statistics of the item on League of Graphs, it doesn’t look that bad. It has a win rate of 52% with a pick rate of 4.8%.
Many users in the comments find Luden’s Companion paired with Shadowflame better than Stormsurge. While Luden’s has a slightly lower win rate, it has a higher pick rate with Shadowflame and Shadowflame even has a higher win rate.
The best Mages tend to play different items
What do the pros play? Looking at U.GG at the currently best mid-laner champions in Emerald and above, few of the best builds include Stormsurge. Burst champions like Lux, Zoe, or Vex perform better with Luden’s Companion. Depending on the champion, a Zhonyas, Lich Bane, or Horizon Focus is then preferred.
League of Legends is a difficult game for newcomers. Countless champions, items, and their respective abilities and builds must be learned. Learning all this requires a lot of time, and often the community itself is not patient with new players. A WoW streamer shared his experience as a new LoL player: Twitch streamer from WoW gives an honest review of what LoL is like as a new player
