Why You Should Love Magic Resist Glyphs in S3

There was a time in Season 2 when flat magic resist runes were so strong that Riot Games felt it necessary to nerf them and buff magic penetration runes. Many players still continued to use magic resist glyphs on their mid-lane champions, but others - maybe you? - did not. Recently, the pre-Season 3 patch introduced several changes that made early magic resist more appealing. If you already use the glyphs, then you probably don't need to read this article beyond a need to satisfy your curiosity (or maybe you just like numbers, like me). However, if you are not the MR-loving type, then maybe I can convince you of becoming one.

I think we all already know of the benefits of MR: it mitigates magic damage. Flat magic resist is often useful in the mid-lane because your opponent will typically be an AP carry (though AD champions are rising in popularity there, but that's another subject you can read about here). However, I am not going to be writing this article about why MR runes are good in and of themselves - rather, I will explain why they are better than they were in Season 2, which might encourage you to pick them up if you thought they weren't quite worth it before.

Magic Resist Runes Were Left Untouched

The first thing to note is that while magic resist and magic penetration stats were both nerfed across the board, magic resist runes are unique in that they were left untouched. This means that although the enemy AP laner now starts with only 8% + 7.83 magic penetration, which is less than the old 10% + 8.55, you can still start with the same 42 magic resist as before. The preseason patch also changed the way magic penetration is calculated as to make it more beneficial (percentage before flat), but because MR values in the early game are relatively low, this is not enough to compensate for the nerfs. So even if you start with the same MR as before, that MR has gotten relatively better than it used to be.

Let's use some numbers to illustrate: In Season 2, starting with 42 MR gave you an effective 30 MR against somebody with magic penetration marks and the 10% mastery (which was essentially every AP carry). In Season 3, starting with 42 MR will give you an effective 31 MR against somebody with the same setup. For now, this is just 1 bonus MR - not much, but it does show the glyphs are on their way to being better than they used to be before (and they were already pretty damned good). If you think that's disappointing, don't worry, as there is much more to it than that.

Sorcerer's Shoes Were Nerfed

Sorcerer's Shoes only grants 15 magic penetration now, as opposed to the old 20. This means that when you had only 12 effective MR in Season 2 after the enemy laner bought his tier 2 boots, you now have 16 effective MR instead. That bonus 1 MR has now increased to 4 MR, though this has more to do with magic penetration nerfs than the glyphs themselves. And there remains other and and even reasons you should consider the glyphs.

Scaling Ability Power Was Nerfed

Scaling ability power glyphs are the typical alternative for those of you who wish not to pick up magic resist (assuming you are also playing an AP champion). These glyphs are designed for maximizing lategame AP power - yet because of the nerf to Rabadon's Deathcap, scaling AP glyphs have also lost a bit of their strength, dropping ever slightly from 36.4 to 35 effective AP. Not a lot, but it adds up. And remember that this just shows how flat MR is stronger than it was in Season 2 - it would still be good even with no changes at all.

Consumables Are Insane

Finally, the main reason you should be using MR glyphs in Season 3 turns out to have very little to do with magic resist or even magic penetration changes, and everything to do with consumables. Season 3 introduced the Crystalline Flask and changes to movement speed, resulting in very sustain-oriented starts that go well beyond the traditional boots and 3 potions we saw in every Season 2 match. Consumables are essentially extra HP, which is further boosted by resistances.

In Season 2, a standard start offered you an extra 450 HP from health potions, which meant that with 42 MR, an opponent needed to do 554 damage to burn through all of your health (calculations not including Sorcerer's Shoes, as those would not be present on 1st buy). That was a bonus of 104 effective sustain from the consumables, granted by the MR.

In Season 3, although there is no "standard" start just yet, 1st buys tend to vary between Flask and 2 potions, or Flask and 3 potions (no more Flask + 5 potions after the nerf, unfortunately), along with other potential items/consumables. That's a bonus of 600 - 750 HP from consumables, which means that your opponents needs to do 742 - 927 damage to counter it after magic pen/resist calculations are considered. That's a bonus of 142 - 177 effective sustain thanks to the MR glyphs. If you start with 9 potions and 2 wards, you get a 1350 bonus HP from the pots and an extra 318 from the MR.

Conclusion

In short, with MR glyphs you will have:

• 1 more MR than in S2 against a standard mid-laner
• 4 more MR than in S2 against a standard mid-laner w/ Sorc Shoes
• 38 - 214 more effective HP than in S2 based on consumables

And this is all on top of the extra mitigation that they already provide on your base HP. Simply put, get magic resist!

(If you want to see all of the numbers above in a spreadsheet, here you go).

Bruisers & AP Carries in the Mid Lane

The Season 3 pre-season patch has brought a lot of changes that have shaken our conception of the metagame. One of these changes revolves around the middle lane. In Season 2, AP carries dominated the mid lane, in part because of their heavy reliance on levels and the safety of the short lane, but also because of the easy accessibility to the golem buff and the roaming capability that the lane's position offers.

In the current patch, AD assassins, and especially AD bruisers, have seen increased play in the mid lane. In this post, I will explore the reasons for this new trend, as well as whether we can expect AP carries to completely disappear from the lane, as some have been postulating in League of Legends forums.

The Mid Lane Matchup

AP carries are known for being fragile. In fact, their "squishiness" is one of the reasons they prefer the middle lane over any other lane - its short length offers more safety from ganks and chases. Their fragility is in part due to their base stats, but also because of their limited escape options. Bruisers, on the other hand, have the durability and mobility that lets them compete in the jungle or in harsh attrition lanes like top. They will almost always win trades with AP carries as long as they can get in melee range - not normally a problem thanks to gap-closers - and will have an easier time recovering after a trade.

In short, bruisers tend to dominate most AP carries in lane. Please note that I do say "most" and not all, as some mages such as Ryze or Syndra do have the kits to handle themselves against bruisers. However, in most cases, bruiser vs. AP carry matchups are fairly one-sided in the favor of bruisers. Let's look, in detail, at why this is the case.

Base Stats

Bruisers benefit from superior armor - both base and scaling - which makes them less susceptible to auto-attack poke, especially from AP carries, who have low base AD and typically do not start with any armor penetration. Furthermore, they enjoy scaling magic resist, allowing them to slowly become more resilient to magic damage even without purchasing items. They also have higher base and scaling hit points. All of these base stats are extremely important factors in the laning phase, and bruisers are the clear winners in this category.

Early Itemization

There are several great build options for bruisers looking to counter magic damage. For example, Null-Magic Mantle - a cheap, magic resist basic item - builds into Mercury Treads, Hexdrinker, Wit's End, and Guardian Angel, all of which are viable choices for bruiser champions. Hexdrinker in particular is very powerful against an AP lane, and builds into Maw of Malmortius. A bruiser who rushes Mercury Treads, Hexdrinker, and some HP item becomes very difficult to kill for any AP carry who doesn't have high sustained damage, at a fairly low cost.

On the other hand, AP carries have few early itemization options to help them lane against bruisers. Cloth Armor - the armor version of Null-Magic Mantle - does not build into anything AP carries actually want. Banner of Command is alone in providing AP and building out of Cloth Armor, but is designed for supports. Zhonya's Hourglass is the only good armor item AP carries will consider in most games - with the exception of Guardian Angel in some - but buying that initial Chain Vest is a moderate investment that doesn't provide any damage.

Catalyst of the Protector is a decent buy, though it delays the AP carry's damage, which may not be ideal vs. the early-game strength of a bruiser. Not every AP carry wants to build Rod of Ages, either.

Sorcerer's Shoes

I believe the existence of Sorcerer's Shoes in its current form contributes to the weakness of AP carries. Consider this: when an AD caster or bruiser wants to upgrade his tier 1 boots, he has many choices: Mercury Treads against an AP-heavy or CC-heavy team, Ninja Tabi against an AD/autoattack-heavy team, Boots of Mobility for roaming potential, and even Boots of Lucidity in some cases. There are no "core" boots on AD casters or bruisers - the only thing they lose by picking any of the above boot upgrades is the missed attack speed from Berserker's Greaves, but attack speed isn't typically that valuable of a stat to them anyway.

On the other hand, AP carries have a lot to lose by building anything that isn't Sorcerer's Shoes, because magic penetration is so strong that not having it is a noticeable loss in damage. When I play a bruiser, it feels good buying Mercury Treads to counter that AP champion I'm laning against. But when I play an AP carry, it feels awful having to buy Ninja Tabi to counter the AD champion in my lane. I think it would greatly benefit AP carries to offer early magic penetration somewhere else (unless Haunting Guise is enough), and change Sorcerer's Shoes to offer a stat that isn't quasi-indispensable.

Season 3 Changes

So far, everything I've said has been applicable to Season 2 as well as Season 3. Bruisers have always done well in lane against AP carries and have always had better counter-itemization options. So what has changed? Why are mid-lane bruisers suddenly so much more popular in S3?

Movement Speed

In Season 2, every champion in the game had a base movement speed between 300 and 330, and basic Boots granted an extra 50. Because movement speed is so strong, by the end of S2 every player except the support would start with Boots and three health potions. In the new patch, base movement speed was buffed across the board by 25, and Boots were nerfed by the same amount. This is important because it is a huge buff to weak early laners, who can now start with sustain items like the Crystalline Flask and wards to offset their difficult lane - even Nasus is seeing more play thanks to this change.

Crystalline Flask

This item makes lane sustain easy and cheap, and is the main reason the movement speed change was so significant to mid lane matchups. In S2, the best way an AP carry could handle a bruiser in lane was to abuse the bruiser's biggest weakness: melee range. This was done via heavy auto-attack harassing. In S3, this is a lot harder to do, if not impractical, because most melees will start with a Flask, one or two wards, and health potions.

Armor Penetration

Finally, S3 also revamped The Black Cleaver and reworked armor penetration mechanics (see my detailed post about armor penetration here). Armor penetration is now stronger than ever, and also more readily available. Consequently, bruisers and assassins are now less easily countered by armor and have the opportunity to scale into the late-game better than they ever could, which used to be one of their main weakness. This means that AP carries have lost the scaling advantage they used to bring over bruisers, and also means the necessity for magic damage has diminished.

Lategame Items

As Doublelift pointed out in this video, AP carries are inherently weaker than AD-based champions because they have cheaper late-game items. A six-item AP champion will have invested less gold into his build - and thus will have less stats - than a six-item AD champion. This is in part due to the Rabadon's Deathcap nerf, which hurt AP carry scaling and especially burst casters, who were already considered slightly weak in the S2 competitive scene.

Pros of AP Carries

Despite all that has been said, let's not undervalue AP carries. They still bring superior crowd-control over bruisers, and even with the waning strength of armor in S3, magic damage is still a nice addition to any team. AP carries are also typically ranged, which means they are less susceptible to poke and typically better at farming and poking. If you've ever played an ARAM, you know that getting an all-melee team with no poke can be an awful experience.

Nevertheless, it is no question that the value of bringing an AP carry has decreased in S3. Many teams are now happy to let the AP champions fill the support and jungler roles - this way they can still provide the utility and magic damage for which they are valued - and to let the AD champions take over the carry roles. A few specific champions, such as Anivia or Orianna, may survive this trend by merit of their incredible kits.

Conclusion

AP carries are noticeably weaker than they were in Season 2. "Utility" mages may still prove to be irreplaceable assets to competitive teams thanks to their sustained damage and exceptional utility, but there is now arguably no reason to pick burst mages such as Brand or Veigar - who were already unpopular in S2 and never picked in tournaments - over AD bruisers.

Bruisers have several advantages over AP carries in lane, among which are base stats and early itemization options. Furthermore, one of the main downsides of picking mid lane AD champions in S2 - poor scaling - is now greatly diminished in S3 with the changes to armor penetration.

Changes in the metagame are healthy and welcome. However, the decreasing popularity of AP carries is alarming. One of the main reasons AP carries were played mid was because they were, in most cases, already outclassed in other lanes. If they suddenly cannot perform in the safest, best-located lane in the game, what will become of them?