Morellonomicon: Underrated Item?

[quote=Foo18]I was playing a game as ADC earlier, and I saw that my AP carry ([[orianna]]) had built [s]Morrelo's Evil Tome[/s] [[Morellonomicon]]. I immediately facepalmed and thought to myself "What a scrub." I then stopped myself and thought: "Wait, have I ever even given it a chance? I consider myself very open to unconventional strategies, and maybe [[Morellonomicon]] is actually a decent item." So, let's take a look at the math. (NOTE: I wrote this litte bit before I started doing the math, so I have no idea how it will go as I am writing this) [h2]Math[/h2] [[Morellonomicon]]: Total Cost: 2200g AP: 75 Gold value: 1575 MP5: 12 Gold value: 720 CDR: 20% Gold Value: 660 Passive: Dealing magic damage to an enemy champion below 40% health inflicts Grievous Wounds to them for 4 seconds. Gold value: N/A Total gold value: 2955 Now, let's compare it to a similar AP item. [[Athene's Unholy Grail]]: Total Cost: 2800 AP: 60 Gold value: 1260 MP5: 15 Gold value: 900 CDR: 15% Gold value: 495 MR: 40 Gold value: 790 Passive: Restores 12% of your max mana on kill or assist. Increases your mana regeneration by 1% per 1% mana you are missing. Gold Value: N/A Total gold value: 3445 Now, to compare them both, let's look at how much bang you get for each buck. [[morellonomicon]]: 1.34 gold worth of stats for every 1 gold. [[Athene's unholy grail]]: 1.23 worth of stats for every 1 gold. /end math NOTE: I approximated the gold values a little bit, since it changes with every basic item. All this was assuming that: AP: 21 gold per 1 AP MP5: 60 gold per 1 MP5 CDR: 33 gold per 1% CDR MR: 19 gold per 1 MR [h2]Math Conclusion[/h2] So, there's a lot to be said for this. On paper, [[morellonomicon]] is actually the more cost effective of the two. However, we cannot take the unique passives into account. Magic regen is the one of the most costly stats, and the unique passive on [[Athene's unholy grail]] can up to double your MP5. However, you are paying an arm and a leg for mostly mana regen. The only thing that can really be gained from all this math is this: [[Morellonomicon]] is a remarkably cost effective item. [h2]What are you paying for?[/h2] [[morellonomicon]] vs. [[Athene's unholy grail]]: AP: This is actually remarkable. [[Morellonomicon]] actually gives you the most AP per gold of any (non-basic) item in the game, other than [[rabadon's deathcap]] and [[hextech revolver]]. With a whopping .72 gold worth in AP per gold spent. It actually beats [[rabadon's deathcap]] if you don't count the 25% bonus AP. MP5: The mana regen is a big part of [[morellonomicon]]. If you don't need any more mana, this item should not be purchased. For [[athene's unholy grail]], MP5 is what you are paying the big bucks for. It gives, by far, the most mana regen out of any item in the game. If you REALLY need the mana, this is your go-to item. However, most mages don't need that much. If you aren't using all of the mana regen, you are wasting a LOT of gold. CDR: [[Morellonomicon]] gives more CDR than [[Athene's unholy grail]]. Nothing more to say about that, really. MR: Magic resist is only given on [[athene's unholy grail]], so if you need MR, this item is great. However, most AP carries do not need magic resist. Basically, the MR just makes this a more situational item. You spend a lot of money on the MR, so you don't want it unless you are taking magic damage. Unique Passives: [[Morellonomicon]]'s passive is very situational. If you are against a [[dr. mundo]] it will be phenomenal. However, the healing debuff usually won't be all that useful. However, it can still be quite effective against certain tanks, like [[maokai]] and AD carries if you manage to apply it to them. Keep in mind that this passive procs on basic attacks if you have [[spellsword]]. [[Athene's unholy grail]]'s unique passives are much stronger in most cases. However, the mana return on kills and assists won't be useful unless you are someone like [[swain]]. The "mana font" passive also won't be worth much unless you are really mana hungry, like [[anivia]]. [h2]Components in Lane Phase[/h2] [[Kage's lucky pick]]: A Gp10 item can be useful, but honestly isn't that great. This item is very cost inefficient, and the GP10 isn't very useful on mid laners, since they usually depend on mid game, and get the most CS anyway. [[Chalice of harmony]]: This is a MAJOR selling point. This item is incredible on certain mid laners. It is just the perfect lane phase item against another AP champion. Some champions really need the mana regen, and the passive is just broken as hell. It scales off of [[mana potion]]s, blue buff and level ups when you have [[Catalyst the Protector]]. However, a lot of AD champions have been laning mid lately. That makes the magic resist on this item useless. [h2]Verdict:[/h2] Well, I have presented all the evidence I can think of for both sides. I have compared the math, the different purposes of the two items, and what their components are useful for. However, I still cannot give a verdict. After doing this, all I can say it this. [[morellonomicon]] is an underrated item, for sure. (NOTE: AP=Ability Power MP5=Mana regeneration Per 5 seconds CDR=Cooldown Reduction MR=Magic Resist) Hope you liked my thread! Give me a [color=#800080]+rep[/color] if you think I deserve it![/quote]

[quote=Luther3000]I remember thinking at the start of season 3 with the buffs and heavy nerfs to Athene's it might become a good alternative on some champs who need mana regen and CDR but don't need the excessive mana regen of Athene's. Still haven't seen anyone using it though.[/quote]

[quote=DarkPercy]Comparing gold values is Extremely rarely useful or worth anything. I think Morello's sure is underrated but obviously I would only get it against a heavy Heal/Lifesteal/Spell Vamp team. Nothing has changed. You want damage? Rabadon's, Zhonya's, Deathfire Grasp, Void staff, Abyssal Scepter are Often all a better choice. You want mana in lane? Chalice of Harmony, Tear of the godess, Catalyst. All better options. Morello's only against healers[/quote]

[quote=Foo18][quote=DarkPercy] Comparing gold values is Extremely rarely useful or worth anything. I think Morello's sure is underrated but obviously I would only get it against a heavy Heal/Lifesteal/Spell Vamp team. Nothing has changed. You want damage? Rabadon's, Zhonya's, Deathfire Grasp, Void staff, Abyssal Scepter are Often all a better choice. You want mana in lane? Chalice of Harmony, Tear of the godess, Catalyst. All better options. Morello's only against healers [/quote] I disagree. I think [[morellonomicon]] is right up there with those other damage items. It gives more damage per gold than any other AP item, save for [[rabadon's deathcap]]. I know the math doesn't mean everything, but it isn't useless. If you think [[zhonya's hourglass]] is a better item for damage, you are just wrong. Zhonya's: 100 AP for 3100 gold. 1 AP for 31 gold Morellonomicon: 75 AP for 2200 gold. 1 AP for 29.3 gold Not to mention, CDR greatly increases the damage output of some mages. Some mages also need mana regen, but [[athene's unholy grail]] just gives way more than they need, and is sorely lacking in AP. Also, [[catalyst the protector]] does not give more mana regen in lane, nor does [[tear of the goddess]]. Tear and catalyst have other advantages, though. Tear is a late game investment item, and catalyst is good for surviving hard lanes, or for APs that like ROA and want to be tanky. I am not saying that [[morellonomicon]] is the best AP item, but I think it has a good niche, and it isn't just against healing teams. I think it would work great on [[lux]] and [[orianna]] as a first item. TL;DR Don't judge Morellonimicon just based on it's passive. It's passive is pretty lack-luster, but it makes up for that by being incredibly cost effective and cheap. EDIT: I actually saw froggen rush morellonomicon earlier today as [[lux]][/quote]

[quote=Bellpepper]I think Morello's Passive should be extremely useful when finishing people off if Ignite is on Cooldown and you have some periodic Spelldmg in your arsenal. You can also apply Grievous Wounds to an entire team with a big AoE (think of hitting sth like Ziggs ult and the enemy teams Janna uses her ult afterwards...no heal for you)[/quote]

[quote=PsiGuard][quote=Foo18]If you think [[Zhonya's Hourglass]] is a better item for damage, you are just wrong.[/quote] Nice comparison of a defensive item. Now try an actual parallel. [[Deathfire Grasp]] gives a comparable amount of CDR and a 15% hp damage nuke along with the Doom debuff. Use all the gold-AP ratio comparisons you want, a DFG mage flat-out beats a morello's mage. There are better options than morello's. Zhonya's gives a strong defensive active, void gives magic pen, abyssal gives MR, Athene's gives tons of mana sustain. Morello's simply doesn't fill a niche unless you have a reason to buy the passive effect.[/quote]

[quote=Meiyjhe]The reason someone should buy this is because of the heavy CDR and the passive, not just because it is so cost efficient, thats just an extra :P[/quote]

[quote=EvilDice]hourglass also gives armor and a must have active on mages. chalice is early mr and manaregen in lane at a cheap cost, then builds into grail which adds cdr and ap with better stats. also ori is a bad example because she is one of the most manahungry casters in the game.. chalice into grail is a must. defensive stats on casters are very important so aps who want cdr/ap are going to prefer going chalice into grail because it simply makes for a better laning phase/mid game transition. i don't think it's a bad item but it's just kind of awkward to build.[/quote]

[quote=Foo18][quote=EvilDice] hourglass also gives armor and a must have active on mages. chalice is early mr and manaregen in lane at a cheap cost, then builds into grail which adds cdr and ap with better stats. also ori is a bad example because she is one of the most manahungry casters in the game.. chalice into grail is a must. defensive stats on casters are very important so aps who want cdr/ap are going to prefer going chalice into grail because it simply makes for a better laning phase/mid game transition. i don't think it's a bad item but it's just kind of awkward to build. [/quote] -Getting morello's does not stop you from getting hourglass. I simply said that morello's was a better damage source. -Sacrificing chalice is my biggest problem with building morello's. However, not all mages need the chalice. I love chalice. However, grail is a really meh upgrade. It gives really meh stats for how much it costs right now. Come to think of it, I would rather get chalice, and then get morello's instead of grail. -Defensive stats are important, but you can just get a negatron with the money you didn't spend on grail. -The laning phase from chalice is good, but I think the mid game from morello's is better. Besides, as I just realized, you can get chalice and morello's. (also, [[orianna]] is mana hungry, but I think you can live without athene's easily so long as you don't spam like crazy. Anivia is the only mage that I think NEEDS chalice to play with, assuming you don't take the tear route.)[/quote]

[quote=cooper56]Its good item vs swain and some other mids maybe vlad also but i dont think its good on many mages. Lux could use it because cdr is good on her and gives good ap and mana regen she honestly is mage i see it most useful for.[/quote]