League of Legends (LoL) Question: Viability on Sterak's on ADC

My bet is that the shield is the only reason why it's bought at all. The rest of the stats are vanilla. Having a sudden 30% max hp shield is a good workaround for high penetration assassins that can't be cleansed with Quicksilver Sash (like Talon).

I would still pick something else 99% of the games, since sterak's would be subpar in most other cases. I only see it working against really fed assassins, and only if the other options aren't better for them (banshee's, guardian angel, QSS).

Sterak's Gage is, by default, of course made for bruisers. However, against burst damage, Sterak's can be incredibly useful. Sure, champions such as Zed we've got QSS, but against heavy burst like LeBlanc or something, Sterak's can be very useful. And yes, Guardian Angel is an option, but Sterak's does more or less the same thing in teamfights and has a way lower cool down.

Sterak's gage is a viable substitute against a last defensive pick like Guardian Angel, Banshee's Veil, Randuin's Omen etc. It should only be picked as last item. I'll explain why giving Jinx as an example:

1. At level 18, Jinx has 99.4 base AD. When you purchase Sterak's you gain 25 AD from the passive and an additional 25 AD once Primal Rage is activated. So, you end up with 50 AD from a tanky item which is just 5 AD less than a Black Cleaver.

2. At level 18, Jinx has 1912 base HP. If you were to buy Greater Seals of HP, you gain around 2000 HP which will increase to 2500 once you purchase Sterak's Gage. 30% of 2500 is 750. During teamfights, your job is to stay away from the centre of the fight and instead kite damage from the sides. However, this doesn't always play out. Assassins and the whole team sometimes, may focus on you if you are fed. Having the shield will prevent you from getting burst down and at least give the opportunity to flash away and land a few more hits. Guardian angel doesn't give health, so when you revive, you revive with 600 HP. The 150 HP difference between the revival health and a sterak's shield could mean the difference between a won and a lost game. So, I feel the item is to a certain extent viable but only if you are going for a defensive option as last item.

IMPORTANT: Sterak's Gage requires that you receive 1800 damage within 5 seconds which is more than 70% of your hp bar. This is purely a situational pick and certainly not the best item for every game. This is a perfect item when you find yourself duelling a particular high-burst enemy member who ends up killing you before landing a single hit. High burst champs (particularly assassins and mages) rely mostly on their combo to win and if that combo doesn't kill you, your auto-attacks will kill them.

So, see when you feel Sterak's is optimal for the build but don't try to make it part of your core build. :)

You have better defensive options and you have better offensive options than Sterak's Gage but it might work for utility adcs if you want to sort of get the best of both worlds. I'd imagine someone like Kalista can use item pretty well.

I think in the pre-season, with attack damage carries getting huge buffs to their base AD at level 1, and only getting a small reduction per level (0.3~) Sterak's Gage would be a viable option, but for now I don't think it's optimal. I know SKT's ADC built it on Sivir as a last item and it worked quite well, but I think it's a better item on a bruiser.