League of Legends: Five alternatives to Morellonomicon
You may think that once you’ve reached the upper echelons of the solo queue ladder and have become a coach and analyst for some of the most recognised League of Legends organisations across the globe, tilt would become a thing of the past. However that was not the case for one LCK caster today as he was left dumbfounded by one player’s choice to build Morellonomicon on Kai’Sa.
LS aka “Last Straw” is an LCK commentator who was finally pushed over the edge today by Hanwha Life Esports’ AD Carry Sangyoon and his decision to upgrade to a Morellonomicon on Kai’Sa despite a clear absence of healing on the opponent’s team. In fact, upon the conclusion of Game 1 between HLE and DAMWON Gaming, the LCK analyst opted to stand up leave the broadcast, briefly abandoning fellow caster Atlus.
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So, what made this purchase so unbearable for LS? Why was he left frustrated, confused, and forced to prematurely relinquish his duties as an LCK colour caster? In short, Sangyoon’s decision to upgrade his Oblivion Orb to a Morellonomicon in the 30th minute of the game was questionable and wasteful.
Throughout 2019, in both competitive play and solo queue, Oblivion Orb has often been picked up as a second item due to its excellent gold efficiency and high magic penetration in the early stages of the game. But, once upgraded to Morellonomicon, it loses most of its efficiency and could be considered a misuse of gold, hence players will often keep an Oblivion Orb in their inventory as they set their sights on more effective items, such as a Zhonya’s Hourglass or Rabadon’s Deathcap.
Nonetheless, there are situations where purchasing a Morellonomicon early on is preferable. The only significant stat change as you upgrade from an Oblivion Orb to the completed item is Grievous Wounds, a debuff that reduces all opponent healing by 40%. In certain scenarios, such as an enemy team stacked with healing champions, Morellonomicon could be the perfect option for a champion with AP scaling on abilities to reduce the amount of HP regeneration on every enemy champion.
That being said, this certainly wasn’t the case in today’s HLE v DWG match-up. Jayce, Karthus, Azir, Ezreal, Alistar, hardly the most fitting composition for Grievous Wounds. Although we were obviously reaching one final teamfight, and Sangyoon wanted to keep the utility of a Stopwatch rather than use his 1400 gold elsewhere, it’s still worth looking at five other options the Kai’Sa could have picked up instead of Morellos.