League of Legends: Five alternatives to Morellonomicon

Liandry’s Torment

For just 100 gold more than an upgrade to Morellonomicon, you can purchase a Haunting Guise, a key component in building a Liandry’s Torment. Not only will this provide more flat Ability Power than a Morellos, but it also increases total damage by up to 10% depending on the length of a skirmish and offers a damage over time (DoT) effect.

When picking a champion that already deals damage over time, such as Anivia or Malzahar, Liandry’s is perfect. It’s also ideal when matched with crowd control abilities as this increases the DoT already applied by the item. Ultimately this wouldn’t have been the ideal replacement for Sangyoon’s Morellonomicon on Kai’Sa but would have certainly made more sense.

Rylai’s Crystal Scepter

Although combining an Amplifying Tome, Blasting Wand, and Ruby Crystal, along with 915 gold, is a difficult build path so late in the game, a Rylai’s Crystal Scepter is often a great option for AP mages who want to add a small slow to their enemies. Not only does it offer the same amount of health as both a Morellos and Liandry’s (300), but it also has the most Ability Power of the three.

Zhonya’s Hourglass

Simply put, if Sangyoon had the gold to upgrade his Stopwatch to a Zhonya’s Hourglass, he would have done exactly that. Unfortunately, it seems that the Hanwha Life marksman was about 800 gold short of the total required to pick up an extra 75 AP, 45 Armor, and 10% CDR.

Not only is Zhonya’s an excellent source of Ability Power for mages, it also provides unique utility that can prevent assassins, crowd control, or a quick spell of burst from evaporating a mage from a fight. Obviously in this situation Sangyoon already had his Stopwatch readily available, but the immense value added from the upgrade to Zhonya’s would have been much more beneficial for the ADC.

Rabadon’s Deathcap

When it comes to mages, no item is more sought after or well-rounded than a Rabadon’s Deathcap. Two Needlessly Large Rods, offering 60 Ability Power each, combined to create a Rabadon’s, increasing total AP by 40%, what more needs to be said?

If Sangyoon had the inventory space in today’s match-up with DAMWON, there’s no doubt he would have picked up a quick NLR, as well as an Elixir, and avoided tilting an LCK analyst off the caster desk.

Save for Retirement

At 23 years of age, Sang-yun “Sangyoon” Gwon is reaching a point where retirement from professional play is on the horizon and he has to start considering his options after Hanwha Life Esports. It is for this reason that the Korean AD Carry should have stopped himself from haphazardly wasting valuable gold on a pointless Morellonomicon and should have instead thought about his future and wondered where else that gold could have been spent.

A retirement plan is key, particularly in an industry as volatile as esports. That 1400 gold could have instead been used for a deposit on a new home, a first car, or even life insurance from a recognisable company. Instead, the short-sightedness of HLE’s marksman has resulted in a torrent of flame targeted directly at him from a man who has been known to “Leave Streams”, have “Low Standards”, and many fans think he is “Likely Senile” at this point.

If Sangyoon had instead used any of these five options, this all could have been avoided, and poor Atlus would have never been forced to cast the LCK all alone.

Do you rush Morellonomicon? What is your preferred AP build? Do you think Sangyoon should have saved his cash for a rainy day? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!