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I'm going to present a list of arguments, and respond to common counterarguments regarding the topic of AH on mages, and just how scuffed it is currently. Please do keep an open mind.
Firstly, let us start by addressing the actual amount of items granting AH for each class, and how much flexibility they have.
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- Mages: Currently have 9 items granting AH, six of which are mythic.
— The remaining 3 are Banshee's Veil (10AH), Zhonya's Hourglass (10AH) and Cosmic Drive (30 AH).
- Fighters: Currently have 9 items granting AH, three of which are mythic.
— The remaining 6 are Chempunk Chainsword (15), Maw of Malmortimus (15AH), Death's Dance (15AH), Black Cleaver (25AH), Ravenous Hydra (20AH) and Seryldra's Grudge (20AH).
- ADC's: Currently have 6 items granting AH, only one of which is mythic.
— The remaining 5 are Manamune (15AH), Essence Reaver (20AH), Maw of Malmortimus (15AH), Serylda's Grudge (20AH) and Navori Quickblades (30AH + Pasive).
- Assassins: Currently have 8 items granting AH, only two of which are mythic.
— The remaining 6 are Chempunk Chainsword (15), Maw of Malomortimus (15AH), Black Cleaver (25AH), Ravenous Hydra (20AH), Seryldra's Grudge (20AH) and Umbral Glaive (15AH).
- Tanks: Currently have 12 items granting AH, five of which are mythic.
— The remaining 7 are Knight's Vow (10AH), Zeke's Convergence (20AH), Frozen Heart (20AH), Randuin's Omen (10AH), Spirit Visage (10AH), Warmog's Armor (10AH) and Gargoyle Stoneplate (15AH).
- Supports: Currently have 12 items granting AH, six of which are mythic.
— The remaining 6 are Chemtech Putrifier (15AH), Redemption (15AH), Knight's Vow (10AH), Mikael's Blessing (15AH), Vigilant Warstone (40AH) and Zeke's Convergence (20AH).
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Extrapolation: Mages have the lowest amount of viable build choices granting non-mythic AH, below even ADC's. Only three choices, and two of these only grant ten AH, which is the absolute lowest any items grant in the game. If you want to use your abilities semi-often whatsoever, you must either build Liandry's or Cosmic Drive. The point of the item rework was to give people options, rather than lock them into a single item or two.
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Now, to address some common counterarguments to this being an issue;
— "Mages shouldn't be able to spam abilities off cooldown and never run out of mana!"
I've got two counterarguments. Firstly, if this is the case, ADC's autos should cost mana, and they also shouldn't get Attack Speed on quite literally every single item they can build. Mages shouldn't be able to output consistent DPS the same way ADC's do, this is correct. However, asking to be able to go through two basic spell rotations in a teamfight is far from an absurd desire.
Secondly, and more importantly: If you believe this to be true, that abilities should have opportunity cost rather than being spammable burst, then what about AD Katarina? What about Riven, Garen? What about Zed? All of them have free stacked AH on every single item they could think of building, and will easily get to 60 in just a few items, without even trying to build it. Except none of them use mana, and only Zed has to worry about resources, which he gets back fully in a few seconds. There is absolutely no opportunity to cost for them to spam abilities off-cooldown. Bruisers can build armor against you while still 100-0'ing you with no issue, except they've also got AH for free, so even if you live, they're about to do it again. The list of non-mythic AD bruiser choices with AH include the Grievous Wounds item, an AD Rylai's that also grants AH, AOE cleaving on everything, Damage Mitigation and Armor Shredding.
Furthermore, the most viable mages currently *do* an insane amount of DPS through burn damage, because that's all they have going for them. I've got even more counterarguments against this statement, but I believe I've said enough.
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— "Reaching 40% CDR or something close to it shouldn't be a free thing that happens just because you build items."
Why is this argument made towards mages, but not bruisers or tanks? They get to stack it for absolutely free. It is a vital stat and component for mages, and for some it may be the core stat they'd want to gun for, yet they barely have the option to build it.
I could also say "Reaching 2.50 AS or something close to it shouldn't be a free thing that just happens because you build items.", or "Reaching 100% Crit or something close to it shouldn't be a free thing that just happens because you build items", but I'm not going to. It's fine that ADC's get to do that, honestly. But do consider that ADC's, the class least wanting CDR, gets to have Navori Quickblades— the absolute hands-down best AH/CDR item in the game with its ridiculous passive. Why do ADC's get to spam abilities every second if they build it?
Ultimately, I am not saying every mage item should be stacked with CDR. I'm saying that there should be viable choices outside of a single item to gain some substantial amount of CDR that aren't mythic items. I'm not asking for every item to have it, I'm asking for options to build it to exist. Every other class gets to have various AH choices, except for mages, the class which arguably wants it the most.
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