There will be several mentionable changes with Mages in League patch 11.6
First to mention is Luden’s Tempest and Liandry’s Anguish. With Liandry’s Anguish, 5% magic penetration will be removed while grating bonus magic damage based on their bonus health instead. However, about Luden’s Tempest, cooldown of Echo will be reduced with each ability hits enemy Champion.
With these changes, Riot wants Liandry’s Anguish to become less suitable for every match. Now it will only be powerful against Tanky Champions with a large health pool. Losing the penetration ability also means bursting damage will be harder for this item.
Meanwhile, Luden’s Tempest will receive a strong buff in this patch. On Mid Lane, controlling waves is the main purpose of Luden’s Tempest. As a result, in patch 11.6, Champions like Cassiopeia and Malzahar should change their builds into Luden’s Tempest if their enemies are not Tank Champs.
The next big change with Mages items is from Seeker’s Armguard and Verdant Barrier. Bonus armor from Seeker’s Armguard will be reduced by half and Verdant Barrier will provide only 9 Magic Resist.
These changes will nerf these two items at the early game. Spending 1000 gold and time to stack, Seeker’s Armguard will only provide you the armor equal to 2 Cloth Armor.
The last change is in the price of Rabadon’s Deathcap. Reducing 200 gold is not enough due to its stat providing only AP without any other effect. Nowadays, with many new stronger items, Rabadon’s Deathcap is not as popular as in the past, and reducing 200 gold is pointless.
Due to these changes in items, patch 11.6 may be the new age of Assassin while Mages are becoming weaker in the early game. Moreover, with the buff to Akali and Leblanc, there is a high chance that they will alter meta of this patch.