Preseason 2022: Why are Marksmen going AP build?

AP marksmen

The fact that ADC gives up AD items in favor of new Mage items during the preseason 2022 is not a surprise

Preseason 2022: Why are Marksmen going AP build? 1
Image via Riot Games

Many players refer to Marksmen as ADC, which stands for Attack Damage Carry. We can see from the name that they are the team’s primary source of damage, and they frequently seek items that offer high DPS such as AD and crit items. This was somewhat changed in the preseason 2022 when several Marksmen migrated to the AP build. 

It is obvious that the ADC design game is entirely against other roles. Riot has always League to be played at a faster pace, especially when adjusting in favor of positions with a lot of power at the start of the game, such as jungle or mid lane.

Preseason 2022: Why are Marksmen going AP build? 2
Image via Riot Games

However, ADC items make this class particularly vulnerable at the start of the game (even when they have a Mythic item). It is only until they have at least 3 items by Infinity Edge, which provides an additional 35% crit damage, do they start becoming a threat. As a consequence, ADC has relatively little influence on the match.

Preseason 2022 turns Marksmen into Mages

As a result, players are compelled to seek out more efficient, effective solutions to the game. Then, after preseason 2022, the gameplay for Mage items arrived, making some ADCs exceedingly uncomfortable and stronger. The rationale is also quite straightforward since all AP items deal a massive amount of damage.

Crown of the Shattered Queen Ezreal is becoming a hot meta in Korean server

Ezreal is one Marksman that grows significantly stronger with Crown of the Shattered Queen. This build has been giving Ezreal an exceedingly high win rate with nearly 56%. The item’s passive has helped ADC such as Ezreal survive in the team fight longer, making him harder to be one-shot.

Kai’sa also goes AP items most of the time
Corki hyper-damage build

Others like Kai’sa or Corki also change to a hyper-damage playstyle. According to op.gg, these builds are particularly successful when possessing such high win rates.

The 3 champions mentioned above are typical of the ADC movement on AP items that is taking place in the game. This demonstrates that Riot’s method of altering Marksmen and providing things is a major issue. Without future adjustments, it would not be shocking if traditional ADC eventually lost their positions and move on to become champions who could take advantage of AP items.