Guinsoo’s Rageblade VS Spear of Shojin
This is going to be a hard one to put into words so please bear with me.
I’ve always wanted someone to explain to me the actual difference in Shojin and RB’s effectiveness on a granular level. Nerd out with me.
So, at face value, the different usage scenarios seem straightforward; Shojin is the mana regen item for units who want to cast often (perfect example this set: Silco) and RB is the scaling attack speed item intended for units whose spell is contingent on ramping up attacks as fast as possible (perfect example this set: Kog Maw).
But it’s not always that black and white.. and thus I’ve been running into a conundrum. In TFT, units gain mana by attacking. So if Rageblade makes you attack faster (and more AAs = more mana), doesn’t this item then overlap with Shojin? Can’t Rageblade be a substitute for Shojin with the added benefit of scaling? Is Rageblade Silco troll? And if so, how troll? And why?
This becomes even more of a dilemma for me once I see all these units that Riot has labelled as “AD casters”: this set we have Gangplank, Corki, Caitlyn etc. Suddenly, I am seeing Corkis with RB. Maddie 3⭐️ plays with RB from the VODs I’ve seen. And just yesterday I read a post saying RB is mandatory on Gangplank (like what?!). I’ve been building only Shojins on these units… TFT’s tool itself recommends you to build it as opposed to RB.
But could it be the case that RB serves the same purpose on these units? After all, they’re not mages; their attacks still deal a significant amount of damage even if their spell is their primary damage source.
Now, I’m fully aware of these factors:
Difference in stats. Shojin grants AD, (and slightly more AP than RB), and provides starting mana, RB doesn’t. How significant this is… I’m not sure.
Some champions become mana-locked during their cast.
I understand people slam items to kill components. If that is the ONLY reason people are building RBs on Corki, GP etc. then fine. But I made this post to find out if there are other reasons I’m unaware of.
So I guess my questions would be:
How important is factor [1]? Can the lack of AD be compensated by the higher cap of RB in that, if the fight lasts long enough (which late game ones absolutely do) you will start regenerating more mana than you would with Shojin? Or is that amount of AD absolutely necessary and I’m underestimating it?
How does factor [2] play into all this? Corki becomes mana locked during his spell, is that an interaction that benefits Shojin or RB? I’m truly clueless about this one.
And if [3] is the case, how come some guides are starting to recommend RBs, not just mention it as an alternative, on certain units that TFT counts as Shojin users? Are the guides simply wrong? Or is it maybe the case that RB is just good because of their specific spells this set? Or has RB always been a good slam for any AD back-liner regardless if they’re AA based or casters?
I apologise for the long post, I’ve just always wanted to tackle this topic in detail at some point so I’d rather do it once and do it right. So I shared everything I’ve been pondering about. Thank you in advance to anyone who reads it in its entirety and decides to participate in the discussion 🙏🏻
This is going to be a hard one to put into words so please bear with me.
I’ve always wanted someone to explain to me the actual difference in Shojin and RB’s effectiveness on a granular level. Nerd out with me.
So, at face value, the different usage scenarios seem straightforward; Shojin is the mana regen item for units who want to cast often (perfect example this set: Silco) and RB is the scaling attack speed item intended for units whose spell is contingent on ramping up attacks as fast as possible (perfect example this set: Kog Maw).
But it’s not always that black and white.. and thus I’ve been running into a conundrum. In TFT, units gain mana by attacking. So if Rageblade makes you attack faster (and more AAs = more mana), doesn’t this item then overlap with Shojin? Can’t Rageblade be a substitute for Shojin with the added benefit of scaling? Is Rageblade Silco troll? And if so, how troll? And why?
This becomes even more of a dilemma for me once I see all these units that Riot has labelled as “AD casters”: this set we have Gangplank, Corki, Caitlyn etc. Suddenly, I am seeing Corkis with RB. Maddie 3⭐️ plays with RB from the VODs I’ve seen. And just yesterday I read a post saying RB is mandatory on Gangplank (like what?!). I’ve been building only Shojins on these units… TFT’s tool itself recommends you to build it as opposed to RB.
But could it be the case that RB serves the same purpose on these units? After all, they’re not mages; their attacks still deal a significant amount of damage even if their spell is their primary damage source.
Now, I’m fully aware of these factors:
Difference in stats. Shojin grants AD, (and slightly more AP than RB), and provides starting mana, RB doesn’t. How significant this is… I’m not sure.
Some champions become mana-locked during their cast.
I understand people slam items to kill components. If that is the ONLY reason people are building RBs on Corki, GP etc. then fine. But I made this post to find out if there are other reasons I’m unaware of.
So I guess my questions would be:
How important is factor [1]? Can the lack of AD be compensated by the higher cap of RB in that, if the fight lasts long enough (which late game ones absolutely do) you will start regenerating more mana than you would with Shojin? Or is that amount of AD absolutely necessary and I’m underestimating it?
How does factor [2] play into all this? Corki becomes mana locked during his spell, is that an interaction that benefits Shojin or RB? I’m truly clueless about this one.
And if [3] is the case, how come some guides are starting to recommend RBs, not just mention it as an alternative, on certain units that TFT counts as Shojin users? Are the guides simply wrong? Or is it maybe the case that RB is just good because of their specific spells this set? Or has RB always been a good slam for any AD back-liner regardless if they’re AA based or casters?
I apologise for the long post, I’ve just always wanted to tackle this topic in detail at some point so I’d rather do it once and do it right. So I shared everything I’ve been pondering about. Thank you in advance to anyone who reads it in its entirety and decides to participate in the discussion 🙏🏻