ADC is one of the most sensitive positions, where not only the champion selection but also the item build needs to be accurate to avoid a significant drop in damage. Even for champions considered the strongest in the meta like Aphelios, this rule holds true, as despite having a unique skill set, auto-attack damage still plays a crucial role.
Recently, Riot Games expert – Shakarez had to publicly criticize several ADCs from major teams for building the wrong item for Aphelios, specifically the Soul Reaper. The Riot expert even exclaimed, “It wasn’t until I watched the EU Masters (the second tier of the LEC) that I saw someone build Infinity Edge for Aphelios instead of the Soul Reaper.”
Riot Games expert – Shakarez: “Oh my God, I only saw Aphelios building straight into Infinity Edge after watching the EU Masters. I feel like too many people are using the Soul Reaper, Caps and Zven also used that build, and Wink from Estar built this item as well. Honestly, I feel like that champion won’t deal any damage until they have three items with this build.”
“Alright, I missed the LCK tournament, both Deft and Teddy used the Infinity Edge build first.”
Putting aside factors like the cost of the items, the nature of the Soul Reaper and Infinity Edge is completely different in how they deal damage. The Soul Reaper provides an additional 20% cooldown reduction, direct attack damage, and energy regeneration passive, making it suitable for champions that deal damage with skills combined with auto-attacks. The two most representative examples are Miss Fortune and Xayah.
On the other hand, Infinity Edge has a passive that increases critical damage; essentially, this item enhances the damage from auto-attacks for champions that possess it. Champions that prioritize Infinity Edge like Jinx and Caitlyn are strong in terms of auto-attack damage, with their skills primarily aimed at positioning and kiting opponents rather than focusing on damage output.
Returning to the issue of Aphelios, many players build the Soul Reaper for this champion partly because it is the recommended item that Riot placed in the shop. This has led many to use this item for Aphelios, gradually becoming a habit that is hard to change, even for professional players.
However, the essence of Aphelios is that he relies heavily on auto-attacks; his skills have great versatility, but you must continuously auto-attack beforehand to use his abilities effectively. Moreover, Aphelios only has two active skills (including the ultimate), and after switching gun forms, the skill resets immediately, so the benefits from the cooldown reduction and energy regeneration stats of the Soul Reaper are significantly diminished.
It’s no coincidence that most top ADCs in the LCK and LPL have switched to using Infinity Edge as their core item instead of Soul Reaper. In the match between DragonX and T1 yesterday, both Teddy and Deft used Infinity Edge to gain early power. Indeed, the Soul Reaper may be used more, but it inadvertently weakens Aphelios compared to using Infinity Edge.
