Chalice of Power/Chalice of Light
First, the two component items of the Chalice of Power are the Cloak and the Tear – two items that can be considered quite hot as they can be combined into many more useful items like Bloodthirster, Dragon Claw, Rapid Firecannon, or Shojin Spear, Blue Buff, and Rod of Ages… In summary, almost all players will choose to use the Cloak and the Tear for more useful items rather than an item that provides 30 AP for the owner and 2 units on either side.
The same goes for the Chalice of Light. Perhaps, except for compositions revolving around Karma or Vel’Koz – champions that possess strong area-of-effect magic damage, items like the Chalice of Power and Chalice of Light only find their place. However, currently, both Karma and Vel’Koz have somewhat lost their position since their debut due to numerous meta counters against these two names. Of course, a composition with Vel’Koz or Karma is still strong, but if they are not used as the main carry or if the adjacent units lack the durability for these champions to maximize the effectiveness of the two items mentioned, it would be a significant waste.
Giant Slayer/Demon Slayer
Originally used to take down tanky units, especially very useful during metas with 3-star Sett, 3-star Hecarim, or 3-star Warwick. However, since the end of Season 5 and up to the current point of Season 5.5, the Giant Slayer and even the Demon Slayer are no longer hot items. In fact, many players would rather choose a defensive item if forced to pick between the Demon Slayer and other defensive or mana-boosting items.
The reasoning for this could be that currently, units selected as main damage dealers often prioritize fast attacks to activate their abilities or deal damage as much as possible, while requiring items to ensure comprehensive offense and defense, whereas Giant Slayer/Demon Slayer simply increases damage and cannot compare with Infinity Edge (in both versions) or similarly with Guardian Angel, Hand of Justice…
Moreover, the tank units nowadays often focus on damage mitigation, crowd control effects, armor reduction, and magic resistance reduction… while champions like Brawlers have essentially been out of the meta for a long time. Therefore, Giant Slayer/Demon Slayer gradually “fades into the past.”
Iron Solari Chain/Chain of Targon
Theoretically, during a meta where shield formations like Knights, Armorers, or Riders are rising as they are now, defensive items for the whole team like Iron Solari Chain or its Light version should indeed become hot items, but in practice, this has not happened. It can be said that only in dire circumstances do players have to combine or choose this item as if “there’s nothing better.”
Although it has good damage mitigation capabilities, the reality is that similar to the Chalice of Power, both the Rod of Ages and the Chain Vest can be combined into better items, and particularly, the Rod of Ages is highly contested, making it not easy to obtain, so most players will prioritize using the Rod for their main carry to increase power. Meanwhile, the Chain Vest will be combined into items like Sunfire Cloak, Thornmail, or Dragon’s Claw that are more effective defensively.
Additionally, the defensive strength of Knights, Riders, or Armorers largely comes from system activation. Therefore, only a few units in this category require additional items to increase durability and effectiveness when casting their abilities, such as Galio, Rell… The second point is that the usual lineup arrangement does not necessarily line up everything in a horizontal line, which inadvertently prevents Iron Solari Chain/Chain of Targon from maximizing its effectiveness.