In Season 5 of Teamfight Tactics, Statikk Shiv was once an extremely hot item due to its excellent interaction with the hyper-roll Demon playstyle featuring Ziggs as the main carry. However, in recent patches, this item has gradually been “forgotten” by players, and statistical websites have rated Statikk Shiv very low. So what is the cause of this decline?
Fairly speaking, Statikk Shiv is a relatively decent item for early and mid-game with certain units. Champions like Ashe and Ziggs can completely carry the team in stages 2-3 with this item as they deal good magic damage and have high attack speed. However, the limited number of champions that can effectively use Statikk Shiv is also a weakness that leads to its low rating.
To assemble Statikk Shiv, you need a Recurve Bow and a Tear of the Goddess. However, these are both high-value components that are fiercely contested in each selection round. Given their high value, players want to combine them into strong and long-lasting items. Therefore, an item that is only strong in the early to mid-game like Statikk Shiv is often overlooked.
Moreover, the damage dealt by Statikk Shiv is just a fixed number and does not interact very well with champion strength. This makes Statikk Shiv appear extremely “weak” in the late game as other items provide significantly higher output damage. The ability to reduce magic resistance of this item is a noteworthy factor, but it cannot be compared to powerful damage-increasing items like Infinity Edge or Hand of Justice.
Clearly, with the current meta game leaning towards late-game stages with 4-5 gold carries at 2 stars, an item that is only strong in the early and mid-game like Statikk Shiv will be ignored. Even hyper-roll teams in the current meta like Kled – Demon, Kha’Zix – Assassin must have stable power in the late game to be utilized. It wouldn’t be surprising if this item continues to be rated low in the remaining patches of Season 5.
I believe Riot Games should take steps to buff or add effects to this item to make it more valuable in the future. Riot could add an effect that deals damage based on maximum health for Statikk Shiv on its zap effect so that this item interacts better with the champion’s attack speed. If they want versatility, they could make each zap of Statikk Shiv disable the opponent for a short time (an effect Riot has confirmed will return in Season 6).
In summary, Statikk Shiv is a type of item that is very picky about its users and lacks sufficient power in the late game in Teamfight Tactics. These are the main reasons why this item is currently rated extremely low and is not widely used in the current meta.