I for one am looking for the return of adc dominance since s2. Since their nerf at the start of season 3, every other role has managed to take the spotlight at some point (Top in mid s3, support in early s4, jungle during the feral flare and lizard elder era, and mid since forever (although this one is understandable and should be kept like that due to their positioning on the map), but mostly during the end of s3 where assassins ran wild). Now we're back and the cycle starts anew.
Also most champs don't have access to aoe shields/heals in their kit. I think I can only think of Lux (whose shield mechanism is extremely awkward), Alistar (Riot hates his heal), Janna (ult), Karma, and Thresh.
Anyways I can't really predict from these changes where things will go because so many changes are going on at once. A special mention to Ezreal as he can charge up BT's overheal from a distance through Qs. I'll just leave a few differences here and maybe someone will figure it out. Assuming full build situations, an adc with BT/Scimitar/IE/LW/PD/Zerks will end up with:
+5% AS
+10 AD
+50% movespeed for 1s during Scimitar's active.
-3% lifesteal
+Overheal
Full Build cost increased by 500g (+350 from BT, +100 from Scimitar, +50g from zerks). Calcs assume fullstack BT.
compared to before. Seems like there are fairly significant buffs- probably mostly from the overheal feature. But remember, this is only for lategame. But if we want to talk about lategame, there is midgame to go through.
Midgame progression: (Dblade/BT/PD/Zerks)
-21 AD
-10 health
+Overheal (probably ~200ish shield and around 33% more health than ruby crystal).
-0% Lifesteal
+5% AS
-3 life on hit passive
Cost increased by 400g.
Noticeable nerfs here. -20 AD is a tough loss (720g worth of AD, although the true value should be smaller as items become more efficient. But that's a topic for another time). Overheal would probably be worth ~530g if you count that as health, which won't be enough to compensate for the AD loss. Plus, the total build costs 400g more. However, zeal is buffed so maybe that can be helpful.
Now the Bork build path. Let's assume bork/ie/pd/lw/zerks/scimitar
+30 AD
-5% Lifesteal
+5% AS
+50% movespeed for 1s during scimitar's active
+Bork damage shifted to passive (this will be a buff).
Cost increased by 150g
And midgame path (DBlade/Bork/PD/zerks)
+5% AS
-2% Lifesteal
-3 life on hit
-1 AD
-10 health
+Bork damage shift
Cost increased by 50g
Im not sure whether that's a midgame buff or nerf but the lategame buff seems pretty strong (especially when you consider the midgame). Bork-utilizing adcs will enjoy these buffs (and Ezreal). Oh and unless Riot significantly nerfs Lucian he'll still be strong with these item changes because his passive lets him make use of Bork rather effectively, and he can change his build from BT/Tri to Bork/Tri if needed).
If nothing else, I am pretty happy with the removal of the ms slow from Randuin's passive. 10% MS slow doesnt seem a whole lot but it really screws with your kiting. Also it makes Udyr more unviable which I am pretty happy with because I hate Udyr with a passion.
Adcs to keep an eye on:
- Vayne had the tendency to go out of control in games and she has less competition now with the BT path nerfs.
- Kog is currently a high tier pick and he benefits from these changes.
- Draven because he got a new skin but also having to deal with the BT nerf. Due to his nature as a snowball oriented adc, he seems to take a bigger hit than any other adc as he was reliant on utilizing his powerspikes to further progress into the game. Or you could run into IE rush Dravens who would crit you for 50% of your HP. WHo knows?
- Twitch will be nerfed but these changes can probably compensate for him. Also, the Ghostblade buff improves his assassination potential so he could very easily end up being stronger than before.
- Because of BT's weaker midgame strength, Tristana could rise here as her main weakness is less of an issue. Keep in mind that lategame trist is unrivaled in power and if she can pass through her midgame fine, she will become a monster.
- Caitlyn's build path will probably change. She was once an IE/PD adc before everyone realized that BT is so ridiculous. Jinx will probably go IE PD as well.
LASTLY
The new ad/mana restore item looks really nice on Jayce. I've always wanted to build crit on Jayce due to its ridiculous interaction with W, but there was always something that he had to sacrifice (mana, cdr, or lifesteal). This item puts all of those into a cute little package and allows me to build something else in the spare slots!
Essence Reaver/Ghostblade (now buffed too)/IE/LW/CDR boots/defensive item. Lategame you can be healing for 50+ mana per auto which easily keeps your poke ammo sustained. And when they get into your autoattack range you have nearly a 100% uptime on W to shred everything to pieces. Ghostblade's buff allows Jayce to run around more freely as well.
TL;DR: Big midgame nerfs for BT adcs, while Bork adcs seem relatively unphased. Lategame buffs overall.