When it comes to itemization, mage items are simpler in their approach toward damage and statistics. Deathcap and Void Staff are very simple items that provide two very important damage stats: Ability Power and Magic Penetration (respectively). While the two items perform different functions, one is always going to give you more value than the other depending on when you buy it.
Void Staff gives a bigger boost to your DPS if your opponents have a large amount of Magic Resistance, while Rabadon’s Deathcap is better if your champion relies on good AP ratios and the enemy has very little Magic Resistance. Both of these items increase in value as champions level up and build more items.
While Gold efficiency is a good stat to get a general idea of an item’s worth, simply taking into account the gold efficiency of an item will not allow you to choose the better one. We will first look at the basic stats offered by the items and their gold efficiencies and then move on to their usefulness in different contexts and situations.
Void Staff
Void Staff is a 2800 Gold item. It simply provides two stats: 65 Ability Power and 40% Magic Penetration. Keep in mind that you can not build more than one Void Staff, or buy a Blighting Jewel after having bought a Void Staff. The Magic Penetration offered by Void Staff stacks multiplicatively with other sources of Percentage Magic Penetration.
Gold Efficiency
The 65 AP offered by Void Staff is worth 1413.75 Gold, while the 40% Magic Penetration is worth 2173.08 Gold. This puts the total Gold Value of Void Staff at (1413.75+2173.08)= 3586.83 Gold. This gold value puts Void Staff at 128.1% gold efficiency.
As you can see, if we just consider the stats offered by this item and the gold value they provide, then this item comes off as extremely gold efficient. However, some stats do not have predefined values. Instead, their value varies from game to game depending on the enemy team composition and itemization.
Void Staff Value
Since the Magic Penetration offered by Void Staff is based on a percentage, the value it provides will vary from game to game. Void Staff increases in value the higher the enemy’s Magic Resistance goes. We must keep in mind that if the enemy builds Magic Resistance, the total magic damage you dish out WILL go down, even with Void Staff. This is because Void Staff is only negating 40% of all Magic Resistance gained by the enemy.
However, this also means that while the enemy has to spend additional gold to gain additional Magic Resistance, Void Staff will negate more and more Magic Resistance for the same price. This shoots the value of Void Staff through the roof when the enemy has the ability to stack Magic Resistance.
Rabadon’s Deathcap
Rabadon’s Deathcap is a 3600 Gold item, making it the most expensive item in the entire game. It gives a flat 120 Ability Power, which is the only stat offered by this item. The Unique Passive on Rabadon’s Deathcap is what makes it so valuable, it increases your total Ability Power by 35%. This is a massive boost in total Ability Power for champions that specifically build AP heavy items and rely on a large amount of AP to increase their damage output.
Gold Efficiency
Since the passive on Rabadon’s Deathcap applies to the AP it provides, the total AP gained JUST from buying it is (120+42)=162 Ability Power. Since the only stat offered by this item is the Ability Power, we can calculate the total gold efficiency by adding the gold efficiency of its base AP and passive AP.
The 120 AP is worth 2610 Gold, while the 42 AP is worth 913.5 Gold. This brings the total gold value of this item to (2610+913.5)= 3523.5 Gold. At this point, Rabadon’s Deathcap is already 97.88% gold efficient. This puts Rabadon’s Deathcap as an already efficient item. However, this is not going to be your first item, which guarantees that its gold value will be higher than 3523 in every practical situation.
Rabadon’s Deathcap Value
Similar to Void Staff, Rabadon’s Deathcap does not have a fixed value. In fact, both of these items are being compared because their value depends on either your items or the enemy’s items. Rabadon’s Deathcap increases in value the more AP you have in total. Each source providing you AP will be amplified, increasing the total AP from every source by 35%.
Thus Rabadon’s Deathcap will also spike harder upon completion if you buy it as late as possible. Buying it last item will grant you a massive boost in strength, but it might not be the optimal time to buy it because League of Legends revolves around gaining tempo, snowballing, and spiking as fast as possible. Buying this item late for maximum value puts you at risk of losing the game without ever hitting this spike.
Magic Penetration Vs Ability Power
Since we have already described how these two items can be game changers when it comes to Power Spikes in the mid game, we must now go over cases where one is better than the other. Some champions have a very high amount of base damage on their magic damage skills with poor AP ratios, while others may have poor/decent base damage but with very large AP ratios.
In cases where your champion relies on the base damage in their kit and does not benefit a lot from building Ability Power, Magic Penetration offers a lot of value because it removes a large portion of damage reduction that every champion inherently has. If the enemy has low amounts of Magic Resistance, then even Shadowflame and Boots of Sorcery are enough to penetrate through their defenses.
- However, Void Staff does an amazing job of dealing with large amounts of Magic Resistance. If your champion relies on strong AP ratios on abilities to deal damage, then you might want to build Items with large amounts of AP and top it off with a Rabadon’s Deathcap for a massive boost in power.
- If you are dealing with enemies with less than ~50 MR, then the damage you gain out of Rabadon’s Deathcap will be more valuable than Void Staff granted you have: High AP Ratios on your damage abilities, and at least two other sources of AP to amplify the value of Deathcap’s passive.
As the enemies continue to build more and more Magic Resistances, Void Staff easily overtakes Rabadon’s Deathcap when it comes to damage output. Lack of Magic Penetration will heavily dampen the impact Rabadon’s Deathcap has, even at large amounts of AP. Keep in mind that Void Staff is significantly cheaper than Rabadon’s Deathcap.
Verdict
Deciding between the two items heavily depend on the champion you are playing, the state of the game, and the enemy team’s items. Void Staff is always a safe bet if your opponents are building a lot of Magic Resistance. Rabadon’s Deathcap is a good buy when it gives you a significant boost to your Ability Power (3rd or 4th Item), and if your champion benefits from AP Ratios.
Keep in mind that you can simply build both items, and decide their order based on what offers you an immediate benefit. Void Staff is much easier to finish but may provide less value early as the enemy is unlikely to have built Magic Resistance at this point. Building Rabadon’s Deathcap early grants you suboptimal value, and it takes too long to finish.
So if after all this talk, you still can’t figure out what to buy, simply buy Void Staff when you are behind/Enemy has over 50 MR. Buy Rabadon’s Deathcap when you plan to have a full AP build and your champion relies on a lot of AP to deal damage.
Conclusion
Both Void Staff and Rabadon’s Deathcap offer great value as the game goes on. However, if you have to pick one or the other, you must always be aware of the factors that affect their values. Keep track of your Ability Power and the enemy’s Magic Resistance if you plan to make the best decision for yourself.
