Talk:Akali/@comment-5211662-20160705123209/@comment-5211662-20160713000249

I wouldn't say magic damage is necessarily better than physical damage. Keep in mind that while there are tons of armor items, generally as a tanky champion, you will only need one magic damage against the enemy AP champion, and if you need more protection you can just build HP items, since most AP champions are bursty. Because many HP items also offer armor, tanks end up with a lot of protection against the enemy ADC's sustained damage, while retaining protection against the enemy AP's burst. In addition, magic resistance items are cheaper than armor items in general.

Also, as I explained, most APs are burst based. They rely 100% on their spells to do damage,  so unless they have some sort of auto modifier, have DoTs, or rely on spells with very low cooldowns, they are generally going to do burst damage, which makes one magic resistance item enough against their burst. As an AD, generally you will have auto attacks to backup you if your spells are on cooldown, also there is the fact that most ADs do sustained damage; there is rarely an AP champion wich is pure burst, and even those bursty ADs still tend to have some sustained damage, especially due to their autos, examples include Zed and Kha'Zix. That's why you need tons of armor items to protect against them when compared to when itemizing against APs.

Then there is the fact that ADs generally have better itemization options. Aside from pure AD, they get lifesteal, lots of armor penetration items, attack speed, and crit. APs don't really have any options other than purchasing pure AP items or magic penetration. Speaking of which, there are only two magic penetration items other than Sorcerer's Shoes, and one of them isn't suitable enough for the majority of AP champions. They also lack sustain - spellvamp items were removed and Hextech Gunblade is more of a hybrid item than an AP item - and they do not have something close to crit for them. They have Nashor's Tooth if they want sustained damage but truth to be told this item lacks synergy with most AP champions. Options for AP champions are pretty limited, while AD champions have tons of ways to increase their damage other than just their AD.

Also, while AP items are cheaper than AD items (they aren't that cheaper, though) they tend to have lower AP on average when compared to how much AD the AD items have on average. Many AP items are also utility focused, while ADs have tons of purely offensive options.

I don't think that the fact that there are tons of armor items and tanks stack tons of armor means that magic damage is better than physical damage. In fact, the mere fact that champions need to stack a lot of armor just to protect against that pesky ADC means that physical damage is superior in terms of itemization. When it comes to the damage, yes, one can argue that magic damage is better, but because of the aforementioned reasons, this isn't actually a big deal.