Talk:Fizz/@comment-68.193.173.8-20120815030324/@comment-97.93.23.48-20120816021707

Because of several reasons.

NLR gives 65 more AP, so assuming he's vested on poke, he'll trade with a roughly 2.4 AP ration (WQE with an extra auto), meaning a NLR gives him 156 extra damage. Very high, yes.

At level 6, he has 71 base AD so that's the bonus damage sheen gives. He can proc sheen twice in that WQE combo, so that's 142 damage, physical - and a lot of AP mids don't run armor, and even if they do they won't have higher armor than MR against a fizz. On top of this, it gives him 250 extra mana (that's an extra two Playfuls!) and is cheaper and more cost-efficient early in his build.

There's really very little to choose between them, neither are wrong and neither is severely more effective than the other.

Building that sheen into a mid to late Lich bane makes his Q an extremely powerful nuke, given its Lich proc + 0.95 AP ratio with W activated, his q alone can do 2.3 AP in mixed physical and magic damage, making it hard to withstand it.

Sheen is for when Fizz wants to have more consistent dps and more reliable mana, especially if he's smart and maxes E, because those playfuls don't come cheap. Rushing a NLR is for when fizz is REALLY ahead and wants to pressure lanes with his entire (including ult) burst.