Introduction

For a long period of time, Athene's Unholy Grail was the standard go-to item for AP mages that were dependant on mana. Morellonomicon could not compete with what Athene's had to offer and was irrelevant except for some few instances where it was slightly more effective to build it against an AD opponent. With buffs to Morello's and nerfs to Athene's, Morello's has become seemingly the more popular choice nowadays. Even with having Morello's in the current spotlight, Athene's still remains as a viable option as it continues to offer its utility. Both items have their strengths and weaknesses but determining which item is best for certan situations requires understanding of the differences.

Similarities

- Ability power
- 20% cooldown reduction
- 100% base mana regeneration
- Builds out of Fiendish Codex

Aside from providing AP, both items will provide essential cooldown reduction and mana regeneration so it will not matter which item you decide to build. Both items also happen to build out of Fiendish Codex which means that purchasing one on your first recall will not lock you into buying either. It opens up the opportunity to observe how your laning phase is going and later decide on your next recall if you need the offensive capabilities of Morello's or prefer to have safer and defensive traits of an Athene's.

Differences

Morellonomicon

- Cheaper
- More AP
- Grevious Wounds

Being 400 gold cheaper than Athene's means that Morello's is the more accessible option for important stats. The difference in gold could be placed elsewhere such as purchasing an extra Doran's Ring for laning phase or several wards to provide vision and safety. Morello's is the attractive option for assassins such as LeBlanc since it holds the AP advantage over Athene's. The importance of the AP advantage combined with the cooldown reduction ensures that the increased burst damage potential occurs as often as possible. In addition, Morello's Grevious Wounds passive punishes thoese who run Heal and rendering abilities such as Mundo's massive health regeneration ultimate ineffective.

Athene's Unholy Grail

- Magic Resist
- Rewards kills and assists
- More Mana restoration

Athene's offers defensive capabilities in the form of magic resist to help relieve damage against AP opponents or a team composition consisting mostly of AP damage. It complements a passive or defensive playstyle in lane where your main goal is for sit back and farm as much as possible. Its passive restores 30% of your maximum mana upon a kill or assist which means you will become extremely effective in teamfights as you will be able to output consistent damage through more rotations of spells without running low on mana. Compared to Morello's, Athene's is the better late game choice not only because it rewards kills and assists during teamfights, but because you will never have to constantly rely upon a blue buff to sustain your damage output. Athene's will generally be more forgiving than Morello's in regards to mana expenditure because of its Mana Font passive which restores 2% missing mana.

Conclusion

The rise of Morello's and the fall of Athene's may have brought Morello's effectiveness in line or perhaps even better with Athene's. However, Athene's still remains just as viable as Morello's by continuing to offer its utility and strengths that always had before. No one item completely overshadows and outclassess the other which means that you have viable options, options that were not available previously. Aside from understanding what both items have in common, knowing their differences in strengths and weaknesses will better prepare you on how to properly judge which item is best for a specific situation.