Using Rekkles's Frozen Mallet on AD Carries
A look into the use of Frozen Mallet on AD Carries, recently popularized by Fnatic's ADC, Rekkles.
Frozen Mallet has always been a strange item in League of Legends, due to Riot being confused on what they want to do with it. In the past, it's been an item for bruisers to rush, to an off tank item, to a useless item, and now it's being used to AD Carries. It's gone through numerous build path changes, but it's finally found its footing. Fnatic's Rekkles has been using Frozen Mallet as a 3rd item on three AD Carries in particular-- Vayne, Twitch, and Tristana. Let's look into how Frozen Mallet could be useful for you in your games.
Frozen Mallet Breakdown
It is necessary to note that Frozen Mallet is an incredibly situational item. It only serves its purpose on certain champions at certain times, and that is where I disagree with Rekkles' choices. He went Blade of the Ruined King -> Runaan's Hurricane -> Frozen Mallet when he had the lead and when he didn't. However, Frozen Mallet is an item that really can only function well when the user is the aggressor. When you are chasing your enemies, it is useful, but when they're coming at you, it doesn't do much. So my first recommendation is to only buy it when you are the aggressor.
And on that note, the most important thing that you should know before using this item is that it only functions as a 3rd item choice. First and second will lead to low damage outputs, and fifth is far too late to make use of it. A third item slot is the perfect slot for a Mallet.
Rune Page
One thing that is important to notice before you hop into game is that Rekkles does not use a standard ADC page. It looks a little something like this, which may look a bit strange, but it does help.
As you can see, this page is optimized to help you get through your early game. The four ADC's that can use this build are relatively weaker laners, and having no scaling runes is a good way to make up for that. Because you rush a BotRK, you get one Life Steal Quint to make up for the flat health instead of Armor. The main idea of this page is that Life Steal, Health, and Attack Speed go together to keep you healthy throughout laning, letting you farm safely to get to your big spikes.
What Champions Should I Buy This On?
Rekkles primarily utilitized the Mallet on Vayne, Twitch, and Tristana. I think these three are most of the champions that can use it well, but he didn't get the chance to use it on the 4th ADC that I think it works well on-- Kog'Maw.
Frozen Mallet is a replacement of an item such as Infinity Edge, or any other third item. Basically, it must be used on a champion that can provide a sufficient damage output with their first two items and these are the four that are the standouts.
All of them build a Blade of the Ruined King into a Runaan's Hurricane, with the exception of Vayne who goes for a Phantom Dancer or Rapid Firecannon. They are hypercarry champions that want their team to play around them. With the Hurricane and Mallet combination, Twitch, Kog'Maw, and Tristana are able to apply a slow to an entire team while melting them.
As of the moment, these are the four champions that I have tested the build with and seen success, but always try to experiment yourself. I was looking to try the build on Varus, so that might work too. The boxes the champion must check are that they must do well with two items, and they must have some use for the Mallet slow passive. If you got that down, Mallet could work.
What Situations Do I Use This In
Despite all of the positives I have given in favor of buying Frozen Mallet, it's not meant to be used in every game. To put it in short, if you are ahead or go even in your lane, go right ahead and buy yourself a Frozen Mallet. But if you're not ahead, maybe you die a couple times, I would suggest going a more traditional route.
The reasoning behind this is that the Mallet's Icy passive is nearly useless when you aren't the one with the shove, and the one who starts engages. Rekkles did use it when he was behind, but I disagree with that choice. Other than that, I think it is the optimal choice for these particular champions as a 3rd item.
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