Scrim (3)
The Raizir I planned to play was a Smite AP Raizir… or, to be more precise, what you could call "Rune Saber Raizir." Before diving into that Raizir, though, you need to understand the item called "Rune Saber."
Rune Saber is one of the final upgrades from Tarzan's Machete, the jungle item you can only buy if you're running Smite. The Tarzan's Machete system is a bit complicated. It allows for two upgrades total. The first gives extra effects to Smite, while the second directly boosts your stats. Each upgrade tier has four options.
The first upgrades are Tracker’s Blade, Scout’s Sabre, Poacher’s Knife, and Vanguard Trailblazer (often called blue, red, white, and purple based on their colors). Tracker’s Blade and Scout’s Sabre let you use Smite on enemy champions, though the damage is heavily reduced. Tracker’s Blade adds a slow, while Scout’s Sabre applies damage reduction.
Poacher’s Knife cuts Smite cooldown by 50% when you Smite large jungle monsters in the enemy jungle, plus bonus gold and a brief move speed buff. It's so high-risk—and the other options are so strong—that I've never seen anyone use it.
Finally, Vanguard Trailblazer reduces Smite cooldown by 25%, deals 50% splash damage to nearby monsters around the target (minions count as monsters, naturally), and stuns all enemies in range—even opposing champions! On top of that, it restores 15% of your lost health and mana.
The second upgrades are Devourer, Flame Giant, Dragonlord, and Rune Saber. Think attack speed, tankiness, AD, and AP boosts, respectively. Devourer adds bonus damage on basic attacks, Flame Giant deals percent-health damage around you, and Dragonlord has sky-high stats with no extra effects.
So what about Rune Saber? It used to be called Archmage with a different effect, but it got remade. It was just raw AP and cooldown reduction with no utility—which was fine for AD champs like Dragonlord, but AP builds needed more. The remake added a new passive: Magic Sword.
Magic Sword adds bonus damage to your next basic attack after using a skill. There are a couple other Magic Sword items, but Rune Saber stands out because its Magic Sword damage hits in an area. Others only hit the direct target, but Rune Saber splashes around them.
As you can tell from how long this explanation is, my mid-lane Smite AP Raizir went Tarzan's Machete → Vanguard Trailblazer → Rune Saber. Short version: Rune Saber Raizir.
Why take Raizir AP in the first place? All his skills scale with AP—and really well, better than most pure mages.
"Then why isn't AP Raizir a thing?" Simple: wave clear sucks. His multi-target skills are W, Spell Torrent, and ult, Killing Spree. But Spell Torrent only targets enemy champions, and you can't just ult to clear waves.
"What about Q, Mystic Arrow? Short cooldown, right?" Nope—Q is Raizir's only low-AP-scaling skill. It scales great with AD instead. In short, AP Raizir has zero wave clear, weak main damage tool, but insane burst on single champions. No wave clear is a dealbreaker, so it's basically a meme pick no one uses.
But remember what I said? Rune Saber gives Magic Sword as AoE damage. Plus, Raizir's Q has an "on-hit" effect like Teemo's Q. So what happens when your Rune Saber AP Raizir Qs a minion? Magic Sword procs AoE around it.
One core in, the damage is meh—but that's fine. Raizir's Q has a super short cooldown, so you can spam the effect. Consistent low damage still clears waves. It fixes AP Raizir's fatal flaw.
I called it "zero wave clear and weak main skill," but Rune Saber flips both into strengths. End result? A tier-1 mobility kit, solid wave clear, huge main-skill damage with short CD, enough burst in one combo to delete most carries. Total all-purpose mage.
If I know how to play Raizir, no reason not to. That's why I picked it. (Vanguard Trailblazer for sustain, stuns on enemies near minions, and scouting. Thought about Scout’s Sabre, but damage was plenty already.)
One downside to Rune Saber Raizir: weak early game. But unless you throw hard, it's over by 10 minutes. Jungle items are cheap by design. Raizir can farm safely and dodge fights if he wants, so as long as I don't get greedy, it's not an issue. Goal: survive until Rune Saber completes. Then make them regret it.
You have killed an enemy!
This is Lucius Brum power!
"Dude, mid's farming too safely. I'm heading bot."
Ten minutes in with no mid mishaps, our mid called a bot roam. Considering Yunho's laning skills, that was good news. Trouble was brewing bot instead.
Hyun-su, who blindly picked mage ADC, got a taste of bot-lane hell. Yunho farmed so well that Jade even roamed bot for a perfect dive. Full-HP dive incoming soon.
Sorry, Sung-woo… but balance demands it. Jade and Lucius at 60% HP, push tower a bit then bail. Raizir's MIA is a red flag, but with just Vanguard Trailblazer? Not scary. (I'd already B'd home after taking damage in the dive.)
Lee Sin grew strong off top Fiona, but spotting him mid let me commit to wrecking bot tower. Jade shadow-dashed in, Lucius E'd up—
Enemy Double Kill!
"...What?"
"What kinda insane damage is that!?"
Screens grayed out in seconds. They yelled in shock. Raizir's Killing Spree flew from the fog wall—then Spell Shift—Spell Torrent—Mystic Arrow. Jade and Lucius evaporated.
Killing Spree chunked massive HP, Spell Shift-Spell Torrent popped Jade, and Lucius—caught in both—shattered to Q.
"Huh…?"
Raizir's ult is strong, but not that strong. And that Spell Shift-Spell Torrent damage? Way beyond normal. Had to be AP Raizir.
Tension eased. Even a safe farm AP Raizir was fine—wave clear's trash, unplayable operationally. A half-baked gimmick.
That obvious call was dead wrong.
Bot minions vanishing to Smite + Rune Saber proc screamed "weakness fixed."
"Ah…"
Finally got it. Why a laner takes weird Smite Commander's Authority, and picks Rune Saber. "AP Raizir clears waves like shit, but damage ceiling matches or beats AD." Rune Saber erased the flaw.
"Revolt bastards…"
Who puts Magic Sword on a jungle item? Don't they play their own game? And Jung Yunho figuring it out overnight? Rune Saber dropped yesterday. Genius gap hurts.
Rune Saber's base stats are gold-efficient. But Magic Sword scaling ramps mid-game on AP, so early damage sucks. Junglers rush it first—flaw ignored for good reason. Never dreamed of mid AP Raizir.
Yunho's talent again. Dark thoughts creep in. No—calm down. Game's not over. Refocus.
"Taek-jun, lemme try assassinating that Raizir."
Our Jade called the mark. Matchup-wise, doable. Full-HP gank viable before Sandglass of Twilight. She's our second-best after me, Plat… worth a shot? Nah, honestly no hope. Yunho's skill vs. ours? Zero chance. How even kill it?
Jade ulted instantly as Raizir kept distance. He walked to our nearby minions. As Jade arrived, Smite on minion → purple stun proc → Killing Spree.
Jade lost half HP but bravely shadow-summoned and threw shurikens. Raizir sidestepped all three. No options left, Jade retreated—but Raizir chased: Spell Shift–Spell Torrent–Mystic Arrow. All direct hits. No surviving that.
Enemy is slaughtering!
"What? He's Plat, right!!"
Our Jade, hierarchy-schooled by equal-tier, screamed in horror. No helping it—tier Plat, skill way higher.
Lucky I'm Brum, Raizir counter. Didn't pick for lane bully—picked to shut down that Raizir. I slapped my cheeks to refocus and told the team:
"Guys, can you follow my calls from now?"
"I'll make us win this."
If we grit our teeth and mark Raizir hard… it's possible. Not impossible.