Is Deathfire Grasp Still Worth It For Master Yi Or Veigar in S3? The OP Analysis

Objective : To determine whether Deathfire Grasp is still viable for burst type heroes such as Master Yi or Veigar.

Method : Compare the total damage taken by a hero with 1000Hp and 500Hp between S2 and S3 Deathfire Grasp. Also compare the gold efficiency between S2 & S3 DFG.

Data Analysis & Discussion :

As can be seen above, the damage output with DFG when the victim has 2000HP is much higher with S2 DFG compared to S3 DFG. However, when the victim is down to 50% of its health (1000HP), the S3 DFG deals slightly more damage than S2 DFG.

The subsequent damage dealt by level 5 Alpha strike remains the same for S2 DFG, but with S3 DFG, the damage dealt increases by 20% due to the debuff effect of the new S3 DFG. The total damage output (DFG + Alpha) with S2 DFG when the victim has 2000HP is slightly higher than S3 DFG. But when the victim only has 50% of its HP. The S3 DFG deals a significantly higher damage than S2 DFG.

S2 DFG (0.37) has a higher gold efficiency than S3 DFG (0.26) when the victim has 2000 HP. S3 DFG (0.26) is slightly better than S2 DFG (0.258) when the victim has 1000HP.

Conclusion : The viability of S3 DFG Vs S2 DFG becomes situational. S3 DFG seems to be a better choice for burst type AP heroes (ie Master Yi) when he is partnered with a good initiator (Malphite, WK, etc) who can deal significant initial damage to the enemy carry compared to S2 DFG. But when the team relies heavily on AP hero to initiate and to deal that initial damage, S3 DFG seems to be weaker compared to S2 DFG. IMHO, S3 DFG is at least viable for AP Master Yi because his success relies heavily on initiators. The S3 DFG is a nerf to Veigar who specializes in killing carry with full health.

Soon after I completed the above analysis, I played a game using AP Master Yi with my friends.