Executioner's Calling was removed and looking back on it... it was a... hopefull (wanted to be good, with a good premise), but ultimately it was useless, weak and failed item. It was nice to have under certain circumstances, though even then it was hard to notice any difference.
What did the item do again?[]
It's stats had exactly 100% gold efficiency without the passive. That sounds good right? Well not exactly. Completed items often have around 120-170% gold efficiency without their passives. By the way it costs 1900 gold.... Most completed items are close to 2800 gold. So not only do its stats barely cover the cost, but it takes up an item slot, and only amounts to about about one half an item, as far as stats and passives go.
Additionally the passive was pretty poor too. It applies grievous wounds (50% reduced healing, and regeneration) on champions who you auto attack. Okay what does that accomplish? It can hurt champions with high sustain such as Dr. Mundo, Zac, and Nasus (and others) and can help stifle the outrageously annoying heals from Nami, Sona, and Janna (But mostly Soraka). So it seems like there are only two lanes where you would buy this. Top lane; because most self sustain champions hide out their, and bottom lane; as a marksman trading with the enemy support and marksman.
Why was this thing here in the first place?[]
Allow me to take you back to a dark and terrible time. It is SEASON ONE, you have never heard of a "unique" passive or active ability. Bloodthirster still gains stacks from minion and monster kills to gain attack damage and life steal, which stacks up to 25%. So you want to play an "ADC"? (Dinosaur talk for Marksman) You are considering purchasing an infinity edge? Why not three bloodthristers instead? Just heal up one half of your health per hit. TADA YOU ARE THE TANK ON THIS TEAM.
This item is an obvious counter buy to the above strategy. It only costs 1900, with a gold generation item on the way in case you can't buy it outright. Seems logical right? So rito, in later seasons, changed its life steal to not stack with itself, and changed its stacking mechanic to some kind of shield thingy that no one really pays attention to.
TLDR; they killed the monster that was Bloodthirster.
After it was no longer beneficial to purchase multiple Bloodthirsters there was no reason to purchase Executioners calling, and as such it was removed from the game (They took their sweet time actually).
Proposal?[]
It is pretty clear as to why it was removed looking back on it, but what could RITO do if it was reintroduced? How could they keep its identity, while making it viable and fun to buy?
 1900 ( 740) | ||||||||||
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There are a lot of things we could do to this item, however I don't think we need to change it all that much. Slapping more stats on it would feel a bit forced, and not help the feeling of the item. A friend of mine suggested we make its passive prevent all healing, but that would hard counter healing, which is highly toxic.
Instead I would only make the item smaller. (que to click the next tab)
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I have replaced avarice blade with a brawlers glove and reduced the combine cost from 740g to 390g. The item now costs 1150 total (750g cheaper). Its stats have been lowered to compensate (10 less AD and 10% less crit chance) its stats are worth 1040g (90.4% gold efficient) so the passive needs to be worth at least 110g in order to be gold efficient.
The item now counts how much health has been denied your enemies, and is displayed as a buff on your champion. Once you reach 500 stacks you can upgrade the item into Darkwill's Neck Cleaver.
These moderate changes do several big things. First it adds clarity as to what the item itself is doing. You bought it, you should notice. Second there should be a feeling of satisfaction knowing that the Dr. Mundo on the enemy team was just cheated 350 health from those few auto attacks you gave him during his ultimate.
Third; the item is much cheaper. You can buy it quite early (During the laning phase) so that you can start countering your enemies even faster, while at the same time start building those stacks. I did state that part of the problem with Executioner's Calling was that it wasn't worth taking up an item slot late game. This is true even for this item, however it won't be a completed item, but will make a great legendary item later on. It should give the item the same feeling Manamune and Archangel's staff have: the possibility of becoming something far greater.
(que to click the next tab)
This item will not upgrade itself automatically if the components are in your inventory. It must be upgraded in the shop, though its combine cost is 0 gold. It still required 500 of those stacks mentioned in my version of Executioner's Calling
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Darkwill's Neck Cleaver is 121% gold efficient without its passive or active/passive. (Attack Stat is worth 2520gp and Crit stat is worth 1000gp.) However this item now costs 2900 gold (1000 more than the original Exacutioner's calling). This makes the item big enough to fill a late game item slot.
I would hope that the little counter for how much health you have cheated your opponents would still tick away after you have completed the item.
Now this item would be a good counter for an enemy healer in bot lane and would go nicely on an attack oriented assassin or bruiser in the top lane. You can get the grievous wounds passive while still in lane, and build it up slightly long before you need to roam. Depending on your opponent you may be able to complete the item before the laning phase even ends!
"HOLD ON! Grrrbear, you said that slapping on a pile of stats would seem lazy and not really build onto the item, and nothing new and fun has been added to the final item!"
Oh right, there is room for a new passive or active in there! I am going to suggest a passive or active that is worth far more than stats. (Actually I am going to suggest several because I am terrible at deciding and have so many ideas.) Read the passives and actives below, then vote on the one you think is the most appropriate for Darkwill's Neck Cleaver!Passive and Active Possibilities[]
Some of the below categories have multiple suggestions. They are not meant to exist at the same time on Darkwill's Neck Cleaver.
The majority of supports with heals are not tanky (Alistar.... uh... Shen?), and those who are don't have the best heals in the game. Therefore this item could be built specifically to deal with annoying supports, and what are annoying supports? They are the supports able to kite and apply CC.
(I will be using ability frames because it looks good)
This passive doesn't take the power to kite and hold you down away from supports, however it does allow you some leeway when chasing them down. Note that it only procs from hard CC. Silences, blinds, and slows do not activate this passive.
This item would be fantastic on Olaf during his ultimate, as the CC wouldn't hold him down, but would trigger the passive.
Its not exactly a quicksilver sash, and not exactly a Zhonias. It just puts a pause on all forms of crowd control to allow you to dodge the next big hit, deliver that final blow, or just stick like a Skarner. Its best use is right before being hit with CC, though it is still useful in the middle of if you get caught. Up to you how you use it.
This version of the item would not only prevent 50% of the targets regeneration, but you could also benefit from it. Also, your heal is calculated after the grievous wounds, and it has a cap per attack (The enemy Soraka can only help you so much). So while this can be hilarious to out sustain a sustain champion with little to no life steal, it shouldn't be too aggressive and toxic. To prevent an infinite loop, the item would be unable to leach of of healing from another Darkwill's Neck Cleaver.
Example: You have just auto attacked Caitlyn, the enemy Soraka heals Caitlyn for what should be 100 health. Because of grievous wounds she is only healed for 50, and because of Blood Soaked you are healed for 50% of that; 25 health.
According to the lore, Darkwill is a very adept duelist. I believe this would fit nicely theme wise.
Assassins kill
Since the Grievous Wounds passive makes it harder for people to heal themselves, why not take advantage of their low health by killing them faster.
This one is pretty straight forward. Kill someone who is low on health.What do you think?[]