Shadowflame

Shadowflame is a burst mage item in League of Legends that costs 3,200 gold in patch 26.21 and gives 110 Ability Power plus 15 flat Magic Penetration. Its Cinderbloom passive lets your magic and true damage Critically Strike enemies below 40% Health for 20% increased damage, which makes it an execute tool for assassins and burst mages.

What does Cinderbloom do?

It’s a finisher. Once an enemy drops below 40% Health, your magic and true damage against them Critically Strikes, dealing 20% increased damage. Put simply, your spells don’t change; the target just takes more from them for the rest of the fight.

In practice, that means the second half of your combo hits much harder than the first. A mage who opens with a poke and follows with a big spell gets the crit on the follow-up, right when the target is trying to escape. Who benefits the most? Champions whose damage comes in several pieces rather than one single hit (one huge spell that kills from full gets nothing from an execute).

Physical damage doesn’t crit with it, so a hybrid champion only gets the bonus on the magic or true part of its kit, while auto attacks stay normal.

Is Shadowflame gold efficient?

On paper, no: 69%. Only the Ability Power is counted, worth 2,200 gold at 20 per point, against a 3,200 gold price.

That number is unfair to it, honestly. The 15 flat Magic Penetration has no basic item to price it against, so it counts as zero, and flat penetration is exactly the stat that makes burst mages scary against squishy targets with low Magic Resist. Add Cinderbloom on top and the item is far better than its efficiency suggests (well, against squishies anyway).

Who should build it?

Burst mages and Ability Power assassins who kill squishy carries. Flat Magic Penetration works best against targets with little Magic Resist, so marksmen and enemy mages are where Shadowflame shines.

Against a team stacking Magic Resist, percentage penetration helps more. That’s the job of Void Staff, and many mages buy both in a long game (Shadowflame earlier, Void Staff once tanks build Magic Resist). For pure damage scaling late, Rabadon’s Deathcap is the usual third piece.

What does it build from?

Hextech Alternator (1,100 gold) and Needlessly Large Rod (1,200 gold), plus a 900 gold combine. Needlessly Large Rod is the big chunk of Ability Power; Hextech Alternator is cheaper and adds a burst of damage in lane, so it often comes first on a short back. Nothing builds out of the finished item.

How has Shadowflame changed?

Riot’s files list Shadowflame from patch 11.23 onward, when it arrived with that year’s batch of preseason items. Want the short version? Three stat changes since then:

• Patch 14.1: Ability Power 100 → 120 and a price rise from 3,000 to 3,200 gold.
• Patch 14.18: Ability Power 120 → 115, Magic Penetration 12 → 15.
• Patch 14.19: Ability Power 115 → 110.

So since the 2024 season it has slowly traded Ability Power for penetration, which pushes it further toward killing squishies. The table above also lists the effect text rewrites, and our LoL items database tracks other mage items the same way.

When should you buy Shadowflame?

When the enemy carries are squishy and you’re the one meant to delete them. Thing is, it’s an early or mid game power spike more than a late game item, since tanks start buying Magic Resist as the game goes on. Our guide to LoL roles explains where burst mages and assassins fit; for most of them Shadowflame is a first or second item.

FAQ

How much does Shadowflame cost?

3,200 gold, including a 900 gold combine, and it sells for 2,240 gold.

When does Cinderbloom trigger?

When your magic or true damage hits an enemy below 40% Health.

How much extra damage does the crit deal?

20% increased damage.

Which stats does it give?

15 Magic Penetration together with 110 Ability Power.

What does it build from?

Hextech Alternator and Needlessly Large Rod.