So I won't claim to be an amazing player, not quite yet lvl 30 and only about 100 wins, but this is just something that I've noticed. With as fast as TT is, it seems that items like Rabadon's, which is very good on an ap character, loses a lot of appeal when you need to scale quickly. I find myself skipping rabadons and building things that give me more utility. Such as most games I would rather grab a Rylai's rather than a Rabadon's because of the added survivability and the slow. Another item that has made me fairly happy is haunting guise. Is this normal to pick items like this rather than a Rabadon's? I would still get a Rabadon's but would leave it till the end as a more "vanity item."

triple dorans ring rabbadon's is one of the strongest ap builds. The dorans are like a cheap rod of ages, and the rabbadon's gives you tons of damage. Most people don't itemize magic resist early, so it is extremely powerful.

Alright I may try that sometime. I've been playing kassadin quite a bit and have found that Doran's Shield into Lich Bane into Rylais seems to work really well. Or Haunting Guise if i need some quick magic pen. Though when I play Brand I use Doran's ring, into Haunting Guise, into Rylais, which seems to work well. Next game I'll try out the triple Dorans and see how it goes. Are you getting three then selling them to upgrade? Or keeping and just saving for rabadons? Any suggestions are appreciated =D This noob is just trying to be less noobish =p

As an ap character i tend to get ryleis first as well but i tend to be more of an assist player early game and worry about nuking late game.

Phoenix that doesn't work, just whoever sustains and burst the best wins the game . And rylai won't do that for you, unless your Cass.

the bursters tend to neglect hp in which case stun them and you can easily bring them down even without high ap. late game is where survivability means nothing because everyone can 1 hit the other guy (-tanks)

Honeslty i'd say it depends completely on who your going up against. If you get an early kill or two perhaps, there is no reason not to get an early hat. I remember hearing a stream where a guy said, he with the most hats wins the game. He was sion and 2 shotting their entire team. Of course other items are the most important, but especially early game you have to look at what your getting into. Rylias is rumbles bread and butter. once you have it they aren't going anywhere unless your olaf (uhg getting so tired of him) but if your annie, that insane burst early game you WILL 2 shot their entire team. A couple dorans rings before hand will sustain you till you get there and give that nice ap boost you need.

Honestly if i'm playing annie per say, if i can burst down 4/5 the entired enemy teams health so my carry can pick up some easy kills i'll do it 100% of the time

depending on champ i like to go dorans/boots/dorans/sorc shoes into my first big item

my first big item depends on whether or not i need mitigation

i like abyssal scepter and zhonyas depending on who i gotta counter. if nobody i go rabadon/rylias depending on caster

not overpriced. People don't tend to last hit much on 3v3 but that's important. DO that and you will have gold.