Heart of Gold is actually an amazing defensive item, and it builds into the best defensive item in the game, and it's very efficient for the survivability (you aren't paying much for the gold).

Generally speaking, if you're dying the answer isn't to build more survivability, the answer is to play smarter.

If you're getting outlaned, let them push to your tower and focus on last hitting. Don't try to harass if you're 0 - 1.

If you're getting ganked, pick up a ward or two and focus on last hitting. Don't push past the river. That's begging to get killed again.

Wasting money on survivability will slow down your build and make you worthless in team fights, causing you to feed even more. Playing smart allows you to take less damage, die less, farm more, and catch up to your ideal build.

Grammar updated. (your -> you're when applicable)

Kog'maw updated. (removed Sword of Divine as core item)

Sona updated. (added Soul Shroud as core item but left Locket there as some players might like Locket over Soul Shroud)

LOL, you guys are harsh! The post was excellent and accurate right until he gave his item suggestions. Top tier core items, lol! His concepts are right, he's telling players to adapt to the game and not necessarily follow a strict guide. However in turn he decides to try to make a guide himself with actual suggestions, many of which are out of place.

Of note, Doran's anything isn't plausible unless at start of game.(... and to me even then). It's a bad idea to suggest to players to get this if they're getting trouble.

Ummm.... to the trolls repeatedly correcting his grammar/spelling.... really?

Philosophers is excellent on certain characters especially support. A plus is that if you're playing a hero not expected to farm much and are dying alot, these items are a great support to your core. I normally get philosopher or heart of gold as a sort of pre-core on my support or initiators so I support your intentions there.

Boots is a place perhaps you should have begun since boots grant the largest survivability (arguably I'm sure) of any single item per price and time obtained plausibility. For example, I only get defensive boots especially the merc treads as anti-CC main item but in some cases I found high success with simply ninja tabi. Kiters may prefer a faster boots.

From there I'd discuss items dealing with 2 needs simultaneosly. For example, a mana champion getting nuked hard may consider chalice. An initiator failing to draw focus may want to consider legion. Things like that are decent suggestions. In some cases a better offense may work as the better defense, not really plausible but this is the meta current glass cannon mentality on alot of AD players thornmail is so effective against.
But contrary to the majority's opinion, this post was decent, the flaws were mainly in the actual item examples (and perhaps to our budding english teaching critics)

moreso then items, this is my recommendation to new players. If you find yourself dying a lot in a match, ask your teammates what they think you should try. remember, any game that isnt ranked is basically glorified practice. when you do die, which is inevitable at any stage of play. dont spend the time idle. watch your teammates as they play. do you like master yi? is there a melee champion ingame who is kicking some butt? watch how he positions himself. Does he go into the fight right away or does he wait? which angle does he enter the fight from? which type of champions does he seem to target first? always try to learn something every match. its ok if you go 0/8 in a game as long as you come out of it a better player. think about what happened when you died. did the enemy come out of no where? then maybe it is worth getting to know how/when to buy and use wards. is it the damage of your opponent you cant deal with? or is that one taunt/stun/slow that ruins your day? if its damage, see what kind of damage it is and build a defensive item accordingly. if its one of those" gah i cant stand that champ because of his(enter spell name here) then try out a banshee's veil. hope this helped

+1 for effort

Adaptability is the number 1 skill that sets apart the cream from the crud.

+1 for effort. You have to get used to Guides & Strategy, a lot of people will pounce on you for irrelevant stuff, like spelling. But you have your intentions right. At least 1 survivability item mid-game goes a long way. But remember: positioning always beats out survivability.

But G&S is nothing compared to General Discussion. we have it good here, the worst of the worst reside in General Discussion =P I'd advise you to stay away from posting a thread there lol