Noone ever said you have to complete abyssal . You can build a negatron , then go lichbane . You can build a negatron , lucidity , sheen , get the cdr item , then complete lichbane , then complete abyssal . You can sit on negatron till lategame and turn the codex into a zonya , then turn the negatron into abyssal or even banshees lategame , or sell it and buy a different item . I don ' t like ludens on TF except maybe as a last item . If i ' m snowballing I want cdr my r is always up the game is just over because there is very little way for the enemy team to come back . Defensive items are good when you ' re snowballing too because it becomes that much harder for the enemy team to kill you , thus making it very hard to come back . Being ahead doesn ' t mean you don ' t need a defensive item . Being ahead means you don ' t need pure damage to do what you ' re supposed to do , hence being able to afford a defensive item effortlessly and close out the game . Ludens is a fairly short powerspike and if you ' re ahead you don ' t need it to oneshot a squishy . It becomes pretty ineffective as soon as the enemy team is getting some MR and you delay your void and rabadons by a lot which are huge powerspikes and just a way safer and more consistent option , imo .