Best in slot, or good enough

Best in slot is the build that makes a carry strongest. It sounds like one answer. Look at a carry's popular builds and you find a family instead: one or two items show up in nearly all of them, and the other slots rotate between several items that do about as well.

The item in nearly every build is the core. That one is worth planning for: take its components off the carousel, and hold the one component that finishes it. The rotating slots are where good enough is good enough. Any item that fits how the carry deals its damage will do, and the game review only calls a carry's item off build when it shows up in under 3% of the carry's popular builds.

Components come in a random order, so even the most played build ends only a small share of a carry's games. In most games the carry finishes on something else and does fine. Waiting for the perfect three costs fights now for a small gain later. Build what fits when you have it.

Read the numbers for what they are. Popular builds are counted on carries that finished three items, which happens more often in games that go well, so every build's average looks good. Compare the builds with each other instead: the gap between them is the price of good enough.