Reign of Gaming

Excellent post, I like it. What I think though, it that the term "meta" is being thrown around too loosely (in general).

I'm probably in the minority, but personally, I like the current state. For me, the "farm phase" is not simply farming, but (on top level) actually a highly complex system. You have to balance-out offense and defense in multiple ways, so you come out ahead after this phase. A game of risk and reward.
But I can see, why people consider this to be "boring". It's not something easy to understand or even see. I'm actually fairly sure, even most top players don't understand exactly what's going on (considering their commentary on streams) - they simply have the advantage of knowledge, experience and a good portion of "natural genius". 

I like the portion of the Chasm. I actually started playing Kayle top, mid and jungle a while before I knew about Rincents guide, and before Kayle was widely accepted. I played around 25 ranked games as Kayle on my second account, and the overwhelming response was: Why do you pick Kayle? Some said it nice, some a bit less nice. But it was discouraging either way.

A huge part of the Chasm is also, that people don't know how to play WITH you in a team. This concerns picks, as well as playstyle. If you pick a lesser accepted Champion, such as  Master Yi, your team has to understand what to pick (and so do you, if you pick later, but that's a given). 

And last but not least, often if you pick a "weak" champion/role,  you get trolled. The problem is a circular 'argument'. "I've never seen an AD TF doing well" he says, and trolls him. Because the AD TF gets trolled, he will never see one doing well...

ps: I still think, Gunblade is an excellent item for many, many Champions, regardless whether they scale with AP or not. Shyvana is a good example for this.

you know, riot actually knows how to break the meta pretty hard

RiotVeonneth

I had a long talk with a designer about the problem today - might as well share some of his thoughts...

One of the things that some people can forget is that it's not just the support bottom, but it's the ranged AD carry too. You'll see Ashe, Graves, Caitlyn, Vayne, maybe Corki, maybe Tristana, etc. typically going bottom and farming up. The key thing about ranged AD's is that they scale with gold [i]a lot[/i] faster than they scale with levels, and so as a result, bottom lane is perfect for them. The exp loss of the duo-lane doesn't matter as much, but the free-farming matters a ton to the point of ridiculousness.

We've tried a [i]lot[/i] of things to solve this one, but ultimately, we haven't found a solution we like yet. One solution we tried was adding in 5-6 new support items that were essentially "must haves" in order to play the role. We tried nerfing support mana into oblivion to force them to buy mana items to have any effect in the late game. But all of them ended up with the same result: get a different champion in bot lane with your AD carry. Because [i]anything[/i] that takes away the gold from the ranged AD carry isn't worth it.

The natural next step is to try to smooth out the AD carry curve. Nerf AD items hard, give some AD on level ups, etc. But the end result there is that you make the same decisions, just with another role. Throw down an AP caster that scales really well with itemization, or an assassin that likes the security. In either case, you still make the same investment.

We're not going to solve the support problem by nerfing supports - we've tried that, and the result is people just go to some other "support" that's not really a support (Support Plank) and continue to not farm. The ultimate problem is that you want your AD carry to farm. By choosing support, you're investing in a late-game carry. It doesn't even need to necessarily be an AD carry, but they do exacerbate the problem.

Most players get frustrated by supports when they're in bot lane without a support. It's pretty hard for 2 carries to beat Soraka+1 in lane because of the sustain factor. But we have to handle this situation with care because of how much swing it has over the metagame. Most solutions to this problem are pretty sweeping changes that impact the game pretty hard.

A couple points:

Single champion metas are annoying and dumb.  For example, Urgot has the CC, tankiness, and initiation of a tank, the sustain and laning power of a bruiser, and the poke of an AP or ADC.  He is a direct counter to the ADC meta, and has no real counter himself, and more importantly, is really the only champion who fulfills this role.

What's wrong with single champion metas?  They can be banned out easily; on the other hand, they essentially automatically expend a ban.  They're quite boring when actually used, and playstyle is dictated by whichever team gets the certain champion.

I wasn't playing back then, but I've heard stories of how when Heimerdinger had a ridiculous number of turrets, he spawned a whole Nunu Consume/Cho'Gath Feast meta.

Another problem, in my opinion, is for every Rincent and Zekent inventing things like AD Kayle, we have a lot of people trying things like AD Swain, AD Veigar (yes, I've had serious discussions with people about the viability of this), AP Miss Fortune, AD Soraka (why do people even do this? where exactly does Black Cleaver have special synergy with Soraka?), etc.  These people give a bad name to people who can actually theorycraft and say "Hmm, Kayle bullies even known strong laners like Shen, is ranged, has damage amp, excellent sustain, and incredible utility on her fairly low cooldown ultimate".  

Diff Thank you so much for writing this. I love reading your articles and look forward to them. :)

The big issue with changing the meta is that every time something anti-meta comes up, people bitch and moan too much and it gets nerfed. AP janna/soraka mid? OP NERF. Urgot ruining carries botlane? OP NERF. 

There a handful of champions who I think are going to change the meta. 
Kayle, who was mentioned in the video.

Rumble in mid. He'll beat or tie most mid lanes, and has very few very specific counters. He'll do everything your mid lane needs to do, but in a unique way. He goes against the typical toplane meta as well. 

Urgot. AD reverse carry. Send him in any lane, and he'll perform well. Not just a botlane champ.

I'll just list off a few more now, Galio, Vlad, Kennen, Malphite, and Jayce. What do they all have in common? They defy the general characteristics of the lanes they typically go in, because most of them are half one role, half another. They all tend to counter the traditional role of their lane opponents because of their hybridization. They're all gaining popularity and, if left unnerfed, could possibly lead to a meta shift.

Top lane is where it's going to start. Melee bruisers suck late game, but are gods in lane. Now you have champions who provide more in teamfight that can be successful against bruisers in lane. That means you need something to counter these hybrids. This varies from champion to champion. Essentially you need specific AP or AD carries top to counter the new anti-bruisers. Double AP/double AD is a HUGE meta shift and teamfights are going to be amazing when second standard ADs and APs are sent top. You'll have one utility carry of one role, and one damage carry of that role as well. Morgana utility, rumble damage. It'll be insane when people start picking things like Graves top (he's BROKEN) and Ashe or Urgot bot.

TL;DR: we're already at a point where the meta is about to crack because of the new hybrid toplane overlords. Expect fewer bruisers top, and more tanks/AD carries/AP carries, with no real role requirement anymore. Also, NERF GRAVES.

AP Sejuani. Every single game i've tried it (3 times) i've done well. I'm not sure why or how, maybe it just throws people off because they don't see Sejuani much and probably have never seen her mid? Skill order is R>E>Q>W. E has really big base damage when maxed first and can hit multiple targets if you land Q. Her R does insane amounts of damage with a good amount of AP and can be really devastating if you follow up with Q -> E. In lane you just harass with Q -> E combo and walk away. I suggest getting a Kage's Pick first to build into a DFG later since her skills are on really large cooldowns, it's always good to have another ability to hit with. I haven't tried RoA and Rylai's on her though I imagine it'd be good as the Health with scale with her W. If anything, this is just a thought and something fun to try as Sejuani is a rather underplayed champion, at least from what i've seen. Thanks for reading.

A support's role is to protect the carry in botlane and basically intel-carry the team... that's why supports can take C.V, to provide intel on the jungler. But what is the worst thing about supports? I'd say it's that they do no damage and therefore contribute less to teamfights. Best we can hope for is they are super tanky with aura items and either cc or a heal. Why not go for a (somewhat situational) support that can slow enemies that are out of position, shut down ad carries AND do quite a bit of damage... all without taking the carry's CS.

Teemo. Support teemo. I will start this paragraph with a disclamer: I have not TRIED this because my teammates rage-quit when I lock teemo support, BUT I will list my reasoning.

Teemo would function as a typical support until level 6: buying wards and philo and HoG (and/or kage's) for sustain and GP/10. But what is every support's downfall? wards; buying them over and over again... they just won't stay up. Teemo has built-in wards that damage and last up to 10 minutes. Once Teemo hits level 6, he needs no more wards (save pink wards occasionally) and can riddle the map with his mushrooms of nuisancery. Not spending money on roughly 30+ wards after level 6 would save this little bugger at least 2,250 gold. Gold that could be spent on buying damage-dealing items for teamfighting (possibly a stark's for utilizing both it's flat stats AND it's aura for the carry/bruiser). Basically, instead of worrying about buying wards, a support teemo could focus on damage-dealing items to boost the team's damage output in teamfights.

His functionality as a character in lane/teamfights is still basically the same as it ever was... minus the cs. Basically, Teemo would be an ideal support against the right-click-to-win champions like vayne, kog, and cait due to his OP blind that renders them useless for the two seconds that it last (roughly. I'm too lazy to look it up). building a bit of CDR with boots and shureylias will let you spam this in teamfights. His 'shrooms can be an effective zoning tool to aid in ganks and preventing ganks at the same time. With the two in-lane bushes warded thoroughly, and a few wards at the river mouth, the enemy carry will be afraid to deviate from beside the minions, therefore setting up a predictable movement pattern to set up a gank! If the jungler comes through the enemy tri (assuming you are on purple team) and the enemy carry tries to run out of lane or juke in any way, he is slowed and caught by the jungler.. boom, dead. Carry leaving under your turret after almost dying? hits a shroom... BOOM! dead.

TL;DR: Teemo can add to the effectiveness as a team both in team fighting as a secondary damage dealer and ad-counter (blind). He also saves enough money by not having to buy wards to buy himself either a rageblade or a Stark's (starks would work because there is another ad ranged and a bruiser, giving the aura more use) along with the philo/HoG/aegis that is standard in the meta. In lane he can zone the enemies with shrooms that can also be used to set up ganks and keep him and the carry safe from enemy ganks. His blind can be used to win any fights (both in lane and out of it) against the enemy ad carry that is auto-attack based AND can spam this blind in teamfights with a bit of CDR. Teemo fulfills the support role in every way that a kill-lane does as well as protects from ganks AND does tons of damage in teamfights as well as shutting down the enemy ad carry. I hope this works well at high ELO and gets some exposure.

You know TL;DR is supposed to be like a sentence or two right?

It started out as a sentence... but it was 4:30, so I honestly forgot I was writing a TL;DR. :p

S'all good. I think Support Heimerdinger would be stupidly hilarious. Ward the bush with the turret, blind the carry, get a Emblem of Valor for even more HP regen.

Recently I've been looking into players and streamers thoughts on Gragas and how would be make a comeback in the recent meta. Now I know he's already known for his incredible burst potential and mobility, but he also has other aspects that could make him exceptionally strong. I'm talking about a Bruiser Gragas, which utilizes his amazing disruption and tank skills of AS slows from Q, damage reduction of W, and slow from E, along with his amazing effects of R.

Item-wise, you would focus on tank along with CDR. Some AP would also be respectably strong from items like Abyssal or Grail. Gragas already has high base damage but also has high AP ratios so DCap is always a nice addition if you're ahead. You would normally abuse aura items like FH, Omen, Reverie, and other items like tanks normally do, and Gragas does this exceptionally well with his strong kit.

I've had a couple of ideas that stem from Dota. This isn't really about build pathing that's so different though, so I hope this still counts. It's really hard to break off from the paths set in simply because of the way characters scale. It'd be silly not to build an AP carry with AP items or an AD carry without AD items and so on. Granted, tank items are pretty diverse, it's pretty clear that aura items are in a league of their own atm.

Instead of looking at builds, I think it'd be interesting to experiment with lane structures. There have been lane swaps in the past, where bot and top switch and even really old school paths where people duo bots. In other RTS games though, they never even need a jungler and some times send three mid. I've considered what it'd be like without a jungler, but then you would have to have a REALLY strong lane top to avoid the jungler's ganks. I considered running a 2nd support top with the bruiser, but then the team's damage output would be compromised. The same problem comes up when wanting to put a second character mid. It would make more sense to put more characters mid though, since AP carries are the weakest laners, so it would be easy to shut them down. Regardless, shifting the current meta's lane structure would be difficult no matter what.

-Huy Fource Dao

Not exactly meta breaking, but it's the most successful innovation I've had in a year of playing. 

Support Anivia.

Always have early pots and wards.

Philo Stone > Lucky Pick or Heart of Gold > Boots of Mobility/Sorc Boots > Chalice > Then  build based off of what you need. (Shurelya's/Boots of Mobility for better warding & engaging, Rabadon's for better Damage, Warmogs/Guardian Angel/Randuin's Omen for survivability.)

Pros:

Support Anivia is a very aggressive support.  

Burst damage with 0 AP can zone effectively.

Wall grants vision of brush and can trap enemies along the lane's side wall.

Can bait enemy team into engaging for kill with your egg passive.

Can transition decently into a 4th carry late game.

Cons:

Dependent on controlling lane brush.

Can be engaged on if you miss your Q before lvl 6 because of your slow movement speed and low base health.

If you don't manage to get kills or zone out of XP range then you will fall behind to a sustain team.

Support anivia does seem to work, I have seen it just yesterday actually

uh heres the awk part about urgot example.

yellowpete made that urgot build and genja copied it lol. yellowpete mained urgot b4 everyone else and genja copied it after losing to him.