Reign of Gaming

Last week I talked about how solo queue has been affected by the season 4 changes to date and what is important in winning a game.

Next I’d like to talk about a principle of the game that could use a bit more examination, one that is highly relevant to the season 4 issues I mentioned earlier.

The principle of making sacrifices in a game is not new. This can be seen everywhere in regular sports. Basketball teams purposely commit fouls, using them as a resource. Baseball even has the term “sacrifice”, when the batter gets out but another runner scores or gets to another base. 

Plus, the principle has to be brought to mind when someone says “worth it.” That is often said humorously, popularized especially from a spotlight video where a Rioter said (“worth it because I said so in chat”). But, from a serious analytical angle, it is or it isn’t.

Lately I've been losing a lot of games for the same reasons, including in cases where we were ahead. There’s a trend. It’s a bad one. And it’s one I suspect happens more often since the vision changes.

 That is the lack of focusing on pushing.

 Here are some situations that you might find frustrating:

• Your team doesn’t have consistent vision of an area, or any area, or much vision at all
• Your team doesn’t push
• Your team’s carry does poorly and/or gets blamed for everything
• Your team spends lots of time trying to get kills as the other team gets a larger and larger turret lead
• Any of these situations happen and despite winning a teamfight or two when you hadn’t won anyway, it is too late to defend because it’s too hard to push afterward, especially with late game builds meaning your team has only trinkets and the support’s Sightstone for vision

The reasons why this can happen I’m are something I’m not sure about. My theory is that with the larger jungle, poorer vision, and less punishing inhibitor deaths, there are many more longer games which leads to more people getting into “Robot Farm Mode” (RFM) where people aren’t playing League but a grindy MMO in the attempt to catch up in gold and levels. This leads to careless teamfights, poor defense, and, again poor pushing. I could be wrong on why it happens, but the why isn’t quite as important as the how to combat it.

No more PBE updates until the 5th! It’s quiet season.

A common trend has been for games to go late and for even supports to be able to buy late game items (if not fully loaded). Because of this and the fact that items haven’t been hit hard recently in the PBE (no guarantee that will continue though!), a review of items on supports or items for their late game, team fight ability might be of use. Sometimes, you’re not used to buying a full build but supporting someone. Some choices are obvious, but there is a lot of room for variation, especially in the 5th or 6th items on a long game. So, for the sake of the late game, especially for supports, let’s take a look.

Furthermore, at late game sometimes an item can be replaced. It’s not the majority of games but the percentage of games where I can buy an elixir or trade up for a better 6th item happens a lot. It’s unfortunate when a support has items that they can’t utilize effectively to do a support’s job.

Locket of the Iron Solari

Listen guys, runes haven’t come out yet. And there’s a good chance the stuff I right about will get patched out soon and, though there have been worse times, the meta (items, masteries, and champion pools) has already sterilized. Let me tell you a story about my relationship with League of Legends, and why I still play it. If you have ever been a fan of any of my articles you might take pleasure from hearing a little about me. Since I started playing League, I have had a kid, been diagnosed with a mental illness, managed other people at work, interviewed at Riot, started at Reign of Gaming, and considered quitting League a few times (or at least quit taking it seriously). Before I tell you about how I came to be a guy in his 30s that takes League seriously, let me tell you about how I got to where I am.

What Works Right Now?

Rather than go in-depth about each champion, many of whom you are already aware, I’d like to talk about what the solo queue meta looks like right now. What kind of champions win, how the roles have changed, and why, and with those in mind, then give you a list of the champions to pick and avoid.

Right now, being a mage or a bruiser is the best thing to be. The masteries and meta favors this. Being an AD Carry is, in a way, the worst right now, because the changes have affected them the most negatively. Junglers and supports have more gold, and tops are harder to kill.

It was already frustrating to play this role in solo queue because if your team didn’t get the proper cc and/or doesn’t peel right, you’re free food. If your team doesn’t push and you try to split push, the other team will usually kill you, and then your own team gets upset that you’re feeding during the League of Jungle Farm or League of Minion Clearing.

Mundo and Shyvana are strong again, and a fully stacked and fed Mundo and Shyvana, who are not countered by the appropriate mage and/or bruiser (and they often aren’t), is a nightmare.

To be awfully, awfully reductive, supports got buffed, jungling got slightly buffed (overall, not every type), top got buffed (defense masteries), and mid is about the same. All of this, along with vision changes and other mastery changes, leads to carries feeling weaker than before.

However, this doesn’t mean you can’t win as an AD carry, as Sivir’s win and ban rate currently attests. It just means you have to think of the carry differently. The role has shifted, just as others have.

A carry is still good at pushing down turrets. A carry can still do a lot of damage to the enemy team. And a carry can kill a lot of people. It’s the one-on-one, the hotshot stuff, the getting fed and destroying everyone bit that’s been toned down. You don’t have to do that to win. Right now, games go longer. The vision changes have players feeling more paranoid about getting caught and losing. The inhib changes mean a single lost team fight or inhib isn’t the end of the world. Comebacks happen more often. With more fights, and less of them being aces, pushing will take the cake. That is one reason why Sivir and Ziggs are ridiculously strong right now. They have great map reach and they can do a lot for their team even after they lose a lane.