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Zechs Files: What is happening?! A meta report

There's plenty of action at PaxAus for League of Legends fans. (Photo by Josh Lefkowitz/Getty Images)
Expert
20th June, 2018
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Michael Longsmith here, pitch-side at Summoner’s Rift where things are starting to get a little messy. I’ve spoken to members of several top teams and nobody quite seems to know what’s going on.

What started in solo-queue a few weeks ago as a bit of a meme has since taken the professional scene by storm.

One pro told me earlier today that his team is now making team comps up on the fly and that his coach’s notebook had no strategies at all, instead containing doodles of Tristana surrounded by arrow-pierced hearts.

“He only brings it out to the booth to look professional”, he said.

How professional League of Legends got into this state in the first place is difficult to trace with any certainty. Its origin, at least, is somewhat clear.

After the recent changes to Infinity Edge, crit-based AD Carries had a hard time outputting meaningful damage.

This led to experimental bottom lane duos being tried out in soloqueue, such as Lulu being played as a carry and Yasuo making an appearance alongside tanky supports.

(Image: Gfinity Australia)

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At the same time, jungle and mid lane were having their own revolutions. Another meme from Asia became professional reality in the shape of Yi/Taric duo-mid/jungle. MVP’s mid laner, Ian (for real this time) told SPOTV “I didn’t become a mid-laner to play this fatso champion.”

The strategy revolves around giving Master Yi both jungle and mid lane farm, accelerating him to hyper carry status in under 20 minutes. Taric is essentially a pocket support, helping Yi farm with his stun and enabling tower dives with his ultimate.

The meta-game evolved (or devolved?) quickly, and the go-to response to Yi/Taric seemed to be Karthus/Nunu. This functions similarly, as Karthus with blue buff can constantly push his lane before going to farm the jungle alongside Nunu.

Pro teams quickly started to ban both of these set-ups, but team compositions are still a far cry from what has been standard for the past seven seasons.

Meanwhile, fans have greeted the changes with mixed response. Some AD Carry mains are upset about their role being drastically changed. Some see the marksman class as irrelevant, though the vast majority of solo queue games still feature at least one ranged AD Carry.

Indeed, several Korean teams have continued to pick traditional bottom lane duos with some success. Most notably, Ruler put up an impressive 6/0/5 performance on Ezreal, as the defending world champions saw off Kingzone in their opening match.

Ezreal is not a crit-based champion, of course, but Ashe has also made one successful appearance for KT Rolster in their win over Jin Air. Lucian, considered by many to be the strongest AD Carry right now has also seen considerable play, but limited success.

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Some pros have come out in defence of the changes. Notable, Doublelift welcomed the changes, although he went on to play Xayah in his opening LCS game.

A comfortable win for Team Liquid and stellar solo performance from Doublelift just goes to show that traditional bottom lane set-ups can still thrive.

A general view of the opening for the ELEAGUE: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship finals at Fox Theater on January 29, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia.

(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Elsewhere, things are a little more standardised, but not much. Darius is one of the biggest winners of the recent changes, as is, weirdly, Aatrox.

With a champion overhaul round the corner, it’s only natural that the big scary demon has started to see top tier play after so long out of the meta-game.

Aatrox is his element against a field of low-CC top-laners, and a world where Rageblade is a top tier item. He has always been a solid duellist, and most of the top lane champions currently seeing play have no real way to kite him.

After years of professional League revolving around variations of the same set-up, the current patch almost feels like a new game. When Heimerdinger is one of the best bottom lane champions, you know something has changed drastically.

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But the fundamentals (kill the enemy nexus) are still the same, and, though some AD champions are struggling, pro teams have proven that the role is far from dead. Love it or loathe it, this is progress.

More champions are being included in competitive play without anyone else being truly forced out. I just hope there’s room for Orianna somewhere in all this mess.

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