Gold Funneling Could Revolutionize LOL eSport

Rhlax·Feb 2, 2015·7 votes·6,786 views

**EDIT2: This would be a team ranked only feature. ** **EDIT3: This is an optional team tactic. **

The concept is that the team can choose to allocate starting gold how they want. For example, CLG can funnel all gold to DoubleLift, so that DL can truely hyper carry with ~2k starting gold. What this means is that, DL can have a full 6 item build by 20 minutes, and literally 1 v 5. DL playing as Vayne, 6 items, hyper carrying, think about it.

C9, on the other hand could decide to funnel gold to Meteos and Sneaky to be semi-god like. Another team could decide not to do anything.

This is Strategic diversity. Now we have a game where superstars can be proved.

EDIT: Thanks Vixanys for the feedback. No I am not trolling and I am 100% serious. It is foreign concept; one that is derived from basketball (NBA). Some concerns/questions:

**Does this mean less team work? **

Absolutely not. Suppose we funnel all gold to ADC, the other members simply will have a slower start. The team might adjust by playing a different format say (0/1/2/2 - duo jungler and no top), and instead of being damage dealers, hard CCs and peel may be higher priority in this strategy. In this strategy, teammates are just as important, although they have less importance in damage dealing.

How does this create strategic diversity?

The meta, 1/1/1/2 (1 top/mid/jun, 2 bot) is arbitrary. This is the most efficient format in a world where every player has equal amount of starting gold. Suppose that starting gold is uneven, it creates new optimized formats (for example, duo jungler).

What does this have to do with basketball? what is the parallel?

I am an avid fan of NBA, and I see a lot of parallels between the two games. In NBA, it is really exciting because of superstars like Lebron or Kobe. When a team has a Kobe, their style of play is vastly different. Kobe has the ball ALOT in his hand. He is now the one who create plays for the offense. On the contrary, there is teams like San Antonio, where ball procession is almost equally spread between the 5 members. Between the two extremes are teams choose to play style in between. This create diversity!

**This will never work... teams will just funnel to a carry and there wouldn't be any strategic diversity at all... **

This is a strong possibility with the current set of items. In almost all scenarios, the support would likely give gold to the adc. Adding a strong non-upgradable item at 475 particularly designed for supports could solve this issue (for example a much weaker version of ohmwrecker ). Yes, there are a ton of balance issues right now, a lot more than just support.

Since this is a team-ranked only feature, riot would need to balance between lcs and solo q

This is an unkeep cost that Riot would need to pay. Balancing between LCS and solo Q is already a difficult thing. So again, it is a significant draw back.

Conclusion

The concept of gold funneling may be cool on paper, but to achieve balance between different tactics would require a massive effort. Essentially, many items in the game would need to be reconsidered and rebalanced to fit the new model. It would cause a greater rift between pro league and the gamers, and furthering damaging a portion of the community.

But boy... would it exciting if it were to be successful balanced...

{dream} *Its game 5, the team chose to max gold funnel ADC Faker as expected(who used to be a mid player). crowd roaring... Faker is going for his 2nd World Championship in 3 years. The opponent is a team oriented team C9, which no one expected to come this far. This is the final year which the members will play together. Lemonnation is now engaged and will retire after this final season. C9 pulls of an unexpected dual support/adc funnel instead of their usual standard start. why so much gold into Lemonnation? spectator wonders with curiousity.. crowd roars as the final game of XIII World Championship Hosted in Tokyo begins. more crowd roaring... in front a sold out baseball stadium of 50,000 japanse girls.. 5 minutes into the game, Faker pulls a 1 v 3 triple - kill.. it sure looked easy. coach calls timeout. game feels lost as the crowd roars... the plan seem to have failed.. * {/dream}

44 Comments

Riot jaywayFeb 2, 20157 votes

This was a feature in RoC DotA (because of the WC3 engine) but it was really awesome since you could open something like... 600g top lane, 300g jungle, 1000g MageSlayer, 0g healer, 600g bot lane.

Also, whenever the healer tp'd home, everyone would funnel gold to him and he'd be able to buy specific items tailored to specific role players. While in public games, this got a bit out of hand such as everyone funneling gold to Stealth Assassin or Storm Spirit, it was quite complicated in high level inhouses where power spikes occurred at key timings of item buys (UD Hibernal Rod, Secret Shop Lavabuster, etc.)

This obviously implies huge sweeping changes, but is an interesting experiment...

ThryaleFeb 3, 20155 votes

do I detect the makings of a new featured game mode?

RhlaxFeb 3, 20151 votes

Hey Jayway, thanks for the reply man. You seem to be much more experienced than I am in this subject. I do hope Riot is aware of the high level strategic stagnation with the game - which cannot be fixed without major changes to the puzzle.

Also, since you are here and you may read this, I'm just going to shamelessly leave my 'mobility tax' suggestion. To solve the problem with Kassadin, Lee Sin, and other hyper mobile champions, reward the enemy team more through a mobility tax (a X% kill reward modifier). The problem with mobility is that they are too safe to play (a reduced risk of dying), and a lack of reward for the increased and often coordinated effort to kill them. Adding a mobility tax would balance the safety that mobility provides and the increased risk that non mobile champions have. Suppose Lee Sin pays a 15% mobility tax, every Lee Sin death is now rewarded 15% more.

Thanks again for showing up.

Nameless VoiceFeb 3, 20156 votes

Personally, I'd hate to play support and be expected to now give up all my gold to give it to the ADC. This, or being flamed for not doing it, is what would happen in ranked soloq.

Having no gold and not being able to buy items is not fun.

ZmuecatFeb 3, 20159 votes

Caitlyn : Give me all your gold Sona : But I need it for items... Caitlyn : FK NOOB, I need the early damage to CS better. Sona : Fine.

Caitlyn HAS BEEN SLAIN

Caitlyn : NO WARDS HORRIBLE SUPPORT GG

VixanysFeb 2, 20153 votes

This, is a horrible idea. This essential lets a team not be strategic at all in terms of attempting to shut down a key player. It also goes against the entire concept of the game. It would also make the other 4 people on the team (in thought to your Doublelift example), completely useless for 20 minutes.

The only reason Doublelift does what he does, or anything other player for that matter is their team. This would not be strategic diversity and I don't know if you are trolling or serious.

RhlaxFeb 2, 20151 votes

I am absolutely serious.

It also goes against the entire concept of the game.

What is the concept of the game? League can be a Volleyball type of game, or it can be a Basketball/Football type of game.

It would also make the other 4 people on the team (in thought to your Doublelift example), completely useless for 20 minutes.

Why? They can farm. They will just start a bit slower.

The only reason Doublelift does what he does, or anything other player for that matter is their team.

Well of course, you can say that for every sport. Just because DL's teammates(hypothetically) start with less gold, it doesn't mean they are useless. Team work will still matter as ever.

Anyhow, thanks for your feedback. I really do believe this change will make LOL eSport A LOT more interesting. I have watched a tons of sport in my life. This is what league of missing. Right now, you can't ball hog so to be speak like Kobe. Every team is playing like San Antonio Spurs and its boring to watch.

VixanysFeb 2, 20151 votes

Imagine a Top or Mid lane...that has no gold for items because they forfeit their starting gold for their ADC against a lane opponent that has items. You have not Potions, no Doran's nothing. You lose those lanes.

Try surviving a counter-jungle from an opposing jungle that can clear his jungle and go to your jungle because you gave up your gold for machete.

Hell even attempting to support the person you funneled all said gold into would make you a prime target for the enemy duo and a jungler camp job.

Winning 1 lane =/= Win. More often than not, you lose. 480g at the beginning is survivability, sustainability, and gives you the ability to farm.

At a competitive level a deficit of this amount at Lv1 can lose you the lane. Keeping you from farming and ultimately cause you to die in lane numerous times.

RhlaxFeb 2, 20151 votes

Imagine a Top or Mid lane...that has no gold for items because they forfeit their starting gold for their ADC against a lane opponent that has items. You have not Potions, no Doran's nothing. You lose those lanes.

Absolutely, it is a trade off. To adopt, the team may opt for 2/2/0/1 format (dual top, dual mid, no jungle, one funneled adc).

Teams do not need to have follow the standard 1/1/1/2 (solo top/mid/jungle, duo bottom) format! Teams can do what they want to optimize their strategy!!! They can opt for duo jungle if they think that would work best.

Thanks again for the feedback. I really do believe in this concept but I know I am doing a terrible job explaining it

VixanysFeb 2, 20152 votes

Of course you don't have to stick with the 2/1/1 and Jungle strategy, but you expect your funneled Carry to 2v1? and get farm?

I do understand what you are saying, but the fact is. It will not happen. Balancing would be horrid. Games would be less defined by gameplay and more about who gets what champions. And who gets the funnel. Which would be boring.

I still think any coordinated competitive team could counter all benefits of this concept with the existing lane scheme.

RhlaxFeb 2, 20152 votes

I still think any coordinated competitive team could counter all benefits of this concept with the existing lane scheme.

This is a strong possibility. In the end, it is all about giving the teams an option, to do something different and unique. This is what we want to see right?

I do understand what you are saying, but the fact is. It will not happen. Balancing would be horrid.

Perhaps. It is a very high level concept.With testing, may be proven futile.

But do you know that this game is never and will never be balanced?

My last remark - Sports is about creating legends. It is the Tom Bradys and Kobe Bryants that draw people to sport. This is the fundamental difference between football/soccer and volleyball.

EfficientDynamoFeb 3, 20152 votes

Vix, I think you are forgetting that this idea would be optional. Some team comps might benefit from it, others might not. It would be a calculated risk that players could take (like making a protect-the-Kog'maw team).

Also, the gold-starved laners could just choose laners that farm well early on like Morde or Zed. They can tower farm until they catch up with enough CS to get good items.

DecritFeb 3, 20151 votes

it can' t be "optional", because if you don' t do that you will always be able to face enemies that still use that mechanic so you can' t "avoid it".

EfficientDynamoFeb 3, 20151 votes

Yes, any team could be forced to play against a team who chose to funnel its gold. But the main complaint being made is that this would be a losing strategy for all the other players, making the team weaker as a whole. If that were the case, you wouldn't want to avoid such teams because you would have a clear advantage (assuming the critics were right).

DecritFeb 3, 20151 votes

so basically you would like to divide the queque? Leave be if gold funneling is a good practice or not, for discussion' s sake, and focus on the matchmaking management: you would really like to divide the queque/experience of a game mode for this additional rule? it would be not like creating a new map ( since you are adding an additional gameplay fact), since else the two cases of rule/not rule would be inconsistent in game mechanics?

EfficientDynamoFeb 3, 20151 votes

Why would dividing the queue be necessary? This wouldn't require a separate queue like teambuilder, it would just add a different layer of strategy in the game that exists. You could decide at champ select whether you want squishy anti-melee top laners in the same manner that you could choose how to allocate your team's starting gold...

I think you are making this a lot more complicated than it needs to be. If a different gold allocation than what is live is a bad idea no one will choose to reallocate. If its a good idea some teams can take advantage of it.

DecritFeb 3, 20151 votes

Well you said that teams could decide if fight against or not teams that accept the gold funneling... i misunderstood?

Anyway this is no light thing: stuff like this smashes the game, sometimes in good sometimes in bad ( IMO in bad). Because this game is also about gold allocation, so much that is also considered as the value on which a team can be considered in advantage or not ( together with towers and such, for approximation). It' s not a matter of "being valuable or not", it' s a matter of gameplay. Something global, something that has an huge impact.

If you can' t understand the full scope of the situation, please, avoid starting these kind of discussions; if you do then don' t be blind to all the bad consequences, and ask yourself "is it worth it? is this part of what the game should feel and be?". then we can talk again.

VixanysFeb 4, 20151 votes

Both of the champions you mentioned are highly item dependent and Morde would be crushed if he "opted" to give up his gold.

Zed could be ignored without items.

If it is like Jayway pointed out, a constant funnel and not a "Beginning of the game one time thing", it could be useful. I just think that early game up to 7~8 minutes items that you can get are just too important.

@Jayway I understand in-game funneling, I played DotA on the WC3 client for years. I can understand a healer who doesn't need items giving up their gold, but Healer in DotA does not do the same as the Support in LoL. Support in LoL needs the gold to keep their ADC safe. Gold = Vision and with the vision changes the support and the jungle now control vision. Also, there isn't really the same solo lanes. What worked in DotA will not work for LoL.

EfficientDynamoFeb 4, 20151 votes

Oh I agree with you there. I personally doubt whether funnelling all gold to a single person would be a good idea. But if your adc only needs 100 more gold to get a item 1038 when they are forced out of lane, or the supp accidentally took some kills and have a lo of gold, then some redistribution could be advantageous.

Either way, beginning of the game redistribution would probably be the most effective.

Smart KittyFeb 3, 20152 votes

I kinda like it. It's an interesting concept. It could be beneficial to certain teams, like CLG as you mentioned, who prefer to have one or two people carry. It's not something that's too good or bad, in theory it gives equal possibility. The team that doesn't funnel might have better side lanes where the team who does has to sacrifice for their carry. It could work out because their carry could snowball harder, or the carry might get crushed because the opposing team decides to shut the threat down before it takes off. They also don't necessarily have to give all their gold to the carry either. The other 4 could each give up 100 gold and now the carry can start with a pickaxe instead of long sword pots or other possibilities and the teammates would still at least be decently off. I'd actually like to see this. They could also give it to their jungler, so his early ganks are more effective to the enemies. Also, that like 10-25 gold players have left over could be given to the support to buy an extra ward.

RhlaxFeb 3, 20152 votes

It is the 'possibilities' that is exciting, the possibilities that is absent right now.

DecritFeb 3, 20151 votes

While interesting i am against it. I am a player of the old warcraft 3 custom maps, i remember iron defense ( or how it was called ) that was just a ripoff of Dota and that had this kind of mechanic and i will tell you, it did not help strategy at all; people only focused on a thing.

Same would happen in LoL: it will not be tactical, but mandatory, to give gold to item-scaling champions ( Yasuo, Vayne, Kog Maw, Jax, Ryze ...), thus actually removing personal tactical choice, countered only by a team full of low-item scaling champions ( supports, tanks, lee sin...). Then a meta will be forged around that, then they will dominate mid game, then Riot will be forced to nerf them and item-scaling champions as we know them will extinct, as well as itemization for every other role.

Just imagine this: let' s say every X mins in mid lane a pot of gold spawns, and you have to conquer it before the enemy; if that happens, 1k gold is given to a player of the picker' s choice. Or by voting, is the same. Who will reasonably get the golds if the team is extremely cooperative? answer: the carry. Only exception if the team has other hyper scaling dudes and then by team composition they decide to give gold to him, but then again that can be valuable only by pick and team composition, else no one will give gold to other roles ( except maybe mage, maybe). This just to give an idea of the proprieties of direct gold allocation.

EDIT: obviously i am talking on a professional/high elo/premade scenario. In a solo Q it would be a trollfest, and yet that would be enough ( and no you can' t make it possible in cherry picked pick modes, the game must be consistent)

RhlaxFeb 3, 20151 votes

This would be a ranked team or even lcs only feature. It would be done at champ select.
Is LCS tactical right now?

DecritFeb 3, 20151 votes

not possible, the game must be kept consistent between any mode and any scenario for the same map mode. only exception is blind pick for more "casual" play and yet we are talking only about a pick phase. If you talk about gold funneling then you are talking about gameplay changes, and then this means that you are watching a game different from the one you play.
... i guess so? do you know what does mean "tactical"? if that does not sound right then go for "strategical", if you prefer, but my point stands, and so far there is always a developed and applied tactic/strategy, either before the match or after. Gold funneling would oppose over most of the strategies possible, actually restricting the game.

RhlaxFeb 3, 20151 votes

then this means that you are watching a game different from the one you play.

This is also 100% true for football, soccer, basketball... it gives a reason to spectate

Gold funneling would oppose over most of the strategies possible, actually restricting the game.

You are assuming a specific funnel is the optimal strategy. Your assumption could be accurate. I cannot agree or disagree, because league is a different game from iron defense (?) and neither of us have tested the applications of gold allocation. An optimization formula perhaps could in time be found, but it is the 'discovery' phase that is exciting.

Who will reasonably get the golds if the team is extremely cooperative? answer: the carry.

I agree. Either the mid carry or adc carry will get it. What about top carry/jungle carry? I'd argue that a funneled jungle tryndaemere with 2.4k gold start would be an absolute monster. Don't you want to see monsters on TV?

DecritFeb 3, 20151 votes

{quoted}

I agree. Either the mid carry or adc carry will get it. What about top carry/jungle carry? I'd argue that a funneled jungle tryndaemere with 2.4k gold start would be an absolute monster. Don't you want to see monsters on TV?

well yes, but only once. twice maybe. but if every game every champ goes on in the same way it becomes stale pretty fast :P it' s fun to see a fed trynda? it can. It' s fun to see a fed trynda that did not really got fed but mostly gold funneled, like every game before and after? not very much...

Jungle Lux GodFeb 7, 20151 votes

{quoted}

This is also 100% true for football, soccer, basketball... it gives a reason to spectate

Actually, the sports you watch are just like the ones you play, except that you are watching professionals. The rules are almost identical to the ones you play with your friends, with the exception of some rules designed for higher level play, such as 'offsides' in soccer, of which improve the competitive integrity of the game and phase out cheap tactics that ruin the competitive nature.

RhlaxFeb 8, 20151 votes

the rules are almost identical to the ones you play with your friends

I find that, at least where I live, indoor soccer is the most popular form of soccer. It is often difficult to find enough people for a full game of outdoor soccer; plus the weather. We make compromises. For basketball, the most common form is half court. People dislike full court because there is too much running.

My point is, a game/rules are designed to optimize its needs. To optimize the entertainment value of LOL eSport, then it should be designed differently from solo Q. You see, there is a difference between Solo Q and LCS.

In Lcs the goal is to entertain viewers. In solo q the is goal is to entertain the players.

PrinceArchieFeb 3, 20151 votes

Ok heres the difference between basketball and League. IN basketball no matter who has the ball no player's role is truly diminished because it isnt dependent on a resource. Just as on the Lakers Kobe may "always" have the ball when playing offense, Lebron for example may not have the ball all the time on the Cavaliers when Kyrie Irving is on the floor. Having the ball in basketball doesnt mean you have all the power and must "carry the game". There are point guards on teams like the New York Knicks (who are doing horrible), Lakers, Houston rockets and so on who have the responsibility of ball handling simply because it is in their job description as point guards.

Being a force on the court is more than ball hogging, its also about moving on the court without the ball, playing good defense, setting great screens and so on. There is rarely ever a time where the super star will have the ball in their hands for the entire 24 second duration just because they are the best player on the team. Ball movement is very important in basketball. With that being said I don't think funneling gold into a single player from the start is a horrible idea but it has it's major concerns. Just as ball movement is very vital to team success in basketball, it is also the case in League that other lanes and roles doing well greatly impact the success of the team.

1. Role diversity

Yes it would be cool if my Favorite bot lane duo had all the gold literately in their lane at the start of the game. Problem is everyone else on the team is severely diminished and for the entirety of the game are solely reliant on doublelift to make use of thier gold and 1v5 from the start. Just because CLG may want to use this strategy and feel doublelift can do it, doesnt mean the other team has to or will mimic tier tactics. It may be better for their members to start off with normal amounts of gold and thus have an items advantage (sustain, defense or damage) over their counter parts.

The early game in League of legends matters a lot, theres a reason why the optimal archetype of lanes is the way it is. Each member is supplied with the resources they need to perform optimally throughout the game. so even if they run a team comp around "protect the adc", another role in jungler, mid, or top who has also been generating gold and doing well may be able to be the other driving force, or priority target to give enough time for that adc to ramp up.

Hypothetical example if CLG ran Lissandra top, LuLu Mid, J4 Jungle, Vayne adc and Janna support, both mid and top lane could have great laning phases where they dominated their opponents. Jungler could also be quite ahead given such solo lane success as well, especially if bot lane had a rocky start due to being focused. Those other three roles could then be driving forces in the early and mid game, locking down opponents, pressuring the map and peeling for double lift in team fights so that he gets the necessary farm and kills to be a late game monster.

But by the same token if these lanes and roles decided to not take their necessary gold at the start of the game and give it all to doublift, then Xsmithie would not be able to jungle and even if he managed to get a camp it wouldnt be as efficient as the enemy jungler who started pots and a hunters machete. Link would get wrecked in lane, Zion would be camped to no avail and never come back. IF these guys decided to all stay together you would have two or three other free lanes and or positions to take all the minions and jungle monsters uncontested. This would essentially make their team weaker and fail.

Unlike in basketball League has stages in the game where some players are by nature better than others due to the champion they select. Vayne is not a monster early game but is late game, as opposed to Kevin Durant who could have 60 points in an entire game, having had a hot streak ever since the start of the first quarter. If all the other roles have no gold, junglers wouldnt be able to jungle, solo laners wouldnt really be able to solo lane effectively and you may have a team comprised of 4 strict utility roles to make up for the lack of sustain they individually have.

** 2. Does not promote team play**

While I do see your argument that funneling gold into your carry is a from of team strategy everyone can buy into; players can already do this by selecting champions and playing the map properly. Not every champion can carry the game as effectively as another, even if they aren't late game hyper carries. While some champions are very powerful in the early or mid game resulting in swift victories, a champion such as Sona will neither carry your team to victory in the early, mid or late game on her back alone.

By essentially starving the player and champion of any gold early you are taking away the potential growth, utility and overall presence of the player and champion. If all my team has to do is kill the enemy ADC who has all 2.4k gold, we could pick a heavy engage team with summoners such as ignite and exhaust, run boots or cloth pots 5 then subsequently pile onto and destroy that "carry". Just because that player has 2.4k gold doesnt mean they have all their skills or levels over anyone. They now have the gold of the entire team and have the burden of outplaying 5 other players at level one with one skill and a few summoners.

The other members wouldnt last in an extended teamfight, much less being picked off in a 1v1 skirmish. These other players whether they be professional or not would then be entirely reliant on one individual and would never be able to impact the game at any stage because they are far too weak.

In conclusion

The idea is neat but it can be done without denying the other 4 members of the party autonomy. Sacrificing a huge responsibility in certain areas of the game at certain intervals through champion select or relinquishing buffs, jungle monsters or lane creepes can already be done without completely snubbing them out of the early game.

RhlaxFeb 3, 20151 votes

Remember, gold funneling is an optional team tactic. Game 1 they can funnel DL, Game 2 they can play normally, etc. It doesn't have to be 2.4k or nothing. It could be a tri-carry funnel (hm does that even make sense?).
Yes the other 4 team members could lack autonomy, but should we worry? It is a job for them afterall. They are getting paid for it. They are entertainers and eSports is for entertainment.

Jungle Lux GodFeb 6, 20151 votes

How does this create diversity?

I feel that everyone on the team would funnel gold into one of their team's carries outside of the jungler, who needs his jungle items in order to remain somewhat relevant. This would cause a lot of unbalance, as either both teams would have a lane already snowballing or two lanes have no gold for items while the remaining lane can start 1/2 an item ahead of the other lanes and cause a massive disbalance in the laning phase that boils down to whoever can roam better will win.

RhlaxFeb 7, 20151 votes

No, it wouldn't work under current items... so your hypothesis could be correct

Can you design it in such a way that allows for balance between the different play styles? (i.e. mono/dual/tri/quad/penta carry, etc) Perhaps, perhaps not.

The concept is from real sports - for example people like watch messi, lebron, etc 'taking over a game'... but the execution is very difficult

Jungle Lux GodFeb 7, 20151 votes

The difference between real sports and League of Legends is that feeding one player lots of goals/points/whatever sort of scoring system is used in the sport provides both a risk for a team that feeds one player tons of goals because the other team could focus him, and the player gets shut down, and the reward of the player getting tons of goals still relies heavily on a team to back the player up.

In League of Legends, the risk is nonexistent because you really can't play against someone with an item advantage, and if both teams don't funnel the gold into the same person/people, then it is very easy for two lanes to snowball, one for each team, because of this item advantage. In addition, it very hard to shut down the player because the enemy laner is consistently getting bullied out and the enemy jungler is always underleveled in the jungle, meaning it is very difficult to actually focus the laner that got all the gold.

RhlaxFeb 8, 20151 votes

You bring up a good point. There are rpg elements in League where it is non existent in sports. Rpg elements lead to snowballing.

There are ways to solve the issue - for example, limit the items that can be bought in the first x minutes. If the funneled player can only buy a defensive item, that may reduce the problem.

Jungle Lux GodFeb 8, 20151 votes

Buying a defensive item still causes a problem because the funneled player still deal more damage than the opposing player by virtue of the player taking less damage without causing any damage tradeoffs of his own.

Even if the player was limited to pots, you would still have a problem because having a few extra pots in lane with the same amount of items is still a huge advantage in lane.

RhlaxFeb 8, 20151 votes

Buying a defensive item still causes a problem because the funneled player still deal more damage than the opposing player by virtue of the player taking less damage without causing any damage tradeoffs of his own.

Assuming the opponent laner is not funneled.

Sorry I just don't understand why winning a lane is a problem. There are 3 lanes, you have 2.4k gold to spent between 5 players. Depending where a team allocates its resources, some lanes will lose, some will win.

Okay, I think I understand. You WANT TO see equal lanning. You want to see CSing. Here is where I am different from you - I find the laning phase really boring. I don't find care who is winning lane, who is csing more... I care more about 'strategy' making big plays - crazy team fights. I don't have an appreciation for csing/laning. Maybe this is why I'm not high on DL - he is good at laning phase but i dont value that. When I watch LCS, I usually skip the early part..

Jungle Lux GodFeb 8, 20151 votes

Winning a lane isn't a problem. Automatically winning a lane is the problem. Winning a lane means that the player in question can snowball the lane, and snowballing a lane is something that professional players can do extremely well. When this happens, it sometimes doesn't matter how the teamfights play out because one team will have such a huge advantage that they will just automatically win the teamfight without the other team being able to do anything about it because the other team got so far ahead.

RhlaxFeb 8, 20151 votes

What is the scenario you have in mind? A funneled team vs a balanced team?

Jungle Lux GodFeb 8, 20151 votes

Basically, every scenario except for a scenario where both teams funnel their gold onto the players of the same lane.

If two teams funnel their gold onto different lanes, both teams have a lane that automatically wins, and the remaining lane is the one that decides who wins the game.

If one team funnels their gold and the other doesn't, one team has a lane that snowballs and the other team have two lanes that win, making any gold-funneling strategy bad because the balanced team will usually win unless the person you funneled gold into is Doublelift on CLG's trademarked "protect the ADC comp" or a hard-carry mid laner like Bjergson or Shiphtur.

Funneling gold onto the jungler is pointless because you lose all your lanes unless the jungler consistently gets good ganks. And by good ganks, I mean that every time the jungler goes to lane, he gets a kill, and visits every lane every 5 minutes.

RhlaxFeb 8, 20151 votes

Whoever wins lane, wins game?

I have trouble understanding your point of view. Look at the attached. EDIT: I have trouble adding attached photo.

I have trouble making sense of this:

If two teams funnel their gold onto different lanes, both teams have a lane that automatically wins, and the remaining lane is the one that decides who wins the game.

This seems like a shallow view of the game. Sports is exciting because there are comebacks.

Jungle Lux GodFeb 9, 20151 votes

Thing is, since two lanes automatically win, it is only worth it to watch the remaining lane. What if that remaining lane is the top lane with two tanky bruisers duking it out? You would just lose 2 million+ viewers. And counting. And considering just about every team would feed gold to the ADC or mid laner for maximum carry potential, whenever the meta favors tanky top laners would mark a time where no one would really watch the LCS because it would be beyond boring to watch.

Likewise, funneling all your team's gold onto one carry when the other team decides not to means that one lane will likely win on the team that funneled gold and the team that didn't funnel gold would have two lanes that are ahead, meaning that not funneling gold would always be a superior strategy to funneling gold because there is a lot more power when you don't funnel gold than when you do funnel gold.

You could theoretically find teams that would funnel gold, but most teams would not consider funneling gold because of how risky it would be, especially considering how much the laning phase can swing games.

RhlaxFeb 10, 20151 votes

Gold allocation alone won't achieve the intended results, without a doubt.

AnatharionFeb 8, 20151 votes

This is a stupid idea. I don't want to see one person win a 1v4 at level 2. I'd rather see all champions be more equal through the whole match so that player skill out shines stat boosting.

RhlaxFeb 8, 20151 votes

Thats fine. I think a lot of people are perfectly ok with the way lcs is.

Diversity is about accommodating as many tastes as possible.

I want to see Forg1en wreck the league 1 v 5. I also want to see C9 play a synchronized team game.