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Is this the most boring meta?

Snowman Arc·1/29/2017, 2:13:46 PM·3 votes·2,585 views

So, we still have 10 picks and 10 bans, meaning that there is a total of 20 champions appearing in every single game. How many champions are consistently picked and banned though? 30-35? From what I've seen in EULCS, NALCS and LCK, there can't be more than 35 champions being constantly picked or banned, which means that there is a very very small champion diversity.

Little variety of champions is already a boring concept in itself, but adding to it the kind of champions that dominate the meta right now makes it even more boring. For example:

-Top lane: Camille, Maokai, Nautilus. There are the top 3. Camille is banned like all the time, and this leaves the other two to fight it out. Tank battles were never exciting, are not now and probably never will. Other champions that tend to appear slightly often are Jayce, Poppy, Fiora, Shen and Kennen. Most of them are also picked as counters to others, like Fiora into Maokai or Poppy into Jayce. Apart from very few champions being good candidates for the top lane, they are also boring champions TO WATCH. NOT TO PLAY, but TO WATCH, and that's a big difference. I enjoy the hell out of Maokai, but he is boring to watch being played by someone else, and even more so in pro play. There was a meta where top lane was dominated by Gnar, Rumble, Irelia, Fiora etc, champions that are more fun to watch. A Gnar or Rumble ulti are so much more exciting that a Nautilus ulti.

-Mid lane: LeBlanc is perma banned, Ryze is also often banned, as is Syndra, and that leaves champions like Orianna, Cassiopeia, Viktor battle it out. Very small champion pool, but I guess the champions are kind of exciting to watch. A good Ori ulti is a nice thing to see, a huge Viktor burst too, etc.

-ADCs: ADCs right now are just CC bots that MIGHT get to SCALE into the late game and MAYBE actually be slightly useful, MAYBE. Just see the best picks right now. Varus (because of his ulti), Ashe (same), Jhin (W + R). There 3 champions dominate ADCs right now, because they are so late-game scaling, that they HAVE TO HAVE some sort of CC to be slightly useful early. And that's boring. ADCs are there to deal damage. That's why they are exciting. Kiting mechanics, DPS mechanics. Not CC bots.

-"Supports": More like mage harassers that carry the ADCs most of the time. I'm not generally against mage supports, but at the same time, I'd enjoy the concept of an actual supportive champion, like Janna, supporting an ADC and helping them to become a monster.

-Jungle: Left jungle for the last role, because I believe this is where the biggest problems lies. Jungle decides the meta most of the time, and of course, the pace of the game and which team gets to snowball and win the game. Since this is a team game, laners probably can't do a lot of things to get their team ahead, which is why jungling assistances is required to get an advantage, therefore the jungler is the most important role at the moment. Considering the most picked junglers at the moment (Rengar, Khazix, Lee Sin), I have to say, they make for the most boring meta to watch. Apart from Lee Sin (who is good to watch because of his playmaking), Rengar and Khazix are straight up boring to watch. Fun to play, boring to watch. They don't make wonderful plays, they are there to either 100-0 you, or do nothing. It's a situation of "do I have enough damage to kill my enemy or not", rather than "I can set up a good play where my team can follow up and get a kill".

There was a meta where jungling was Sejuani, Gragas, Reksai, and I have to say, even though these are tanks, they made for much more fun gameplay. A good Sejuani ultimate was game changing and was exciting to watch. A wombo-combo with Reksai + Orianna is fun to watch. Or even playmaking junglers like Elise, Lee Sin are fun because of the mechanics coming with them. Now, it's just a Rengar jumping on someone with invisibility, and either killing them on the spot, or just not be able to and walk away. To me, that's very boring. One shots can happen once, twice, three times until it's nothing special anymore. But a 4-5 man Orianna shockwave doesn't happen often, and is really great to see.

6 Comments

BeatzBoyFTW1/29/2017, 2:46:45 PM1 votes

Reksai's still a viable pick/ban right now, and is slated for a rework in the future. Sad about Gragas due to his ult nerf.

GeminiRune1/29/2017, 4:10:11 PM1 votes

Honestly, just to answer the question of your title, no it's not boring at all, at least for me. At the very least, this isn't anywhere close to the champion trinity days where it was pick between 3 champions or have a hard time unless you get ahead. Outside of champion picks, this draws out a completely new layer of thought with what to and not to play. These kind of "champion diversity" or "same pick" pleas this week in general feel like saying week 1 (which had around 50-55 collective picks/bans per role across those 3 regions) didn't matter whatsoever.

Sagan Forever1/29/2017, 5:42:31 PM1 votes

How is every meta " the most boring meta". Now to my main point before it was 35 champs are always played and now it is 36 with pockets picks happening raising the total number to around 45. So while still low there is a large increase in diversity, but 0% to 5% doesn't feel diverse( while it is a huge increase compared to before).

Ps more champions have been played in the first two weeks of this season than where played in all of season 6. Think about that this is a huge increase in diversity, and while still low progress takes time there is no way to go from 0 to 100 between seasons.

Mat7itan1/30/2017, 10:35:18 PM1 votes

Yes and no. It's boring that is is more or less the same 10 champions being picked every game, but at the same time the game is in a spot where one team can't just snowball so hard out of control that there is absolutely no chance of a comeback. To be honest though I prefer almost anything that isn't just who can split push better, and aside from the occasional Fiora game so far this season split pushing really isn't a thing.