My yearly Tristana Post: Solo Lane Tristana

It seems that every year I end up making some kind of post regarding a Trist development. Probably 99% of readers won't remember me, but those that may do will know that this is not a topic to "win" an internet argument, bur rather attempt to reach some middle grounds that provide info and insight to any Rioter looking at the Boards. This time it seems that Solo Lane Tristana has been making some rounds, so before the boards explode with topics about it, what I wanna talk about is something that bothers me and that I'm trying to preemptively touch upon on.

The Context: I fear that Riot (and the player base) may fall into a double standard with Trist or any other ADC in a solo lane. For months now we've heard the balance/design team talk about how they want variety and diversity to exist in the game, and how they wanna keep Bot lane open for Bruisers and Casters, and even if they're not as prevalent as they once were, you can now pick mages, Yasuos or sometimes other characters in the Bot lane. Before, going Zoe Bot may get you a bunch of flame in Game Lobby, but nowadays everyone just kinda accepts is and rolls with it. Whether ADCs right now are or not in an overall balanced state is not the topic at hand, but it's very clear that the state of the Bot lane has changed. In the pro scene Rekkles is playing Karma, Perkz is playing Syndra, and then you have the infamous Sona/Taric and Sona/Kench lanes. In Solo Queue, while not as prominent, you'll find that mages just have a presence that just didn't exist in years prior, so I guess the balance team somewhat succeeded in creating diversity in the Bot lane.

My Concern: This diversity, does it apply only to Bot lane, or to every lane/role in the game? Cause it would feel very weird if Riot was talking about diversity in the Bot lane while squashing ADC characters in solo or even Jungle roles. Now, a lot of people may say "But ranged characters in Top is just not the way you're supposed to play Top and it's toxic" to which I could just reply "Mages/Bruisers are not the way you're supposed to play Bot and it's toxic" which I don't think is a very valid argument for either side. Because if that's the case, what are we as a community supposed to enforce? What is the Riot balance team aiming towards? True diversity that lets you pick your favorite champion in a variety of roles, or make sure each character is assigned to a very specific lane with little room to wiggle. Because I'm fine with either, as long as it applies for everyone and every lane. There's no reason why Bot lane should be treated differently in terms of champion variety. If Top/Mid players don't wanna deal with the auto-attacking ranged characters, I can just as much say I don't wanna see another Yasuo or mage ever again in the Bot lane.

Even though Trist Solo Lane was made somewhat popular by famous players, many of us have been playing her in a variety of lanes for years to different degrees of success. This isn't new, but it's sure trendy right now. I've seen many people complaining about how she's "not fun to play against even though she's not super meta" and that's EXACTLY THE SAME ARGUMENT I could use for Mages/Bruisers in the Bot lane. See where I'm going with this? Such arguments become meaningless in a world where Riot wants this "lane diversity" thing, and back in the day I actually opposed the idea because I honestly don't understand what's wrong with stable lanes that have common picks. Tanks/Bruisers for Top and Jungle, Mages and Assassins for Mid and Marksmen for Bot lane paired with utility or a tank. I've never liked the "Support Mage" mentality, with Brand/Lux "Supports" building full damage as if they were Mid, let alone the diversity thing Riot did a while ago, but if we're already in that world, why should Marksmen characters be ostracized from solo lanes specifically??

Again: If you say "It's not fun to play against" I can say the same for some Mages/Bruisers Bot and we'd just enter a circular argument where you tell me how Top Trist is toxic and how I tell you about Yasuo Bot and Sona/Taric in competitive play. This is a conversation that can only go one of two ways. We either have diversity and you learn to accept ADC characters in your Solo Lanes, or we can have rigid roles and I can have the Mages/Bruisers removed out of my Bot lane.

As for Trist herself, I don't think she needs nerfs right now. Her performance in solo lanes is actually pretty mild and any nerf would surely impact her Duo Lane performance, where again: she currently has a very mild performance. As a Tristana player, I think most of the success she's finding right now as a solo laner is due to how BorK works with her. It's a good effective item that allows her to be somewhat useful in this horrendous meta Meddler and his friends invented of a single-item arms race. A Solo Lane Trist that rushes IE will take too long to scale and won't really be able to do much until she has two items if the game is going well, or three if the team is losing and she's starved for resources.

So that's the solution: What are we rolling with? Diversity, or rigid roles. Pick one and commit to it. Cause I'm fine if you remove the chance for me to play Trist Mid if you get rid of Yassuo/Karma/etc. from Bot for good. We can all be contempt with our rigid lanes, or we learn to deal with weird picks in every lane for the sake of diversity in the game.

So in short:

• I'm concerned about Riot/players having a double standards when it comes to "diversity of characters" in a lane.
• If we're to have "diversity" in lanes, then it should apply to every lane and not just Bot. Let ADCs play Solo Lanes.
• If ADCs are not fun to deal with in Solo Lanes, then lets get rid of Mages/Bruisers Bot that are also "not fun to deal with" as a Marksman in the Bot Lane.
• Trist's mild performance in solo lanes is due to a rush of BorK that lets her stay somewhat competitive with a single item in the game's current flow.
• Nerfs to Solo Lane Trist would impact her Duo Lane performance, which isn't the best right now.
• Diversity with sometimes weird un-fun matchups, or rigid lanes like we had for years. Pick one.

Share your thoughts!