If you want more diversity in pro-play series

Great Ozymandius·Aug 29, 2016·4 votes·594 views

If you want more diversity in pro play, nerf base stats of champs for subsequent games in a series when those champs are picked earlier in the series.

So, for example, rek'sai gets picked in the first game of the series? Then rek'sai gets 50 less hp all levels for all subsequent games in the series. If rek'sai also get gets picked in the second game of the series? Knock-off another 50 hp. Starting with 50 or 100 less hp is a pretty big nerf early game and should change picks. You could do other nerfs or change the numbers. You can also make bans do the same thing.

If you did something like this, then we probably wouldn't be stuck with rek'sai gragas every game (even if we got them at least once ever series).

9 Comments

Puffing DaisiesAug 29, 20162 votes

No offense, but thats just not a good idea lol. While one of the points of the LCS is to entertain people and let fans have fun along side their teams, it is also trying to solidify itself as a true sport. You don't put weights on Steph Curry's ankles for every subsequent three pointer he shoots. The pro players have to be able to play their positions to there maximum potential, and if the the two best champions in the jungle are Garagas & Reksi, then thats what the pros should play.

Great OzymandiusAug 29, 20163 votes

You don't put weights on Steph Curry's ankles for every subsequent three pointer he shoots.

Well, RIOT does. That's what a balance change is. When RIOT nerfs Gragas and Rek'sai (as they did in the most recent patch), RIOT is putting weights on the ankles of Gragas and Rek'sai.

The problem is that in the LCS, champions are balanced on a razor blade. A very small balance change is enough to make one champion strictly dominate another. So with the most recent nerfs, we might not get diversity. Instead we'll get a different set of champs showing up in every game. Instead of getting gragas/rek'sai in every game you might instead get gragas/elise in every game.

Instead of trying to get the balance absolutely perfect, which is pretty much impossible, RIOT could instead auto-balance during a series (like I've suggested). Then for the first match, its gragas/rek'sai. Then for the second match it's elise/zac. Then for the third match its graves/gragas, then etc... This way, we get some diversity in every series. Riot doesn't have to get balance 100% perfect to get diversity.

The pro players have to be able to play their positions to there maximum potential, and if the the two best champions in the jungle are Garagas & Reksi, then thats what the pros should play.

Of course the pros are going to play the strongest champs. I'm not suggesting that the pros, out of their great charity, pick sub-optimal champions. The point is to weaken the strongest champs so that the optimal champs change. This way the audience isn't stuck watching the same 16 champs picked or banned in every game, which gets incredibly stale.

Puffing DaisiesAug 29, 20162 votes

I don't see how "nerfing" champions between games could be healthy for competition. Balance changes in the patches are Riot's way of keeping the game in a good state. Yeah, its not great and its never perfect, but thats what keeps League evolving for the casual player. By nerving champions between games, it would create a level of inconsistency in pro play. Yeah, it would be cool to see new champs, but if those champs are not viable or easily exploitable, it would drastically effect the state of the game. Keeping the balance on a razors edge is still better than just slicing it in half and saying "good enough".

Great OzymandiusAug 29, 20161 votes

Sure, there are always several pathological champions in the league roster. For example, before her rework, Poppy was nerfed into oblivion because of how broken her ult was. Riot nerfed pre-rework Poppy so that she would never show up in pro play until they had time to fix her, and that is O.K.

But for any position there are maybe 20 healthy champions.

There is nothing pathological about having one of {kog, trist, cait, graves, lucian, kallista, draven, varus, ashe, corki, ezreal, jhin, miss fortune, sivir, twitch} as adc. If only 4 are showing up in the LCS, why not tap down base health on the regulars so that pros have a reason to pick other adc's?

There is nothing pathological about having one of {amumu, chogath, mundo, ekko, elise, fiddlesticks, gragas, hecarim, jarvan, jax, kha'zix, kindred, lee sin, maoki, malphite, yi, nautilus, nidalee, nocturne, nunu, olaf, pantheon, rammus, rek'sai, rengar, rumble, sejuani, shaco, shyvanna, skarner, trundle, tryndamer, udyr, vi, voli, zac} show up in the jungle. If only two are showing up in LCS, then nerf the base health of those two after the first game in a series and then maybe we will get some of the others on this list showing up instead.

And so on with the other positions.

The champions that are truly pathological or boring to watch (like warwick) are currently so weak that they would never be the runner up. Nerfing the base health of gragas is not going to break the game. It's not going to cause a pathological champ to show up in the LCS. Instead, it will either cause one other top-tier jungler to be picked instead or the pros will pick gragas anyway because they think he is so strong that he is worth playing with 50 less hp at the outset.

My proposed change will not harm the game; it will increase champion diversity in the pro league.

Puffing DaisiesAug 29, 20162 votes

Its not about harming the game, its about the players. Thats a lot of champions pros have to be consistently amazing at. Pro players scrim a ridiculous amount of time with their teams, not to mention they are required to put in practice off-time by themselves. Im gonna use Meteos as an example (Go C9) because he streams quite a lot and I respect him as a player. If Meteos were to practice every single one of those champs and play them to their maximum potential every game, he would be practicing non-stop for the rest of his life. Even to get good on a handful of champs, like gragas, reksi, elise, or zac, he's put almost 5 years of his life and he's still not the best jungler in the world. Yeah, he's amazing and he can probably play every single one of those champs well, but asking him to play them all to the professional level is simply ridiculous.

Great OzymandiusAug 29, 20161 votes

Okay, so dynamic nerfs would favor pros who have a deeper bench. The pros who have a deeper bench would do relatively better if there were more diversity. The pros who are good on only a few champs do relatively worse. Why is that problematic?

You are worried that Meteos will do badly because now he needs to be great at more than 4 or so champs. But the other junglers face the same problem. Meteos would preform worse only if the other junglers have a deeper bench than he does.

In any case, the best pros have deep benches. Remember when Faker showed up at worlds playing Riven mid, when nobody had seen him play Riven at all beforehand? Do you recall how Bjergsen can adroitly play a huge pool of midlaners? He started out playing assasins like leblanc. But when assassins became weak and utility mages strong, he starting playing mids like lulu and zilean. Now he's playing tankier dps mages like Cass and Vlad. The best pros are not one-champion-wonders.

Puffing DaisiesAug 29, 20161 votes

Im not saying pros can only play one or two champions. Im saying Pros must be able to play a handful of champions to their maximum potential. Its problematic because while a pro can play multiple champions well, They will not be playing them to their maximum potential unless they put in the time and effort to practice them. Yes, the Meta shifts every season, but your still talking about about years and years of practice. Just because Bjergson played assassins two years ago doesn't mean that if he were to play them today, they would be flawless. Yeah, he's amazing but if he hasn't put in the time and practice with the champ along with his teammates, then it would be a waste of time. (Also Faker is on another level, man, i don't think there is anything he can't play at a god level xD)

JalkanAug 29, 20161 votes

Riot shouldn't force pros to not pick certain champions just for champion diversity. That ruins the entire point of the game, to showcase the best players playing with the best strategy and teamcomp.

Great OzymandiusAug 30, 20161 votes

So riot shouldn't nerf champions that are played too much in worlds? Are you against the rek'sai and gragas nerfs?