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Some Feedback on the Experimental ARAM Changes

ShadowGlaive213·4/12/2019, 4:25:26 PM·3 votes·5,301 views

To start, I think there were too many changes at once which made it hard to really say which changes are the problem and to an extent, made it feel almost like I was learning a different game mode, which is not something I look for. There’s a lot of things to learn just playing SR and I liked that a lot of those things carried over to ARAM.

Bans – I don’t support the introduction of bans. Introducing a guarantee into a game mode that’s supposed to be random and chaotic goes against the virtue of the mode. I’ve seen some arguments that “ARAM only accounts” already keep it from being completely random and while this is true they still don’t operate in 100%s, especially since Riot widened the pool to include the previous 2 free champion rotations which means you’ll always be rolling from an ever changing and unoptimized pool of at least 42, whereas bans are a guarantee that you will not see a certain champion of your choice.

Minions – The part I want to address here is the increased spawn rate and movement speed. This in my experience feels like the map is forcing a conclusion and makes it infinitely harder to come back, and surrender a more attractive option than continuing to try, because losing an inhibitor is losing the game, destroying the Nexus is only a formality since the minions will do it for you. The dev blog stated the reason for these changes was because of game length expectation which I don’t think is a good enough reason to close games for teams that don’t know how.

Poke Reduction – I’m okay with these changes because poke comps are really strong and this helps with that, though in combination with some of the other changes it might be problematic.

Backtrack – I know some people really like it and I think it's particularly good on assassins, but I’m not a fan. While getting Backtrack Skarner ulted also has very little counterplay, I mostly don’t like it replacing Barrier. A lot of assassins and other tanky burst champs are dealing 5-18% more damage and Barrier was the anti-burst summoner spell option. Yeah, Backtrack will move you back toward your Nexus, but that’s only after 2.5s has passed which, unfortunately, you’ll likely be dead by then. This also makes squishies that were nerfed to take 5-12% more damage even more irrelevant.

Mariner’s Revenge – Not a fan. I’ve found it’s not really worth getting on most champions because there are better item options, but for those that it is their counterplay is mostly to CC them to death and after you do that, you have to try CC/kiting them out again for 4s while the-would-be-dead now have all their cooldowns and you do not.

Ghostwalkers – Still don’t like it because it makes me pay too much attention to otherwise unplayable parts of the map. AP assassins generally prefer Sorc Shoes for the magic pen since Snowball is already giving them a way in, so it’s mostly a select few AD assassins and engage tanks that are making good use of it from what I’ve seen.

Warmog’s – Warmog’s was obnoxious and this makes it a bit better, I’m okay with it.

Rune adjustments – I think for the most part they’re good changes, I only really take issue with the reduced Electrocute cooldown because, in combination with all the other changes they are benefiting from, assassins are getting too much help in my opinion.

Champion Buffs/Nerfs – I think the nerfs were warranted to help pull poke mages back from being overwhelming, but I think simultaneously introducing buffs to other champs was jumping the gun a bit or not necessary at all. Most of the champs that got buffed struggled not because they were weak, but because they have a higher skill ceiling or kits that aren’t very similar to other champions players might know, making them harder to learn on the fly. Like the minion changes I mentioned, it feels like victories for these champs are being forced by number buffs, rather than earned by players for executing them well.

Overall, I have not been enjoying ARAM as much since these changes were implemented and think they might’ve hurt mages too much, directly by making them take more damage and indirectly by over-enabling champions that were already designed to kill them. It would’ve been nice to have only half the changes so players can better form opinions about them individually, but for the most part I’m eager for them to leave.

Feel free to share your thoughts.

9 Comments

Ztoka4/12/2019, 5:12:05 PM3 votes

I'm a pretty regular ARAM player, fav mode other than poro king and real urf.. Not a fan of the changes.. Definitely has me playing less. The bans are just stupid, adds time to matchmaking, seems to be more dodges.. Oh well. I'll probably just start hitting up ranked so I can pick the champ I play. Aram has always been a blast but since they are trying too hard to balance fun modes, not so fun.. If you are gonna add a ban phase, just make a clown fiesta all mid mode where you have a ban phase BUT you can pick your champ. We all know the majority of folks don't really "enjoy" the "random" factor in aram, that's why you still see the same champs all the time, even w/ the ban phase. One good thing about the ban phase is I can ban a champ I don't want to play.

KingLCM4/13/2019, 6:56:32 AM3 votes

Bans: They help a lot. I tend to ban veigar and playing against him in ARAM as a melee champ is a joke with his cages.

Minions & Turret Changes: ARAM games were already fast enough. Now they're pushing anti-comeback mechanics and trying to make games end even faster. This is probably one of the worst changes.

Poke Reduction: Great. Poke has always been really strong in ARAM.

Backtrack: I never see assassins use this. I just see squishy champs like adc's and mages use this. It makes it even harder for assassins. I'm not a fan because it gives too much safety.

Mariner's Vengeance/Ghostwalkers: It's very rare that I see people use this. Seems like they're very situational items and don't seem too strong or weak.

Warmogs: I never saw warmogs as an issue but it's still a decent item.

Rune Adjustments: Very good.

Champion Buffs/Nerfs: The numbers could use some tweaking but they're overall good changes promoting champion diversity instead of there being "good" champs and "bad" champs.

ARAM has been more enjoyable to be honest. The biggest issue is that games are ending so soon and comebacks are even more difficult.

y0r1ck4/13/2019, 5:55:44 AM1 votes

I love the bans. I like aram a lot, but my least favorite part is how ridiculous some mages are on the map. Banning veigar makes me happy.

If the only reason not to have bans is to preserve the integrity of a random mode, I definitely want to keep bans.

Agree with you on everything else.

VoraciousX4/13/2019, 6:59:54 AM1 votes

From the 6 or so games I played it felt like teamfight champions were even more overpowered than the last time I played. I could be wrong though.

Rayet4/13/2019, 4:47:07 PM1 votes

The only things i like are the champion buffs/nerfs and bans.

Ghostwalkers - who doesn't like watching the walls to see if there's any assassin lurking around? Weren't enough complains back then?

Minions - who thought inhibitors falling in 10 minutes are cool?

Mariner’s Revenge - seen it only on Yi, it doesn't matter if you CC and burst him, 4 seconds are more than enough for him to kill 2-3 squishies.

Games are now won at the loading screen. If you can push better than the enemy team, it's GG, cause they can't stall the game long enough to outscale you. So overall, one step forward and 20 steps backwards. I played ARAM because it was fast paced, but now feels more like Counter Strike. If that's how you like to balance, it's better to just leave it alone.

Dessim84/13/2019, 7:09:11 PM1 votes

If they want to do a balanced All Mid, introduce a draft/ban version. Leave ARAM alone and balance from this likely more competitive mode.

Isn't balance supposed to be from the point of the top players in the world?