The adc2k17 meme was a real thing and here's why.
It was because adcs had to be played as ad mages, or as a secondary support. They had to play a mile away from the team fight and build lethality to upgrade their abilities. Jhin and varus were popular because they could poke using their long range abilities and they scaled well with lethality. ADCs like ashe worked because they provided enough utility on their own.
The auto attack based carry didn't exist. Crit was too slow to do well with how snowbally the game was.
Shield/healing supports also weren't popular. Instead, mages like zyra and brand were taken bot to bully the adc and other support out of farm. The amount of damage they could pump out was insane. It wasn't uncommon to see an ability or two chunk out the adc for 2/3 or more of their health. Assassins were also very popular and lethality was strong. That's partly why adcs used lethality as well.
This created an environment in which the adc would get bursted out of their ass if they every misstepped. Everybody played a champion that could combo the adc in one shot. This forced adc into playing off brand mages. They would build lethality, stay far away from every fight, and hope that the enemy didn't care enough to pay attention to the adc.
The only reason marksman were still played was because they provided consistent objective damage and since games might go past 20 minutes, they acted as an insurance policy.
You get to play a role that gets straight insta gibbed by every champion on the enemy team, who gets forced to play an off brand mage because their main itemization is that weak. You play that in the hopes that you can survive a team fight and right click a turret, or hope that you'll actually become a decent threat half an hour after the game has started, but only if your team gives enough of a shit to help you. all of this, in a meta where the game is usually decided by 20 minutes, if even that.
The meme was created because why would anybody want to play that kind of role. Why would anybody enjoy being an insurance policy for the entire game. Why would anybody want to play a role that doesn't get to contribute meaningfully to the game for half an hour. Where one misstep means you get chunked for half or all your health. And if you somehow survive a teamfight, you get to right click a turret. The meme was created because adc felt like ass to play. It was straight anti-fun. But it was necessary anti-fun. Somebody needed to provide objective damage. Somebody needed to be there in case the game actually did go past 30 minutes.
In case some of you forgot what it was like,
Energized items)
