Does EVERY match snowball?

Zarialla·Jul 23, 2016·21 votes·2,208 views

Seems like games are hardly ever a good "match." It always snowballs- like a rediculous victory or an ass-whooping loss. Its like victory or defeat is decided in the first 10 minutes and it just gets better or worse from there. I don't mind losing games at all if it was a fun, even match but it never seems to go that way. Anyone else feel like this happens pretty often? I've played LoL for years and I never used to feel like this was an issue. Does it have more to do with skill or just straight up counter-picking?

27 Comments

LiveYiOrDieHardJul 23, 20167 votes

Too much damage on champions overall. Too much CC. Too easy to push objectives. All design choices by Riot that lead to horrible snowballing in damn near every game.

PoskeJul 23, 20162 votes

Funny because riot has been nerfing Damage on champions since League of legends came out Riot has been Reducing The cc Durations and removing CCs For a while And Objectives just got sturdier not so long ago

LiveYiOrDieHardJul 23, 20169 votes

[{quoted}](name=Sub HeroCro,realm=EUNE,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=6yd6gATQ,comment-id=00030000,timestamp=2016-07-23T17:40:01.529+0000)

Funny because riot has been nerfing Damage on champions since League of legends came out Riot has been Reducing The cc Durations and removing CCs For a while And Objectives just got sturdier not so long ago

The masteries this season are an absurd damage buff, probably above 150% damage increase on what champions used to do. They're breaking the game. And pretty much every new champion has ridiculous CC nowadays.

PoskeJul 23, 20161 votes

No they are not

They literally halved the ammount of masteries and just gave us 2x more impactful ones

Masteries are as strong as they always were on average (Riot aimed to make it like this if it werent like this they would change it)

Pretty much every new champion has so much counterplay that they can even fking Put hiroshima nuke on him and it wouldnt matter

Taliyah Illao AO shin literaly fk Themself up

Deep Terror NamiJul 23, 20164 votes

Depends on if the team keeps feeding the snowball or not. Probably at lower elo it's more common for players to continue doing so, while the higher you climb the more likely they know how to change their approach and go for the late game. My last match was one of my longest and also my best; ahead for most of the match but the enemy was able to work around it. http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/2246431412/214937258?tab=overview

MrBuffingtonJul 24, 20163 votes

At low elo one team snowballs, then they throw and the other team snowballs, then the game lasts 50+ minutes since neither team knows how to end.

I've actually noticed most pro games recently are incredibly one sided; even the "close" matches where they trade wins.

BlanchimontJul 24, 20164 votes

Snowballing is pretty severe this season. Most games are decided by the first 10 minutes whereas previous seasons it felt like the match wasn't decided until at least the 25 minute mark. I think I've only had 3 ranked games (maybe 4) that did not snowball out of control during the early game.

Warlord ZudaneJul 23, 20163 votes

If the game is won or lost within 10 minutes then you don't have the time for a good game. Good balanced games last longer than that, if people are giving up early then it simply will never be a good game.

Yes there normally is some snowballing but being able to adapt and recover is what makes for a good game.

Duke AnaxJul 23, 20161 votes

[{quoted}](name=Warlord Zudane,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=6yd6gATQ,comment-id=0001,timestamp=2016-07-23T16:46:27.084+0000)

If the game is won or lost within 10 minutes then you don't have the time for a good game. Good balanced games last longer than that, if people are giving up early then it simply will never be a good game.

Yes there normally is some snowballing but being able to adapt and recover is what makes for a good game.

I#mk not likely to give up, because in S5 I have won some ridiculous game, but this season, I have not once been able to recover.

PoskeJul 23, 20161 votes

S5? As in silver 5?

Well first of all silver is not a balanced division

Its clown fiesta of boosting animals and new players. I can see why you feel that way now

your silver games are decided in champion select

Thank it to Riot and their Dynamic boosting q

Warlord ZudaneJul 23, 20161 votes

S5 means Season 5... like last year.

But S6 (season 6) has had a lot of changes that I see a lot of old time players are not adapting to well.

SpoofghoulJul 23, 20163 votes

really all riot needs to do to fix this is to make towers sturdier

even a bit hp regen like 10hp/5 will go along way

then vastly reduce xp on kills, you already get gold and the opportunity to go for objectives which gives buffs or gold

just these changes will fix alot of the issues its a band aid but an effective one

MunchCrunchLunchJul 24, 20163 votes

the game became like this after the 5.22 changes. preseason where riot made the game snowbally. I could mention what specific things. but you can go look up the patch notes. about 9/10 matches snowball. probably 19/20. I mean its ridiculous. you get ahead. go fuck around run in 1v5s die a million times but the enemy team can't do much until you reach a 6 item late game as they well do.

i hate patch 5.22

venomous frostJul 23, 20162 votes

if anything, snowballing with level advantage was much more a problem back in S2/S3 than it is now.

Rustling BushJul 23, 20162 votes

its always been like that, its just faster.

PoskeJul 23, 20162 votes

{quoted}

Seems like games are hardly ever a good "match." It always snowballs- like a rediculous victory or an ass-whooping loss. Its like victory or defeat is decided in the first 10 minutes and it just gets better or worse from there. I don't mind losing games at all if it was a fun, even match but it never seems to go that way. Anyone else feel like this happens pretty often? I've played LoL for years and I never used to feel like this was an issue. Does it have more to do with skill or just straight up counter-picking?

Completely disagree

If you said this 4-5 months ago back In League of snowball I would agree

If you said that 1.5 years ago where winning team couldnt finish while losing team couldnt defend so winning team would just take everything on the map and starve losing team I would agree

Comebacks are a thing

MarshbouyJul 23, 20161 votes

For me they always feel like they snowball unless the enemy has a better comp or we throw hard.

CerealBoxOfDoomJul 23, 20161 votes

my matches snowball.. because I make them snowball

BigBellBruteJul 23, 20161 votes

Most games tend to snowball to a win or a loss. Some, it happens within 20 minutes. Others take 30 or 40. But I think people notice the snowballing ending to the game rather than the rest of the game.

Swiftstrike4Jul 23, 20161 votes

I think in lower Elo games have a tendency to snow ball more because people do not know how to play from behind. They also do not know how to stop dying to the enemy in lane once they have died once or 2x.

My games on my smurf end much faster and people also want to resign faster as well.

Most my games in gold don't feel very snowbally, but we get decisive wins and losses still. I fee there are also a lot more comebacks than there were even 4 months ago.

statelesskillerJul 23, 20161 votes

sometimes seems like it. but thats why my main champion to play is gangplank who NO MATTER WHAT as long as he can farm it doesnt matter how ahead you are GP can crush your team. when i see my team not doing well i just tell them. "care. play for late. at 40 minutes we win"

chipndip1Jul 24, 20161 votes

Actually...no.

This was an issue a few months ago, especially as you get closer to the preseason, but not now.

Duke AnaxJul 24, 20161 votes

It's really weird, yesterday I couldn't seem to win a game, today It's hard not to get an S...

Aatrox Mid 1v5Jul 24, 20161 votes

It doesnt matter how fed someone is, how can i counterplay a talon or shaco who comes up to me stealthed and actually kills me in less than a second when im playing a champion like azir who isnt even that squishy. im not joking when i say less than a second.

statelesskillerJul 24, 20161 votes

every single game i dread the inevitable "first blood" in bot lane where my team kills the support but then get double killed by the other adc . . .and its a twitch . . . NOTLIKETHIS

LuxannaVeritasJul 24, 20161 votes

This is from my experience, so it might be wrong...

...but games usually snow-ball when 1) a lane gets outplayed skill wise, or 2) someone gets counter-picked (or more accurately for lower elos, counter-pick themselves).

Compare the games you see with professional games. You rarely see solo kills before 10 minutes in lane in professional games, but in normal drafts they happen all the time. Plus, you usually hear about the importance of counter-picking during the draft phase of pro play. LoL is supposed to be even when everyone plays smart, no matter if it's during the drafting phase or in the actual game.

edit: oh, but ever since pre-season I've had less snowball-y games.