What is the alternative to "Snowball Meta"

I see all over the boards "Oh this stupid snowball meta" "Riot doesn't understand how bad snowball meta is" What exactly is "snowball meta"? and what is the alternative?

The name snowball meta implies that the biggest issue with the current state of the game is that one small victory makes earning the next one easier, and that this cumulative effect ultimate advantages one team into winning the game. Isn't that exactly how league works? That in order to consistently secure objectives and gain a lead, you must build it upon prior smaller leads. In order to safely take baron, you must first secure vision, in order to secure vision, you must be able to safely cross the river, in order to safely cross the river, you must have lane priority, in order to gain lane priority you must first have pressure on the map. All of these things require coordination, and skill to gain one after the other.

So what then would the alternative be? What you do early doesn't matter, any forward progress is worthless because it doesn't help you in taking the next objective, at any moment the smallest mistake can totally undo everything you've accomplished because prior cumulative steps and advantages are not required to secure large objectives. Yeah that sounds really fun. That sounds to me like I played excellently, but it doesn't matter how well I did, because the gains I made for my team do not do anything to stem the tide of one of my hemorrhaging laners. It doesn't matter that a toplaner won lane, took tower, is on the map eliminating enemy vision and lurking in the shadows, the enemy doesn't need to eliminate that threat before they take objectives, they just have to outperform in a 50/50. It doesn't matter that botlane is ahead, and the team no longer has to protect them, because the enemy just has to get a favorable coin flip in even skill, and suddenly that's totally irrelevant, because they don't have to expend resources cementing their lead before taking objectives.

I hope people who read the second paragraph realize exactly how unfun that is. Especially when the game and its ranked system is supposed to be a reflection of consistent skill over time, but the game rewards bursts of skill to suddenly rocket back from a huge deficit and close out the game in a single clutch play. If the game rewards that, it makes being a skilled player worthless. It doesn't matter that 9/10 times, you beat them, that 1/10 time happened while baron was up and suddenly you're down 2 inhibs. That's not a comeback, that's a coinflip, and its unsatisfying. It means that when I win cause of the coin clip, the victory is sour and undeserved, and when I lose to it, it was because I got scammed, not because they were better players.

The game should snowball. The defender has an inherent advantage for a reason. Its to enforce consistency of performance instead of just happening to win a fight at the right time. If I want to take a tower, I should have to have an immense number of advantages on my side. I should have to create a situation where the enemy can not defend it, either because they're zoned off, or because I forced them to back/killed them. And I shouldn't be able to do it all at once, I should have to beat them in lane numerous times. forcing them back once, or getting a single kill should not auto win me the lane. When I want to take the dragon, it should be only possible because my jungler and botlane are working together to defeat the enemy jungler and botlane. If I want to be able to roam around in mid, I should first have assured I will not fall behind while I'm away. To execute requires preparation, and consistently accrued victories over the enemy. Proving numerous times that you are the better team.

I think rather the issue people intend to complain about when they say "Snowball Meta" is exactly the opposite. That consistent victories are not required. Winning a single fight due to being more skilled at one particular part of the game, or just at the right time, means that suddenly every objective to defend and fight over is gone, because so little is needed to take them. Towers die instantly, and baron doesn't do any damage. I don't have to build up enough of a lead to win with 50 less resistances and 2/3 of my health, because the baron isn't a threat to me like that. I don't need to worry that the enemy will roam all the way across the map and collapse on me while I take the tower, because the tower dies in 2 waves after 10 minutes. Thats the real problem, not that snowballing is a thing, but rather because its a vile perversion of what it once was and should be.