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Understanding the reasoning behind the "meta" will let you be more successful in "breaking it"

DustyElLion·3/10/2015, 6:15:10 PM·121 votes·7,180 views

The meta. It's a nebulous concept that hangs over league and govern's how the game is play. It's laws, enforced by habit and by player interaction, provide a very real service to the community. Without them the game would be chaotic, you would not be able to teach a new player any sort of structure. Take the meta away and you have a game of 5v5 with 3 lanes and two Nexis. It can be quite daunting to take all this in. What do I pick from 117 champions? Where do I go? What do I do for the team? These are all questions that would have to answered every single game. The meta provides the answers in a quick, concise, easy to teach way. Mid is for Assassins and mages so they can roam, you provide burst and AoE damage. Top is for tanks, fighters, and close in mages, you provide utility and CC. Jungle is for bruisers who can pressure the entire map and provide initiation and utility. Bottom lane is for the ADC who is all about raw DPS and a support who fills in the team's gaps and protect's the ADC.

More often then not "Breaking The Meta" get's construed as "I want to play this champion in this role, I don't care what I'm supposed to do in that role, that's just meta". The Meta is this arbitrary rule to be fought against, why should it dictate how I play? Don't look at it as a rule, look at it as a guide. The Meta is simply a construct to guide an undisciplined group of 5 strangers into some coherence. It spells out quite effectively what is desired in a good team. You want to play Annie ADC? As long as you understand the responsibilities you face, the role you've chosen, and why you're going to a lane then that's fine. But to simply pick it without thought is asking for disaster. You might get a few wins on unsuspecting targets, there is a pretty big honey-moon with most off meta picks I notice before you run into someone with a better understanding of the game.

You want to take Vayne or Quinn top? Think beyond the lane phase. Is your goal just to win lane then figure it out from there? What is a team fight late game going to look like if you have 2 adc's and no front line? What if you don't get fed? It's a cost benefit that requires you to look beyond you're own wants and your own lane. Understanding the underlying reasons for the meta in the first place better informs you of your pick's strengths and downsides. So don't ignore it as some rule to be broken. Instead learn it, why it exists, and then use that knowledge to find your place in it with your Annie adc.

EDIT: I've seen a lot of good discussion both here and on reddit. I guess a good TL;DR for the whole thread is: "Think about what you're doing, and why you're doing it. Learn the fundemental reasons why the game is the way it is, and use those reasons to shape your actions and character choices. Independence of Thought is a powerful thing, but it can lead to hubris. Always be critical and analyze how and why things work and why they failed. Then and only then can you reach true enlightenment. En taro tassadar, so say we all, may the force be with you, live long and prosper, whoa, see you space cowboy.... etc... etc...

108 Comments

B1naryB0t3/10/2015, 7:25:28 PM30 votes

TL;DR Breaking the meta is fine as long as you understand it and the trade-offs you face.

Tentacle Love3/10/2015, 8:31:11 PM15 votes

You should also take into account one of the most powerful reasons the meta exists:

there are three lanes, and a jungle. That leaves 4 sources of income for 5 players to fight over.

The only way to guarantee that everyone gets their fair share and contributes to a team effort is to have a player dedicated as support somewhere.

The current meta puts adc and support in bottom lane but that's a holdover from the old summoner's rift. It might end up more advantageous to put your adc and support in top lane. You can try that out and see how it plays differently, if you really want to see if playing a different meta is really for you. That alone is a pretty significant change. Even some of the LCS teams are doing it!

Keeping those gold limitations in mind, however, will do you a LOT of good in finding out if it's for you!

You might also try a team with 3 solo laners and two junglers. Guess what? LCS players are doing that too! It has its own plusses and minuses (minii? minexen?).

If you really want to make it work though, be prepared to dive deep into some obscure champion builds if you want to find someone who will work for those different roles. Research will get you where you want to go. It'll just take effort.

Hoi Im Temmo3/10/2015, 6:19:27 PM9 votes

I have tried to explain this, and even the meta, multiple times - but you did it way better than I ever could, and much more reasonably. Nice job, and a good thread.

TheRainInSpain3/10/2015, 7:41:05 PM9 votes

I know why the meta came to be, and I can understand why it's a good teaching tool, I just don't understand why there are so many people who religiously preach that anyone who doesn't follow the strict rules of the meta (I've come across people in Season 4/Season 5 who zealously defend "Ryze top being off meta", etc) are the spawn of Satan and need to uninstall.

Stark60003/10/2015, 8:45:54 PM7 votes

Actually the "meta" is there because it is the most gold efficient way of playing the game, and gold is power. If tanks and support scaled better then it would be much easier to break the meta. That or significantly reduce the mobility of many champs.

Kuroi863/10/2015, 7:47:53 PM6 votes

Oh sweet merciful Bob SOMEONE GETS IT!!!

Sticky this thread Riot, sticky the HELL out of it!

Oleandervine3/10/2015, 10:07:31 PM6 votes

I think you are a bit harsh on non-meta and free-for-all teams. Sure, a meta environment enforces a structure, but it also limits the mindsets of people and reduces creativity in how the game is played. That's why you see champs like Lulu, Ryze, Lissandra, and Soraka who somehow end up in a lane they previously never stepped foot in get beaten to death by the nerf bat when all of the opponents who get wrecked by an off meta build cry and whine about their currently meta champion getting its ass kicked by an off meta champion. This kind of thing leads to stagnation rather than the evolution that it should lead to. So you're getting plagued by Ryze in top lane? You should probably not bring a melee champion who can't take a few hits of magic damage. Why not try to counter him with someone else, someone off meta as well? That's the kind of creativity is generally frowned upon and squashed by Riot's balance team, as they try to enforce one kind of meta almost immediately, rather than give the game time for the players to adapt to the changing scene. Most of the meta changes are generally brought around by Riot anyway, and not experimental players, as mass nerfs like the jungle rework and the mana overhaul have caused a large shift in meta than anything players have been doing. So again, while meta is good for games, it can often cause stagnation and stifle the creativity of players, especially when those who follow the meta to the tee will be toxic and abrasive to anyone that goes against their perfect little bubble they live in.

P.S. As an aside, this is why modes like Nemesis and that weird experimental time before ranked begins are fun. People break meta hard core and the games are much more interesting when there's randomness and uncertainty.

PPPPPPPPPPPP2703/10/2015, 6:46:42 PM4 votes

My problem with the meta is that it's more stringent than most games.

Dota 2 does have a meta game but you can still pick anything in most situations as long as gold streams is handled properly. Why because the itemization is better. Squishy mages can get utility items but get bulkier as well. Some heroes can survive 1v3 lanes with a stout shield and a ton of healing items while still gaining levels and some CS. Even without any CS they can still contribute to fights because spells usually have no scaling.

What League champion can actually handle 1v2 lanes? Very few because the jungler will come and tower dive with the 2 laners. They also have to end up farming later because they are too poor to do anything useful.

League of Legends lacks proper counterplay to those situations. That's why we can't have a meta that's not 1-1-2 jungle.

Madman3573/11/2015, 2:59:14 PM3 votes

Asking LoL players to think about the team instead of their own selfish wants and desires.

Rofl

junglerboy163/11/2015, 12:38:47 AM3 votes

The meta right now is actually in some pretty significant flux, like AP carries dominating top (instead of the standard bruiser lane) Supports going with the teams tank/fighter for better ADC solo experience, Junglers farming until 15 minutes in because lanes are so safe right now, etc. I hardly ever even think about what I do as "breaking the meta" because to the common player, that tends to just mean "not playing the FotM champs" rather than playing a champ in an off role like AP Varus, or AP bruiser Alistar top, or Poppy support (my personal favorites).

RogueWill3/10/2015, 6:24:20 PM1 votes

I agree with most of you say but.... You left out my tanks and mages. Where are they on your meta?