Mutual Bans: The Compromise
Hello! In this thread I would like to discuss the concept of "Mutual Bans". Over the past few years many players have shown favor to the idea of adding extra bans during the pick and ban phase of ranked play. This position is quite understandable considering the increase of champions which has also lead to a greater number of champions players would rather not have to deal with. Opponents of adding extra bans have stated that it would draw out even further the already lengthy process of getting a game started. Now my suggestion would add a little more time, maybe up to 10 seconds, to the pick and ban phase, which I hope will be suitable.
PICK INTENT becomes PICK INTENT & MUTUAL BAN PHASE Pick intent length increase by ten seconds to accommodate the change. During pick intent players have two boxes shown in front of them. A pick intent box and a mutual ban box. Click on the intent box to show your own champ intent and click on the mutual ban box to pick a mutual ban.
What is a mutual ban? A mutual ban is a chance for both teams to agree on a champion to ban. If either team feels it is fair to ban a champion simply on the premise that they both think that a champion simply shouldn't be available for pick and would rather use their bans for a more targeted type of banning such as possible counter picks and additional unfun champions.
How does it work? If a person on one team declares ZED as a mutual ban and a person on the other team also declares ZED a mutual ban, that character will be banned before the actual banning phase begins. However, if no one on the other team declares ZED a mutual ban, then ZED remains available unless banned during the actual banning phase. Though rare, this could increase the total bans by 5 to a total of 11 while not forcing people to wait through 5 more individual bans. Also, since it is mutual, both teams can feel good about eliminating certain champions they both dislike from the game.
ADDS TO STRATEGY: We've watched LCS. We see how teams ban champs based on a player's performance on said champ, or a team comp strategy a team is playing really well with. But when we go into ranked, we have no clue what the enemy team is going to play (outside from correctly assuming ZED will be picked if not banned). This leads to worse case scenarios where the champion you banned wasn't actually even in the discussion for the opposing team. "What!? They banned Poppy? I don't even play that champ!" A mutual ban phase should give more information to both teams about which champions either wants to play with. For example, if one team doesn't mutual ban ZED, it might be that they plan to pick ZED. Same with BLITZCRANK etc. It's still not 100%, but it gets you a little bit closer and decreases the chance that your ban was actually absolutely wasted.
Before you think I'm making this suggestion for myself, I am not. I don't even play the game. I just came up with this idea out of the blue last night. I realize a lot of players have mutual dislike for certain champs, and would probably prefer to just have them taken out of the lineup. With Mutual ban, as long as both teams agree, that fantasy can actually become a reality.
Riot, please consider implementing this for your sake. It will lead to better experiences for your players.
