Basically sums the title up. Riot has made a bubble where they will only give attention to 20-30 champions, be it if they're already busted. And whenever a champion enters that bubble through item changes (Kalista, etc) they kick them right out.
Chalze29 votesThis is the exact same for any game with 100+ champions/playable characters. There's only so much you can do with a passive and 4 abilities before you get cliche or force extremes or gimmicks. There's this 20:80 principle, 20-30 is approximately 20% of 135 champions who will get 80% of the attention, whereas the rest 80% or so of champions will only get 20% of attention.
If there are enough 'things', this principle will often show up.
But it's not new, not new at all.
KillTheYordle8 votesThis is the exact same for any game with 100+ champions/playable characters. There's only so much you can do with a passive and 4 abilities before you get cliche or force extremes or gimmicks. There's this 20:80 principle, 20-30 is approximately 20% of 135 champions who will get 80% of the attention, whereas the rest 80% or so of champions will only get 20% of attention.
If there are enough 'things', this principle will often show up.
But it's not new, not new at all.
But there's a difference between having champions have the same abilities and having the same champions that are already sitting on 52% win-rate get more buffs, whilst champions sitting around 45% win rate getting nerfed. And then having champs with 35-40% win rate never getting touched.
DW Diana2 votesBut there's a difference between having champions have the same abilities and having the same champions that are already sitting on 52% win-rate get more buffs, whilst champions sitting around 45% win rate getting nerfed. And then having champs with 35-40% win rate never getting touched.
Winrate isn't really a good statistic to go off. For one thing the sites that state these only pull data from 1-3 regions (though lolalyitics is working on expanding theirs in a beta).
Neither is pro play, as they build conbinations of champions to win, rather then just look at champions as individuals.
A good example of this is Malzahar. 50% winrate (ish), but is basically a walking ult. Add to this he's played in pro play simply FOR that ult, and suddenly you get loads of nerfs to the rest of his kit, while his ult remains viable for the pro's. The only reason he has such a good winrate is because so few people want to invest in the instant counter item riot have created to dick him.
Ask any malz main and they will tell you the second QSS is bought, they have lost most of their usefulness (unless they have a skarner on their team at which point someone might blow it on the skarner ult instead). Thankfully people refuse to buy this and malz still has a chance to be viable, but even then it's as a support midlaner, not as the AP carry he was meant to be.
Chalze4 votesNext best thing would be how entertaining a champion is to watch. Riot makes most money from LCS so boring champions, unless they're hella strong in the meta won't get looked at or even nerfed so the fancy playmakers (Yasuo, Zed, Orianna, all those guys) will be more popular, especially in the pro scene.
I mean, it's way more exciting watching Yasuo and Zed duel compared to let's say Kayle and Fiddle duel. Besides, if a pro player uses someone boring, there's less excitement from players who might be looking to enter LoL
DW Diana4 votesNext best thing would be how entertaining a champion is to watch. Riot makes most money from LCS so boring champions, unless they're hella strong in the meta won't get looked at or even nerfed so the fancy playmakers (Yasuo, Zed, Orianna, all those guys) will be more popular, especially in the pro scene.
I mean, it's way more exciting watching Yasuo and Zed duel compared to let's say Kayle and Fiddle duel. Besides, if a pro player uses someone boring, there's less excitement from players who might be looking to enter LoL
Yasuo is a safe pick which is why some of the pro's played him (and saw mediocre success). Zed is unlikely to ever see pro play, though irelia mid is becoming a thing there instead.
Pro's don't build team comps to be "Fancy", they build team comps that compliment each other. The wombo combo is a great example of this, and can be seen to work in all elo's when executed right, it's just much easier in a co-ordinated 5 man team then in a game with 4 randoms :P
Chalze1 votesDoesn't matter whether those picks are successful, it only matters if the crowd goes wild when they appear in champ select which they often do. Of course, you can say pros don't build comps around fanciness, but it's those team comp synergies that are so visually (and mechanically) appealing, thus Orianna, Yasuo, sometimes even Malphite gets some hype. Lucky in team games wombos are both appealing and effective, definitely works in favor for Riot and their pro scene.
DW Diana2 votesDoesn't matter whether those picks are successful, it only matters if the crowd goes wild when they appear in champ select which they often do. Of course, you can say pros don't build comps around fanciness, but it's those team comp synergies that are so visually (and mechanically) appealing, thus Orianna, Yasuo, sometimes even Malphite gets some hype. Lucky in team games wombos are both appealing and effective, definitely works in favor for Riot and their pro scene.
I disagree. The crowd might love to see cheese picks like yasuo, ekko, Xin Zhao etc, but in the end these rarely get played BECAUSE they rarely work out.
TheInnocentdevil1 votes[{quoted}](name=Lord Loki1987,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=JZ8MaOsv,comment-id=0000000000010000,timestamp=2018-05-22T12:36:59.886+0000)
Yasuo is a safe pick which is why some of the pro's played him (and saw mediocre success). Zed is unlikely to ever see pro play, though irelia mid is becoming a thing there instead.
Pro's don't build team comps to be "Fancy", they build team comps that compliment each other. The wombo combo is a great example of this, and can be seen to work in all elo's when executed right, it's just much easier in a co-ordinated 5 man team then in a game with 4 randoms :P
Sorry, but you clearly haven't been here long. Zed has been picked in competitive quite a bit, because late game he can split push and escape well, if you send one person against him zed will generally eat them.
DW Diana3 votesSorry, but you clearly haven't been here long. Zed has been picked in competitive quite a bit, because late game he can split push and escape well, if you send one person against him zed will generally eat them.
I've watch 2 seasons and can't remember the last time I saw him played in LCS, MSI or worlds. I might have missed the matches with him in them, but he's far from a normal pick (more cheese)
Sun Wu Ryuumoku1 votes[{quoted}](name=Lord Loki1987,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=JZ8MaOsv,comment-id=0000000000010000,timestamp=2018-05-22T12:36:59.886+0000)
Yasuo is a safe pick which is why some of the pro's played him (and saw mediocre success).
Safe ??? In silver maybe, but in pro scene its not the case.... same in solo Q (thats why most b*tch about a the usual yasuo 0/10).
DW Diana1 votes[{quoted}](name=Ryuumoku no koke,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=JZ8MaOsv,comment-id=00000000000100000002,timestamp=2018-05-22T23:23:00.887+0000)
Safe ??? In silver maybe, but in pro scene its not the case.... same in solo Q (thats why most b*tch about a the usual yasuo 0/10).
Lol I guess you didn't actually WATCH msi where he was 1st picked and the commentator said "And there's Yasuo picked! He can be picked early because there isn't a real counter to him so he's safe to be picked blind."
Yasuo is safe in any elo, it's just about how you play him. Go too ham and yes you'll die, but play him right and he can play into anyone.
Sun Wu Ryuumoku1 votesLol I guess you didn't actually WATCH msi where he was 1st picked and the commentator said "And there's Yasuo picked! He can be picked early because there isn't a real counter to him so he's safe to be picked blind."
I watched commentary but :
Yasuo is safe in any elo, it's just about how you play him. Go too ham and yes you'll die, but play him right and he can play into anyone.
no, i think you should play him a bit to understand it. i don't argue about the second part of your sentence. i just argue about the safety. like depending on your comp and ennemy comp you can be in trouble due to yasuo power spike (timing wise).
TheCodeisCupCake3 votesLol? fuck no. I was a hardcore Dota2 player, and let me tell you, almost all champions were viable. Some champs were 'out of the meta', but were still picked as counter picks or as part of a synergistic team. No champion was ever true shit (except chen, Chen is like the Air of league).
Heroes of the storm again, has strong and weak champions but the % win rate is at most 8% difference. Hots however does have its own shit category (being invisible champs) but thats another story
Chalze1 votesDota2 in relation to LoL is balanced because everything is broken lol
All jokes aside it's two completely different standards of gameplay.
zaire901 votesLol? fuck no. I was a hardcore Dota2 player, and let me tell you, almost all champions were viable. Some champs were 'out of the meta', but were still picked as counter picks or as part of a synergistic team. No champion was ever true shit (except chen, Chen is like the Air of league).
Heroes of the storm again, has strong and weak champions but the % win rate is at most 8% difference. Hots however does have its own shit category (being invisible champs) but thats another story
Isnt that because Dota balances around proplay something the boards gets on riots ass everytime they so much as think to balance a champ because of proplay
My Waifu Vanilla1 votesLeague is also generally in an 8% range outside of severe outliers like Ryze or Azir, but at most 15 champions being on the VERY FAR ends of both sides (45% and 55%) means 90%+ of champions are within that 10% (with AT LEAST two thirds being within 48-52%).
ModCaptainMårvelous6 votesCertain characters will also end up being far more popular in the long run or alternatively easier to balance. Something like Azir will take longer to change/modify than Volibear because he's fundamentally tougher to approach.
Lux gets so many changes because she's a character people love playing and want to keep playing while a champ like Trundle who has a comparatively smaller playerbase is relegated to changes once in a blue moon.
TheInnocentdevil1 votesCertain characters will also end up being far more popular in the long run or alternatively easier to balance. Something like Azir will take longer to change/modify than Volibear because he's fundamentally tougher to approach.
Lux gets so many changes because she's a character people love playing and want to keep playing while a champ like Trundle who has a comparatively smaller playerbase is relegated to changes once in a blue moon.
The problem with this logic is part of what makes characters uncommon is the fact they rarely get touched. There is a relationship between buffs and popularity they aren't accounting for.
ModCaptainMårvelous6 votesAnd this is an example of something that seems correct on paper but in practice isn't.
Every league champion has appeal. Some of it niche (Ugly moving battle platform Urgot) or broad (Crazy gun girl Jinx). The thing is, the broad appeal is always going to win out in the end. Riot could pump billions of resources into making Trundle the "face" of League of Legends but he still wouldn't be as popular as a champion like Yasuo. Of course, this is due to a number of things:
etc. etc. etc. There's a reason champions like Zed and Jhin float to the top while champs like Aurelion Sol or Volibear sink to the bottom. Giving them love isn't going to fix the deeper issues these characters have and fixing those issues might just isolate and upset the old fan base.
Durzaka2 votesTell that to Dota 2. They dont have nearly the problem league does with this.
SpecterVonBaren2 votesThey also have their own share of problems along with their strengths.
Highwiseene9 votesKalista got changed because she was 100% pick/ban in every region in pro play. Isn't changing her numbers around giving her attention? Riot can't balance 140 champions at once, they have to go through the highest priority ones first, then work their way down, that's the way limited resources(the balance team in this case) work. Riot isn't sitting in a back room chuckling to themselves while they change lux around to make her e easier to avoid in lane and giving her late game scaling on it(scaling cooldown). They're not chuckling to themselves while they lower skarner's stun duration after overbuffing him to 100% pick/ban in pro play.
Demon King Maou7 votesThey've always done this
<--- Riot games: NOPE NERF
<-- Riot: NOPE NERF
Oh hey gu- <--- Riot: OH HELL NO Lowered ap ratio for galio
... Gee thanks
BALDG1VEN BOOMER67 votesAP Galio ratios were overbuffed, they deserved a nerf.
Infernape14 votesThe last couple of nerfs he got, he didn't deserve. He was already in a shit spot.
The only time I can recall Galio being ridiculous was when he was first reworked and when 7.21 went out and Riot decided that his Q should deal 100% of a champion's max HP as damage after a deathcap.
Demon King Maou2 votes[{quoted}](name=Thę Weeknd XO,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=JZ8MaOsv,comment-id=00010000,timestamp=2018-05-22T12:24:20.315+0000)
AP Galio ratios were overbuffed, they deserved a nerf.
I know but still
He joined the meta and
Riot games: 
to the point where he wasn't used anymore and is only recently making a comeback (Cause dmg is busted)
DW Diana11 votes[{quoted}](name=Demon King Maou,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=JZ8MaOsv,comment-id=000100000001,timestamp=2018-05-22T12:27:30.623+0000)
I know but still He joined the meta and Riot games:
Galio was and is a mage counter. He's picked for his safety in lane and his usefulness in team fights. His damage isn't BAD per-say, but it's his inherent tankiness and CC that draw people to him. I myself play him into AP assassin's like Ekko and Fizz simply because he is SO safe, and can combo his CC to take them down 1/2 their HP solo, with barely taking a scratch himself. The nerfs to his damage were very much needed and he's still very viable (love building ROA, banner to make my opponents cry xD).
Melledoneus2 votesIt's unfortunate that his stats say he's struggling. Not sure how bad he actually is, though.
Feed or Famine2 votesThe reason being just what he said. Galio is a niche pick, and struggles in match ups against ranged/ad mids. He still serves his purpose, but shouldn't be blind picked in most situations
My Waifu Vanilla1 votesHe's also comp reliant which further enforces "don't blind pick me". I have a 60% WR on him over like 30 games so far this season because I just don't pick him into garbage comps and also PREFER taking him top since he just ResidentSleeper farms and scales against tanks (can just clear the entire wave after level 7 and double DRing+Blasting Wand while NEVER running out of mana) while doing DECENT against some fighters (the camille match ups is pretty easy and irelia has an equally bad laning phase early). Your ult isn't AS impactful but you can still countergank mid pretty easily and pick up assists or just teleport bottom instead of ulting.
Also, he is basically "trash" in any comp where you are the only melee since you generally lack ult targets to carry you into a fight while you are also not a frontliner at all since you pretty much have to build AP on Galio now to be a relevant champion. Another option is if the enemy team doesn't have an assassin, but more sustained damage threats so you can actually peel with your ult instead of the enemy assassin popping the carry before you even land (does REALLY well into Yi and Xin since you just taunt both and they die to your team).
Saianna1 votesYou guys jump on him cause he jsut mentioned galio. Yea sure, Gargoyle had its ap ratios sky high and definitely needed to be trimmed, but he went from OP to UP in a skingle patch.
Second thing:
Galio was and is a mage counter.
And that is good. Just as Rammus is AD(c) counter to some extend. What you should be against are items that negate your whole presence in the game.
DW Diana1 votesYou guys jump on him cause he jsut mentioned galio. Yea sure, Gargoyle had its ap ratios sky high and definitely needed to be trimmed, but he went from OP to UP in a single patch.
I didn't "jump" on anyone, just put forward my opinion. I don't think her UP tbh. I still play him and have a good level of success.
Second thing:
And that is good. Just as Rammus is AD(c) counter to some extend. What you should be against are items that negate your whole presence in the game.
You mean like QSS against malz? Or maybe you mean adaptive helm against malz?
Galio doesn't really have any items designed specifically to counter him.
Saianna1 votesYou mean like QSS against malz? Or maybe you mean adaptive helm against malz?
I though about overabundance of shields and MR in AD itemization, rather than specific item to block specific champion. Not saying it's good or bad, though. I just meant a different thing :)
LordGeovanni1 votesGalio's % hp ratio with the ap was over buffed but that is no surprise as there is hardly one instance of low and balanced % damage (max hp missing {boost} or current) in the game. Galio's base ap buff needed to happen for him to have some resemblance of what he used to do but all of his other skills still don't resemble his old kit W as a taunt partially does. But Galio hardly was a tank previously and his new e is a horrible delay might as well have his old e that is much more useful damage wise and in general (not peeling for the adc but maybe not everyone playing a melee champion wants to peel for adcs just a thought). I didnt need an ult i couldnt use in fight compared to old galio for a quater map dash that people just walk out of.
Cloud2732 votes[{quoted}](name=Thę Weeknd XO,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=JZ8MaOsv,comment-id=00010000,timestamp=2018-05-22T12:24:20.315+0000)
AP Galio ratios were overbuffed, they deserved a nerf.
You can dodge literally all of his abilities. He even gets a self slow while he channels his taunt. If you get hit by any of his abilities it's YOUR fault. AP Galio was honestly healthier than most mid laners in this game.
4262874 votesIt cant be another way really. Unless you give all champions the same abilities, people WILL find the most optimal champions/builds to win more often. The same way mmorpgs have the number crunchers figure out the strongest dps classes etc. The same way pro sports coaches figure out what types of players they need to get that championship squad. Welcome to life, glad you could join us.
Miku Append4 votes
CasterGilgamesh1 votes but meh CC mah mobility tool mah free spell every something minute passive why they no pick me?! its cuz they jelly they cant stand a strong nord Frijlord woman! Ill bury them all in ice!
Jerry SeinfeId3 votesNo really? it's impossible to balance 140 champs perfectly? yikes who woulda thought.
Nea1043 votesLong time everyone told Riot to fix its stuff; the game is still in an awful state and getting worse, and the consequences are finally coming.
Teridax682 votesI think part of the issue with this is that it is difficult for League to laser-focus its balance on specific champions. The moment an item or rune gets changed, dozens of champions end up having their own balance thrown off, because they either use that effect or are especially affected by it. Because items and runes have always received frequent changes, it's difficult to really fine-tune vast amounts of champions every two weeks, or even every four weeks, in response. In a stable game, whichever champions don't receive immediate attention should not necessarily have to be in need of attention, but as it stands League isn't really there, as it does feel like most champions are receiving either far too much or far too little attention at any given time.
I also feel a recurring issue has been that Riot still has difficulty finding their footing in League's balancing environment. Changes that are intended to be either power-neutral, or only slight pushes in one direction or the other, end up throwing the balance of the target champion completely out of whack, and even new designs sometimes generate critical failures in gameplay, forcing them to inevitably be overnerfed in view of an eventual rework. Part of this problem may simply be that League's balance environment is too complex to fully grasp at any given time, what with its layers upon layers of different interconnected systems, but I think part of the problem may also be that the environment itself, and its underlying ruleset, changes radically over very short time intervals.
Whereas MOBAs like Smite, Dota 2, HotS, etc. only rarely add new items or implement other systemic changes, League adds, removes and reworks items with much greater frequency, all while implementing similarly large changes to runes, Summoner's Rift, and sometimes summoner spells too. This, in turn, creates a different meta in which different mechanics are stronger or weaker than before, thereby changing the way one would have to gauge their power. It's this constant instability that I think is at least partially responsible for so little of League's roster being considered good at any given time, and while I appreciate that Riot has tried to shake things up, the long-term result is that a ton of resources have been wasted on whack-a-mole-balancing, when they could have gone into much more durable improvements, and stabler champion adjustments.
Pika Fox2 votesGiven most champs get seen in competitive, i doubt its that bad.
Keshaun1 votes[{quoted}](name=Pika Fox,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=JZ8MaOsv,comment-id=0009,timestamp=2018-05-22T17:41:34.925+0000)
Given most champs get seen in competitive, i doubt its that bad.
I think getting seen and being played in competitive are two different things. A prefect situation for a champion versus being viable is what generally happens in competitive. For example, Caitlyn will always be viable in pretty much every game whereas you need the prefect situation for Draven or Lucian and they still will most likely not be played.
Pika Fox2 votesTheyll likely see play after the new items and rune gets settled down.
My Waifu Vanilla1 votesThe problem is whenever Lucian is remotely meta he IS the meta. It happens literally every time Lucian is good. He goes STRAIGHT to permaban status because of how polarizing his good match ups are.
RiftScuttlerOP2 votesthe more champs they add, the harder it is to balance the game
the crazy kits of champs like camille or irelia only add to that difficulty
there's a point where new champs make the game worse
I'd rather have a balanced game than 10 more new champs
Hyquiem2 votesBut only 
he will be nerfed cause of pro play and not his function in solo q or viability.
Nobio2 votesPeople complain about champs not being high pick rate/win rate, people then complain about power creep and things being too op. Honestly people just like to complain.
VelvetCrotch1 votesbetter complain than do no nothing. ofc you complain about something you dont like. and the summary of all things ppl dont like should be changed or looked at.
MysteriousBootie1 votesThis is why they should've stopped makin them a long time ago. They're not even tryin to be reserved about it there's like a new champion every month now lmao. There's gonna be like 1000 champions by the next couple years and they still won't fix the core design problems, or bother tryin to make even a third of their fat-ass roster actually playable lmao
Seriously they don't even give you enough time to get used to the last new champion they introduced before another teaser for ANOTHER champion is out