The return of the assassin mid and mage top meta...
....is nothing more than another change in the popular meta, like any other change.
This thread is short and simple. There have been countless complaints about the ranged top laners taking over and (arguably too strong) melee assassins taking over mid lane. People complain that, as a mid lane mage, there are, with very few exceptions, counterplay options against these assassins. Lisewise, as a top lane melee bruiser, there is very little that can be done about being kited by that Lissandra for hours. Both of these complaints are fair because they are true; top lane is shifting from melee bruisers to softer mages, and mid lane is shifting from mages to melee assassins.
But why do these spark so many threads blaming Riot for creating this problem? Is it their fault? Lissandra was designed to kite. Zed was designed to assassinate squishies (although he may be TOO good at this). They're doing their jobs. That's just how the meta changes from one type of favoured matchup into another, and these threads come along each time this happens. But the reason these come about is because people aren't willing to change their own way of thinking of the meta to adapt to the situation.
I'm not claiming this is an end-all thread, or that my roommate and I are any good compared to high-elo players at the game. But I know that when my roommate sees a Zed mid picked, he'll take mid lane in a heartbeat and play Jax. Another friend plays Irelia, or a semi-tanky Wukong. They'll take bruisers, because they understand that assassins don't like these types of champions early game. They're able to keep them in check and counterplay their abilities.
Top lane mages and ranged champions came into play as a means to counter popular melee bruisers who were dominating the lanes. Now, ranged top laners is incredibly common. It wouldn't surprise me if that was simply the way the meta shifted. Likewise, it honestly wouldn't surprise me if bruisers such as Irelia and Jax became common mid lane meta picks against due to the popularity of assassins like Zed and Akali.
The meta has shifted from Bruisers top and Mages mid to Mages top and Assassins mid. Why can't we simply adapt and respond?
