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EVERY position is "infested" with Carry picks nowadays

Malicious Metal··66 votes·5,642 views

Everybody wants to be a carry these days, making teams consist of primarily squishy, high-damage champions. Games rely on getting ahead and snowball, making picks and just steamroll the enemy with superior damage output.

Everyone wants to see the big damage numbers and teamplay and teamfighting as a whole become a lot less common in SoloQ, making people extremely hostile towards each other as everyone wants to be THE MVP.

http://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32607192/carrybs.jpg See this? This is a common sight in most of my ranked games, and I'm NOT talking about the Mordekaiser pick. Teams pick 5 damage pumps in every position, making them just try snowballing and becoming extremely kill thirsty, disregarding team strategies and superior tactics in favor of just stomping the enemy.

http://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32607198/carrybs3.jpg Gangbanging bot lane, camping lanes and getting ahead with superior numbers instead of winning 5v5 engagements is the most common, and most effective strategy to win as snowballing is extremely effective in this season.

http://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32607196/carrybs2.jpg Gold disperancies become extremely high as overwhelming single lanes with a number advantage gives one the edge but the moment these teams are forced into a 5v5 engagement against one with a "proper" teamcomp with UTILITY supports/mids and teamfighting threats they fall short.

People underestimate the power of strategy and teamplay in a gasp TEAM based game. It makes me sad that this mentality of wanting to be the most important person on your team becomes more widespread as people become extremely focused on just stomping their lanes and then just beating the enemy over the head with a gold and numbers advantage.

It's sad, as I highly prefer teams that work together, that form one cohesive unit and make decisions that WIN the game, instead of simply wanting to deal one thing: DAMAGE.

Just my two cents on this matter, I just feel that the entirety of soloQ consists of One man shows wanting to be like their favorite anime's Protagonist and just be the most important member of their team, with them only being insignificant side characters.

100 Comments

Illâoi Evê Siôn35 votes

I don't think it's us players fault that we're opting for the high damage team comps. It's effective, after all. You play ranked to win and this is how you do it. That's the way metas work.

I just think it regrettable that it is so effective, that Riot is fine with there being so much damage in the game.

Spicy Rice5 votes

I think it's less that, and more of the soloqueue mentality. If you pick a tank, or utility champion, you are counting on your team to win for you.

In the soloqueue environment, you simply cannot trust your teammates to win

Illâoi Evê Siôn2 votes

It's always been that way, but there used to be repercussions for picking only damage-dealing champions. Sometimes you would make concessions and pick an off-Tank or so (my go-to used to be Jarvan). The current meta no longer has that. It actually encourages having as much damage as possible.

Sraeg20131 votes

Unless in that odd game where your team has 4 APs and, say, Jhin, so they stack 4 MR items and you can't do shit to them, while they maul you to death and Jhin can't do anything alone.

But that's the only situation when having tanks is superior.

Sraeg20133 votes

In previous years picking full damage comp was the shortest way to ruin.

That's why even Shen, dealing basically negative damage was so popular. He didn't need to do 12% max health damage per basic attack to stay anyhow relevant even in Solo Queue.

Spoofghoul2 votes

Well defense is no longer gold efficient in any way due to an abundance of

%hp damage in all kinds of forms on practically every new champ and rework Penetration everywhere you can go as far as to reduce 400 armor to like 3 armor . . True damage being over tuned across the board, fuck red buff lol also fuck vayne yi and fiora, and lets not forget camille

Truth be told, what is even the point of building defense at that point right. Might as well just pick a carry and build full damage like everyone else

AMYS GRAVE18 votes

Everybody wants to be a carry these days, making teams consist of primarily squishy, high-damage champions.

Which is why for years tanks had above average winrates as a class. Teams with a tank were better built and as a consequence the tanks which were picked won more games. At some point riot decided that wasn't ok and they balanced tanks around a 50% winrate and they are consequently undertuned.

TyrekGoldenspear14 votes

Exactly this MM, this is why it's ludicrous to call this a tank meta.

It's anything but.

Illâoi Evê Siôn11 votes

I thought it was the Burst Meta?

Because everyone is basically an Assassin right now. Even Tanks "assassinate" all non-Tanks and survive one second longer when they're being assassinated. And Supports are either Mages (=Assassin) or shield-bots (to prevent assassinations).

PureSilvrr6 votes

Its a damage meta, if you can 100/0 the adc, you can support. If you don't clear a camp in 5 seconds using 3 abilities, you cant jungle. If you aren't an assassin that can 100/0 your enemy midlaner, or a midlaner that has HEAVY damage or cc, you cant midlane. If your a tank without high bases you cant top lane etc...

Glory ln Death9 votes

The "tank meta" outcry going around on the Boards today is just the typical "I saw one person say this in another post so it must be right." Its a normal thing for the Boards - it'll go away in a day or two.

BastionKross1 votes

Actually I've heard several League-focused youtubers refer to this as a tank meta.

They are wrong, of course, but that never stopped their fans from parroting them before.

Glory ln Death1 votes

Well, that explains it even more.

the weeaboo10 votes

Ahri - Can makes flashy plays, visually appealing, does tons of damage, can basically solo carry a game with some feed, mobile and fun to play

DAMN PRO AHRI HONOR FOR CARRYING

Lulu - Land every skillshot, make plays, keeps allies alive, basically win teamfight for team, make a good play, set up a shit ton of kills for your ADC

ALLIED TRIPLE KILL DAMN PRO VAYNE HONOR ADC FOR CARRYING

Swaid9 votes

I'm always aware it's a team game, friend.

It's the only way you can win Heroes of the Storm and I play both.

Very Hard Engage7 votes

its easier to win games when you make yourself big than it is to work with 4 strangers.

i try and try again to pick team oriented champions and im filled with nothing but regret that even if i give my team mates a 1000x damage amp (if it were possible) they would still find a way to lose.

Onkel Malte7 votes

It's just very sad that damage goes before utility and strategy. But then there's Janna giving me hope beause she's the only Champion that seems to work out without doing noticable damage at all.

MFTORANK11 votes

meh I main her and she just can't block everything like she used to :( . I could literally solo carry the game by timing my E/R/Redemption/Locket one after the other and keeping noobs alive. Don't get me wrong she still good but the amount of damage in games is too damn high !!! ahahah

Onkel Malte1 votes

She's my main too since the end of season 5. She still is the most consistent support in viability stats and she is always a good pick for every team comp. She is super strong but relies on her team too much, so most of the time your team carries you and you keep them alive in the most hopeless situations, especially towerdives with a full CDR Janna can be very frustrating for the enemy team.

But it's true that she feels somehow underwhelming with all these damage amplifications through masteries.

MFTORANK11 votes

I think if her number were tuned up a bit she would feel better. I'll take my last game as an example, there was no way I could keep my Ashe alive even with item 3190 item 3107 E+R so I basically became useless since Janna only strength relies on keeping carries alive. Keep in my mind that I run 45%cdr and heal masteries.

Onkel Malte1 votes

Janna may feel weak to you because damage overall is too high since the keystones were introduced .

But actually since the Support Itemization changes her power grew and with a usual build is increased by an additional 20% and that gives you approximately 50 health per shield and a lot more healing power on your ult. (dunno if it scales with AP also)

It's also the adcs fault probably for bad positioning because you cannot make anyone immortal eventually :P

MagicFlyingLlama4 votes

Solo carry is the only way to get anywhere in soloQ, where you typically get matched with gibbering degenerates that can barely find their own turret, let alone work as a team.

Teamwork is great when you get a competent team, but you cant rely on anyone to be capable of it or have any idea what to do.

Ahristocats24 votes

from my experience it never used to be like this "pick 5 carries cause it's solo queue" i remember picking jungle maokai in season 2 and carrying the game

stop pls

MagicFlyingLlama2 votes

Veigar summoner 3 summoner 14 item 2301

Aptest10 votes

IMHO and memory the opinion most of the time is: "we need a tank. I play damage dealers. who on this team (not me) is our tank?"

Wheatloaf3 votes

Top/Jung/Supp: "Not me!" ADC is self-explanatory

Me: "Welp, looks like today is a great day for mid Mundo. Hopefully their AD is too retarded to build executioners."

Aptest3 votes

or chogath. or galio. or sion (ult sidelanes).

and in the ADC postilion: star guardian Urgot does the job well.

SettDownShutUp4 votes

In all honesty, I feel as if the cause of all this is Masteries. The amount of damage the masteries have packed in these days leads to fast-paced burst downs. Thunder Lords's turned the game into a mess of "who can get their insta-kill combo off first". Grasp of the Undying fell out of favor after the healing nerf, and deathfire's touch is a frustrating mess of numbers that amount to nothing. In order to even stand a chance tanks all hopped onto the Colossus band-wagon, and now they're looking to nerf it into the ground.

Everything is getting changed, around the problem. Thunder Lords Decree.

Solo Josh3 votes

[deleted]

MagicFlyingLlama4 votes

[zombie-brand-clap]

Or they are just sportsmanlike, mature adults that would rather see a game through?

Solo Josh2 votes

[deleted]

MagicFlyingLlama1 votes

u wot m8?

Legacy Hydralpha3 votes

So, does damage feel high because everyone's playing their own "carries", or is it actually high and causing people to play their "carries"? Either way, we're in a bad spot right now.

flibitydoo6 votes

[{quoted}](name=Legacy Hydralpha,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=PXfY3ybE,comment-id=0003,timestamp=2017-02-02T20:46:54.356+0000)

So, does damage feel high because everyone's playing their own "carries", or is it actually high and causing people to play their "carries"? Either way, we're in a bad spot right now.

I think the issue right now is supports bot lane is basically Zyra Brand Malzahar .

...which also coincidentally, build barely any damage, but somehow have the greatest damage dealt numbers in the game. And the biggest complaint we see here on the boards is "too much damage". And these champions always outdamage everyone on their team. See the connection? I don't even think the jungle/mid/top lane damage champions are problematic. Something needs to be done about "rotate 3 abilities and 100-0 their squishies and 100-40 their tanks"

Like I don't know why the balance team still thinks having "base damage" as an identity works, but it blatantly does not.

PureSilvrr2 votes

Malz is dps, so he should have high numbers, as most dps champs try to melt tanks etc.. brand is only bot so he can abuse his aoe, zyra is zyra, a reworked "support"

MFTORANK11 votes

as a support main I don't have any other choice than to play Zyra right now, she's so effective and she deals so much damage it's insane. I don't know about the others but she's def. a beast and it's unfortunate cause I loved to play stuff like Leona Alistar Janna

The Dreamwalker1 votes

Actually, Leo is a great support right now. If she is paired with the correct champion, Leo can help her team destroy towers, bait, and get endless pentas. I suggest looking on lolking to see who is paired best with those champions because chances are that they are helpful with the right champion.

Leo is great with MF and Ashe.

Janna is great with Jinx.

Alistair can flucuate between champions. I rarely see him, so I wouldn't know who he works with.

Invexes1 votes

honestly i just despise the fact that malz is a viable supp. like in theory he should be terrible because all he has is ult for peel, and he isn't exactly an enchanter use other methods.

cuddlykitten43 votes

Support main cares not for kills and numbers. Support main simply wants the thrill of the game, and the satisfaction of a job well done :)

Hammermancer5 votes

I main Brand Lux Malzahar support, as a support player i completely disagree with you

Lauchmelder9 votes

"Support"

cuddlykitten45 votes

You mean you main Brand Lux Malzahar mid and get confused on the directions to where mid lane is

Hammermancer2 votes

sorry what i meant to say is that I just main Malzahar Brand fill because i lack imagination and like hitting two button combos and then walking away before the enemy dies.... too cool to look at explosions

Aptest2 votes

well.

The way I see it, the mord team is your typical ball-as-5 then supported hard-engage with backline damage dealers team. Where your goal is to shove the Amumu R deep into the opposing team's derriere and pile a bunch of other abilities on top of it.

The Fiora team doesn't work the same way. Not sure what it does exactly, mostly because I am bad at the game, but it's not a clear case of a team that can support it's split pushers or a team that sieges or a team that walks into the enemy team as a unit, or a gank-squad team.

I'm not sure the fiora team is bad because of too much damage. It doesn't really have less fight-starting power than the mord team because of the Jhin ult taking over what's missing from oriana, and they can disengage with smart j4 ults (probably not as good as what lulu can do with her spam slows).

I think the problem with the fiora team is simply that functionality wise, it is a little bit too all over the place. I.E. whereas with the mord team it's clear to see what the comp is supposed to do, with the fiora team it is not as clear.

The mord's team 5-man is scary. As a broad strategy, I would not try to contest it directly. because i don't think the correct way to play is "who's wombo combo is better".

AMYS GRAVE3 votes

The red side is a roam and pick comp. Fiora and jarvan are good dualists with good split pushing to seperate teams into small skirmishes jhin ult for long range slows to set up those skirmishes, corki package to roam from lane to lane and join fights in side lanes, malz ult to lock down anyone who wanders out of position and gets picked off. Couldn't tell you how well they executed on that comp without watching game but....

Aptest2 votes

team on paper and team in execution are obviously different animals. much less so in metal's division than in mine ofc.

chipndip12 votes

I was having issues doing anything strategy related in this game, and it was costing me my climb. I decided to finally start duo'ing with someone on my friend list that's around my elo, telling him we'd try a few and see what'd happen. My expectation was that if we lost twice in a row, I'd just say "fuck it" and go solo some more or look for a different partner.

Now, the main thing was that I DIDN'T want to duo with an adc. That's putting all my eggs in one basket. This person does mid/top, and to my surprise, his top laners are Maoki and Malphite. So far we're 6:1 with me playing support and him playing top as tanks. If the enemy camps him or he just doesn't do that well, because he's not a carry, he can become relevant again with just a bit of help. If I don't do that well and he happens to do well, he can use his team fighting to help get other carries strong. Hell, most of the games we've played we were doing poorly in the earliest stages of the game and caught up after laning to win them.

With that said, I absolutely know why people think carries all over the place is strong: It's because it feels strong. It's Lee/Yasuo all over again. Losing to a carry feels bad because they style on you. They chunk up red bars and you feel like they're just way better than tanks, when in reality it's not that imbalanced. A decent tank to round out a bunch of carries is what we call insurance, and part of being smart in a strategic game is having a fallback plan. Offense is to snowballing as defense is to insurance. If everyone forgoes their defense, of course the game is gonna feel stompy.

MrHaZeYo2 votes

Not that i'm trying to argue your point but Mumu and J4 are at least built somewhat tanky. Shit even Lulu has a couple tanky items.

ZT Xperimentor2 votes

Not to mention because riot's been buffing damage for the past few years along with throwing more gold into the mix; it's no wonder offensive champions scale up faster & harder than defensive ones these days.

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