The new minion mechanics are bad for League because they will stifle champion/strategic diversity.

The new minion mechanics--where minions are stronger and tougher based on team level advantage and towers taken over the enemy--are ridiculous:

> MINION DAMAGE BONUS: If your team's average level is higher than the enemy's, your minions deal 10% bonus damage to enemy minions. If you've taken cumulatively more turrets than the enemy team, damage is further increased by 10% for each turret you have over your opponents. > > ENRAGE: If your team's average level is at least 3 higher than the enemy's and you've taken 2 or more towers in a given lane, your minions in that lane deal 90% more damage to enemy minions > > MINION DAMAGE REDUCTION: If your team's average level is higher than the enemy's, your minions take less damage from enemy minions equal to (tower differential x level differential) + 1. This number can't fall below 1. > > IRONCLAD: If your team's average level is at least 3 higher than the enemy's and you've taken 2 or more towers in a given lane, your minions in that lane take 7 less damage from enemy minions.

This means League, already a hugely snowbally game, just got a lot more snowbally.

If you can't maintain levels against your opponents and you can't trade towers, you're not going to be able to wait to win in teamfighting because the enemy minions will push down your lanes without having a dedicated split-pusher or someone with obscene wave-management mechanics. If you lose any two lanes, you will lose the game, period.

Which is sad, because League used to be a game that you could have the choice to scale into the late-game and beat a superior early/midgame comp with better lategame teamfighting, but with these minion changes, I predict we'll see far more surrenders at 20 minutes and far less epic lategame comebacks because these new auto-pushing mechanics, not late-game scaling teamfighting, will decide games. In order to take advantage of these new pushing mechanics, there will be so much pressure to get early towers and early level advantages (hello Zilean/Mordekaiser). Early-game Warrior junglers like Lee Sin will become far more powerful because they can gank earlier and apply pressure to lanes, take towers, and secure early kills and level advantages to start that snowball; meanwhile, Sated and Cinderhulk junglers who need more time to clear and itemize won't be able to help their teams counter the early pressure and stop the snowball; their kits and itemizations don't allow them be able to gank/pressure lanes as early and as effectively, and they won't be able to level as quickly because they can't clear camps or secure kills as quickly as Warrior junglers.

Laners that can clear waves quickly and mount one or two-man tower sieges (like Viktor/Azir, Sivir/Caitlyn, etc) will be highly contested picks because they'll be able to level up faster and pressure towers earlier over a slower-clearing enemy who might have better lategame scales (Vayne/Kog'Maw). The new mechanics will reward a longer laning phase and 1-3-1 split-push comps and punish deathball/siege comps, since deathball comps will get shared experience penalties while split-pushers will get full experience (read: minion advantage) and threaten towers (read: minion advantage).

TL;DR: If I wanted to play a game that punished teamfighting and encouraged eternal laning/split-pushing, I'd play HOTS. These minion pushing mechanics are bad for League and will stifle champion and strategic diversity, not encourage it.