An ADC's thoughts on the Smite/Support Gameplay
This is a post I made on reddit, but I want to see what the boards think about this issue. Sorry for the amount of text in advance :) Also as an ADC main I realize I am biased in my opinions.
Thoughts - First off, I would like to say that introducing new things in the meta is one of the things that I like most about league. The game is always changing, with picks getting in and out of meta, forcing you to evolve with it. Being innovative should always be welcomed. However, I feel like the current state of the game is not capable of handling the smite support counterjungle strat, given how volatile the bot lane is. If you are against a competent bot lane, the enemy ADC will freeze the wave while the enemy support will zone you off of the cs. You (as an ADC) will be put at an EXTREME disadvantage in both exp and gold. An ADC without items is completely useless, unless you are playing a supportive ADC, which means you're basically a discount CC bot. Trying to lane 2 v 1 against an opponent with more items is as bad as it sounds. Not only is the smite/support player making your game more frustrating, but if you are playing a weak laning ADC, (e.g. Vayne) its pretty much impossible to 1 v 2. This means that you HAVE to play a long range champion that does well in lane (e.g. Caitlyn) to even have a chance of coming out laning phase alive, so you may have to play champions you dont want to play just to ensure that you wont get 150% goomba stomped. The recent smite/support player was in mid Diamond elo, where the players are much more competent and can punish much more heavily than in my elo, so they must have had a very hard time in lane. This can transition via tilt to the other parts of the game and have an overall negative effect on the game.
Counterpoints- "Shut up and learn to get carried" Some might say that you should only care about winning, and that being miserable while winning is worth it for the LP. I agree to an extent. However, there is always the other side. Being made miserable and then losing the game on top of that. Losing with a teammate performing an unconventional strategy will probably lead to a report said player which leads to the current situation of the smite/support player getting reported enough to get banned.
"Supports shouldn't have to babysit the ADC" Well, thats true. Supports help the entire team and dont have to be joined at the hip with the ADC for the entire game. BUT during the laning phase, its crucial that the support helps to ensure that the ADC dosen't fall behind during one the most key phases in the game. Roaming to help other lanes is perfectly fine and encouraged but I dont think the ADC should be completely ditched and left to rot.
"Riot should either completely enforce the meta or not at all" Ive seen people bring up this point on the boards and other threads. The point is that Riot should take an official stance and make it explicitly clear that breaking the meta is against the rules, in order to avoid the riots (heh) we've seen on reddit and other LoL forums. The problem with this is that I dont think this is about the meta. Its about creating a negative experience for the players on your team, (which in itself is a confusing topic since its all subjective and the two aren't mutually exclusive). I think Riot has already shown us what they think the game should be like: 1 top, 1 jg, 1 mid , 2 bot. They've made many balance decisions to keep the game like this. I highly doubt they will officially enforce this type of meta directly, but indirectly, they've done a lot to get these types of lanes. (first turret blood which stopped laneswaps, lowering jg exp for those who dont have jg items). tl;dr - Its not really fair to the ADC and will probably lead to the ADC getting tilted. Overall, this is a very complicated issue and I would like to hear what other people have to say.
