Spellbook Sivir, and Game Pacing.
EDIT: This is a repost from last night. I do want to get this out, and I happened to post this at a very bad time.
Well, what do you know? Korea has happened to cook up some wacky strat again. This time, it's running the Keystone Unbound Spellbook on Sivir.
Now, what does this do? Well, as you may be very well aware of, Sivir has one of, if not the best wave clear in the game. If you start W (and even max it), you can lay down some pretty heavy pressure onto your opponent, especially since there is no other ADC in the game that can match your waveclear, especially in the first few levels.
What Unbound Spellbook does for you is that you can start with the traditional Heal/Flash summoner spell combo, however, once you make your first back, you can switch one of them out for teleport. You teleport back to lane with a B.F. Sword, and keep up the pressure. This pressure is only amplified if your support goes melee, and runs Relic Shield with you. The extra executions really help push that wave.
The goal here is not to kill your opponent, per se........it's to suffocate them. You keep on pushing the minions into the tower, and chip it down piece by piece. If you and your support play it right, you are almost guaranteed to get first turret.
And in my most recent game, we did just that...
https://i.imgur.com/Uj9dcvc.png?3
Now, I've always been kind of.......on the fence about game pacing. I understand that some people hate the current pacing, and others actually love it. Me, on the other hand.....I'm just going with the flow. However, I will admit that this is the first time I felt I actually abused something.......and I even tried the E Max, Full Pressure Nasus when that was around.
I believe that Spellbook Sivir perfectly demonstrates exactly what is wrong with game pacing right now. the goal is not to outdue your opponent here. No, it is to suffocate them, and get a guaranteed first turret, which allows for a snowball to start rolling. Also, due to the importance of bot lane, if you suffocate your opponents to the point of uselessness, then the enemy team is really only operating at half effectiveness. If you notice, I was almost 40 CS ahead of Trist.......in 15 minutes.
Now, how can this be fixed? Well, I don't think it's just flat out buffing towers. Instead, I believe this is good evidence to remove first tower gold. With the (re)introduction of Rift Herald, it gives a pretty big incentive in order to get it.....essentially a free turret. Now, first turret gold was introduced LONG before Rift Herald ever came onto the map......but now that good ol' Shelly (this is what the LCS calls her) is bashing down turrets left and right.......first tower gold feels a bit overkill.
So, this is my suggestion: Do not flat out buff towers. In my opinion, they actually feel fine. I know many people will disagree with me on that, but.....yeah. Instead, remove first turret gold, and increase the attractiveness of Rift Herald. In fact, one way to do this is actually move the first turret gold to Rift Herald. This makes it FAR more attractive, and, as a side effect, makes top lane so much more important.
The way I see it....you effectively kill THREE birds with one stone......just by moving the first turret gold bonus to Rift Herald.
- You decrease the importance of Bot lane
- You increase the importance of Top lane (and even mid, to a degree)
- You curb game pacing and snowballing
Anyway, just figured I'd throw in my 2 cents.
TL;DR
Spellbook Sivir demonstrates what exactly is wrong with game pacing. I suggest to move the First Turret gold bonus away from towers, and put it on Rift Herald. This will do 3 things: decrease the importance of bot lane, increase the importance of top lane, and slow down game pacing and snowballing.
