Don't have Elemental rift dragons change the map

Chadtrick·10/24/2019, 4:54:53 PM·3 votes·2,427 views
Preseason 2020 Gameplay: Rise of the Elements

League of legends is supposed to be a strategic, teambased, skill game. And changing the map for the rest of the game seems to give more luck than strategy, I'll explain why.

When an elemental dragon spawns in a game, the map is changed in 1 of 4 different ways. Having different effects. If you don't know what the 4 drakes do yet I suggest reading the post I've linked above. A lot of champions have unique interactions with the terrain, here are some examples.

Kayn - Kayns E allows him to pass through terrain, allowing to gank from multiple angles.

Illoai - Illoai's passive tentacles form next to walls

Taliyah - Taliyah's passive allows her to surf of walls for faster movement speed.

Rengar - Rengar can jump out of bushes

Camille - Can grapple to walls and jump off of them too.

These are just a select few that came into my head when writing this post. Now I'll tell you where the problem is.

Some champions will be put either at an advantage or disadvantage when the map is permanently changed. If you're playing against a rengar and the Ocean dragon dominates the rift, he just got ALOT stronger, simple due to a dice roll. Cloud drake? Hecarims passive gives him bonus ad the faster he is, now he gets more AD for doing absolutely NOTHING. Playing against any sort of champ that relies on terrain? Well Fire and Mountain drake will either buff them or nerf them, all because of a dice roll.

Too many champions are affected by the map around them, and by changing the map every game, you are putting them at a disadvantage/advantage for doing NOTHING. This game is supposed to be interesting with teamplay, mechanics and strategy; not with some silly dice roll that doesn't need to be implemented, you can keep dragons the way they are, no one really had a problem with the map (atleast I don't think) but adding a luck based feature will not improve the game and will only cause more frustration and RNG to this game.

7 Comments

Nik Nikerson10/24/2019, 8:04:41 PM3 votes

Just. Stop.

The map does not change so radically that it will have a large influence either way. Does Rengar become slightly better with the 5 extra bushes that will pop up? Sure. Is it enough to radically alter his power level? NO. Will Hecarim get slightly stronger with extra movement speed? Yeah. But he also gets slightly stronger with the current Cloud Drake bonus, but A) Nobody complains about him getting stronger with the current Cloud Drake buff, B) You don't have to fight him in the jungle and C) His stats can be adjusted. None of that is a problem, and likely will not have a massive impact in 99% of games.

It only affects the dragon pit and the area around the buffs. That's it. Nothing in lane. Nothing in the jungle as a whole. And it's not like the changes aren't something you can play around. If the enemy team has a Rengar, you just play around it in exactly the same manner that you do now, just in slightly different areas. If the enemy team has a ton of AOE and the Mountain Drake creates new choke points, DON'T FIGHT IN THE CHOKE POINTS. This will add in a few tactical wrinkles you have to play around, but it will not radically alter how you play the game.

Quáx10/24/2019, 5:33:20 PM2 votes

I personally like the idea. I think it forces you to adapt your play to achieve maximum efficiency in your place. ANd yea some champs may get hit with it like rengar on infernal burning down the brush, but then you have the Ocean dragon and it helps him

Stop Get Help10/24/2019, 6:26:42 PM2 votes

Any champ with a dash, stealth Movement speed increase, do better. Even in the current state of the game. Certain champs are going to have a hard time if they have no mobility. However i like the idea of the changes for the jungle. kinda makes you think more on your choices in a game.

JetstreamXT10/24/2019, 7:31:53 PM1 votes

Personally, I'm still more worried about random crits or something big off of my opponent's Kleptomancy than the terrain changes. At least the terrain changes encourage more thought going into your decisions and are variables you can actually account for a few minutes in advance

Ambitious Minnow10/25/2019, 7:00:42 AM1 votes

I'm shocked to had this change announced. By a HUGE, SWEEPING margin, Summoner's Rift is THE most popular game mode. Why? The map is terrific as it is. It's well designed and pretty balanced, if not perfect. It's super obvious once you step back and look. The overwhelming majority of lol players play Summoner's Rift.

If Riot wants to have a wild new map with changing terrain and execution dragon buffs and more RNG, it should make it available separately and see if it floats on is own merit.