Riot should balance around Pro Play
After seeing tons of ignorant players saying things like "ADCs deal 80% of the team's damage, nerf ADCs," "Zed is OP, nerf Zed," and "Yasuo has no counterplay".... (like BLATANTLY wrong things that nevertheless get up voted)
I think I'm fully convinced that the meta should 100% be balanced around Pro Play and the LCS. Masters, Diamonds, Academy and pro players, people who actually know how to play the game...
otherwise the game would be ruined as far as balance goes by the reign of the Bronze...
There have been plenty instance of historical guttings that have been motivated by mob reign (the massive, loud opinion of the ignorant) rather than sound policy.
Consider how the Lux Lobby managed to get Rengar and Leblanc unfairly gutted (and it took YEARS for Riot to finally have the political capital to revert the changes). Fact of the matter is, this shouldn't be a democracy. It should be a meritocracy and balance decisions should be made in the interests of the best and the most knowledgeable. Not just to appease low elo players who refuse/can't learn the game no matter how numerous they may be...