A possibly controversial idea to get Marksmen out of Bot Lane
Thank god the discussion about why Marksman are in bot lane is finally getting some attention. I just wanted to piggyback off this and throw a curveball of an idea at the whole "We want something other that Marksman in Bot Lane" discussion.
What if the Support doesn't always have to go Bot.
Consider that Marksman are almost always the Bot Lane carry because they're the class that can take advantage of the high gold to low experience gain that Supports cause. Remove the Support, suddenly there's a lot more experience around for other classes to scale on their base stats.
Consider that Marksman are a valuable element to the team because of their siege potential. Note that Marksman don't necessarily need to go Bot
, and other notable siege items and mechanics that can add on to a team's siege potential even without a Marksman like
and many more.
Consider that two people are pushed Bot Lane because of Dragon control. I'd like to remind you that Rift Herald exists. If it can be made to be just as valuable as Dragon and not so painfully punishing to take compared to Dragon, is that not a strong reason to also have people control the top side of the map? Furthermore, a much more liberal version of Bard in the form of a Roaming Support could still provide the map control to support the bottom side of the map when needed.
Consider that Support items are almost specifically designed to function in lane. Why not add more starting item options to support even more play styles?
Consider that Double Jungle was in fact a viable option in some seasons, especially in the competitive scene. With the existence of Ivern, the Support Jungle play style is a viable play style to be considered should proper options appear for more than the extremely niche case of effectively just Ivern.
Consider that Supports are practically designed to synergize with or protect Marksman. Ignoring the chicken-egg scenario, since we're seeing Marksman functioning without Supports nowadays, why not be more liberal about designing Supports for other classes?
Consider all of these mechanics or fundamental elements of the game, and even more, that force the Support to go Bot Lane with a Marksman. We are reaching a tipping point in League of Legends right now where less Marksman require Supports than ever and the Support play style is slowly inching away from being stapled to Bot Lane. With just a little, or possibly big, push to move Supports out of Bot Lane, we may see the Bot Lane carry role naturally adopt more Champions than just Marksman.