Why aren't non marksmen bot lanes more popular ?

FioraWillCarry·Dec 29, 2016·2 votes·821 views

Just played a blind pick against a Thresh/Zilean combo. At first it was easy but they quickly scaled and I mean very quickly, into the most oppressive combo I've ever seen. After level 7 or so, we just couldnt touch them and they easily overwhelmed us and took the tower. They and their entire team proceeded to make a comeback from falling slightly behind in the early game. Due to all the CC and damage from having effective two support champions.

Now I understand why the meta is the meta. I understand that marksmen scale better with gold and they are the best tower siegers, late game hyper carries and all that but it's pretty clear that other combinations bot lane can be quite powerful, especially in the current climate where we have multiple marksmen being able to jungle or go top lane and all that. Why aren't non-marksmen bot lane combos more popular ?

24 Comments

k wìxDec 29, 20163 votes

{quoted}

Just played a blind pick against a Thresh/Zilean combo. At first it was easy but they quickly scaled and I mean very quickly, into the most oppressive combo I've ever seen. After level 7 or so, we just couldnt touch them and they easily overwhelmed us and took the tower. They and their entire team proceeded to make a comeback from falling slightly behind in the early game. Due to all the CC and damage from having effective two support champions.

Now I understand why the meta is the meta. I understand that marksmen scale better with gold and they are the best tower siegers, late game hyper carries and all that but it's pretty clear that other combinations bot lane can be quite powerful, especially in the current climate where we have multiple marksmen being able to jungle or go top lane and all that. Why aren't non-marksmen bot lane combos more popular ?

You basically answered your own question.

1.) Marksman are known for having some of the best scaling in the game.

2.) Playing against the meta is frowned upon, especially in ranked when egos and rank are on the line.

3.) You are right, certain bottom lane combinations can be terrifying. However...

4.) As you rise in rank, and your opponents become more skilled, playing against the meta becomes harder and harder, and you learn exactly why you shouldn't be playing your off-meta pick. It's a great system.

5.) A prime example is Lux and Velkoz Support picks - You will see them commonly in the lower tiers, from Bronze to Gold, but once you start hitting Plat and Diamond levels of play, they become rarer, And when you eventually scale to Pro-levels of play, these champions become even rarer, in some cases obsolete entirely.

FioraWillCarryDec 29, 20161 votes

[{quoted}](name=k wìx,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=ilWIJrQj,comment-id=0009,timestamp=2016-12-29T01:06:40.509+0000)

You basically answered your own question.

1.) Marksman are known for having some of the best scaling in the game.

2.) Playing against the meta is frowned upon, especially in ranked when egos and rank are on the line.

3.) You are right, certain bottom lane combinations can be terrifying. However...

4.) As you rise in rank, and your opponents become more skilled, playing against the meta becomes harder and harder, and you learn exactly why you shouldn't be playing your off-meta pick. It's a great system.

5.) A prime example is Lux and Velkoz Support picks - You will see them commonly in the lower tiers, from Bronze to Gold, but once you start hitting Plat and Diamond levels of play, they become rarer, And when you eventually scale to Pro-levels of play, these champions become even rarer, in some cases obsolete entirely.

Ah. Interesting and informative answer. Thanks.

Blast DeadliftDec 29, 20162 votes

it's not meta gtfo of here troll.

FioraWillCarryDec 29, 20161 votes

[{quoted}](name=Blast Deadlift,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=ilWIJrQj,comment-id=0001,timestamp=2016-12-29T00:43:42.525+0000)

it's not meta gtfo of here troll.

Reported.

IsoVhellDec 29, 20161 votes

Troll!

IsoVhellDec 29, 20162 votes

[deleted]

FioraWillCarryDec 29, 20162 votes

{quoted}

Because you're an idiot.

Reported.

IsoVhellDec 29, 20161 votes

[deleted]

IllegalBagelDec 29, 20162 votes

triggered lmao

FioraWillCarryDec 29, 20161 votes

{quoted}

And you're a window licking idiot.

Reported.

lilpokflufDec 29, 20162 votes

It'll work against opponents who are less skilled than you. But as opponents get better it'll get harder.

I think most of the time these type of "cheesy" lanes work when opponents keep trading blows early game since pretty much any champion that's not a marksmen is stronger early. If it ever turns into a farm fest the adc will always come out on top eventually

MatthewRT2Dec 29, 20161 votes

i've seen lanes where a marksman with ok cc becomes the support and a champ like yasuo or even morde back in the day became the adc

FioraWillCarryDec 29, 20161 votes

{quoted}

i've seen lanes where a marksman with ok cc becomes the support and a champ like yasuo or even morde back in the day became the adc

Yea, that game actually encouraged me to think about playing non-markeman champions in bot lane. It could clearly work. With Graves, Twitch and Kindred being viable junglers and top laners like Quinn and Kayle, there can be games where we don't have to take a marksman bot lane.

1wolfpackDec 29, 20161 votes

cause the pros dont do it

Jax CramerDec 29, 20161 votes

Cause they suck vs people dont suck at the game.

WoonStruckDec 29, 20161 votes

Because Riot is still terrible at balancing their game after nearly 7 years.

Iźuku MidoriyaDec 29, 20161 votes

was it ad thresh? also something to note is the reason that supports do well with low gold income and thats why they did well against you

FioraWillCarryDec 29, 20161 votes

{quoted}

was it ad thresh? also something to note is the reason that supports do well with low gold income and thats why they did well against you

Actually it was a kind of AD Thresh. He started building as a normal support but he built some AD quite early. I think he went for a B.F I saw at one point.

SchmidttyGamesDec 29, 20161 votes

Thresh is actually a viable ADC (read his E carefully), it's just harder to pull off than most meta carries.

PupelDec 29, 20161 votes

because people are closed minded sheep

DJ LucioDec 29, 20161 votes

Like people say, it'll get hard.

but it's fucking fun

Me and pal go ekko and blitz bot sometimes and it's just hilarious

FioraWillCarryDec 29, 20161 votes

[{quoted}](name=DJ Lucio,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=ilWIJrQj,comment-id=000a,timestamp=2016-12-29T01:13:40.759+0000)

Like people say, it'll get hard.

but it's fucking fun

Me and pal go ekko and blitz bot sometimes and it's just hilarious

I tried Ekko support once upon a time. It really was fun. We actually stomped that lane hard to my surprise.