The game feels different for me now because of shorter games
And I don't like it. I didn't have many 60+ minute games since climbed out of bronze, most games were around 40 minutes in s5, and 60 min games are also ok in this case, since they are tense, not boring. Now it is more like 20-25, maybe slightly under 30. And suddenly it changed my whole perception on the game. I don't know whether it is due to the fact that there is less tension in games, they are decided rather quickly (and well, tbh, those are kind of deserved most of the time and represent skill difference between players), but the level of immersion was much higher. It felt like a good HoMM map (I'm a long-time hardcore HoMM fan, from HoMM 1 onwards, playing 3 mostly). I had time to strategize all phases of the game, including the possibilities of 5 dragon ending etc. Each won teamfight presented a certain window of opportunity where the team decided what to take (usually it was either a dragon or a tower - a single one). Also, late game (true late game, 40-45+ mins) felt great - you knew, that THIS ONE fight was most likely going to decide the outcome. You could no langer make mistakes, you had to take in account all you'd done before that moment and do your best. All this in one game. Like in Heroes - you can leave your town to enemy only to come later and take it back. Now it feels like fast food - quick action, quick consequences. Kill once - you take a tower. Kill twice - you are probably going to take an inhib turret. An adc with 8-0 score at 10 minutes (it is common now)? Oh boy, gg at 20. So, from deep tactical game with multiple layers of strategy it came down to a 2d version of Counter-Strike. Sure, I enjoy both, but now I can't enjoy a game that combines the best of both.