Twisted Treeline Suggestion
Originally posted this on Gameplay + and was told it was a good idea but did not belong on that board, so reposting here; please discuss/share your thoughts!
(Giant wall of copy paste from end of season 8):
End of season grind time and so I am trying to hit gold on other modes besides S/D to try and get the chromas. Enter Twisted Treeline. I have played it before with three close friends, so already had a rough idea of the map differences (I mean to say understood that deaths are more meaningful, XP advantages snowball quickly, e.t.c.) Still, I went and researched meta for TT as much as I could online before queuing up for ranked. After all that, I still found a lot of people who didn't quite get the game mode. They had no understanding of the impact differences like altars, lack of consumable vision, and death timers on a shorter map made on the mode. Further, the meta was not well understood by a lot of people (including myself). However, I find the mode is really pretty fun and a very nice change up from SR, so I was wondering what could Riot do to improve the mode? Then I had an idea I'm not sure has been brought up so I decided to give it a shot here:
Bring back a modified version of team builder for TT.
Please be understanding that I am by no means a TT master, but from what I've read and heard from other players, there are two major team comps in the meta for TT, one being a standard Bruiser top, AP carry mid, and whoever you deem a good complimentary jg. The other team comp being akin to a funnel strat, with a control mage/strong solo laner ap bot and an adc/hyper carry top with smite and a support to hold lane and support them until they can 1v5 (only 6 ppl on the 'line). A player new to TT, no matter how seasoned on the rift, would have little to no clue how to pick appropriately for this, and could harm their team more than they intend to via nonviable picks. And while you can argue there is some material out there to try and read and educate ones' self, there is not a clear consensus you can direct someone to like you could with probuilds for example, for SR builds and strategies.
Enter team builder. Riot, if you placed a team builder-esque queue for TT, you could have two team options to queue, briefly highlighting the different team comp styles. They could explain if you pick team composition A, you will need a support, a hyper-carry (and auto default them to smite like jg for SR) and an AP bot. Further if they pick B, there could be a similar explanation for the other team set-up. This would provide direction and allow for people to target certain roles and play styles, complimenting other people who also want to play a certain way. You could implement autofill still, and you could also foster communication for team comps to switch their set-up if the champs they had in mind for one meta or the other get banned.
I understand there are potential downsides to this. Queue times pop into mind. However at the time of writing this, I am S4 in TT and just waited 6 mins for a queue. Can't be that much worse off if we are accepting the mode has lower traffic. Another annoying reality of the mode; getting in a lobby where whoever is first gets their cream of the crop pick for what role they want and everyone else better hope they can figure a way to adapt to it. I figured this idea was at least worth a discussion to see if other people felt it had merit. Would love to see a refreshing mode be revitalized! Let me know your thoughts/opinions/if people agree or disagree.
TL;DR: Incorporate team builder into TT to form a semblance of structure and guidance for people unfamiliar with the mode and make it more competitive.