Leauge History

Season 2 was so much better for melee then the current season 5.

Some assassins were strong but still had their drawbacks since they couldn't kill everything so easily (since tanks could tank their damage well enough if about even in items) and the game was not so focused on bot lane. ADC was still played because of sustained damage as well as siege power and the modern day support system if put into place during season 2 would likely clear the issues of them being the "ward bitch".

But league seems to have moved away from the idea that fighters should be a threat and tanks should be able to really tank. Omen is all but deleted from the great item it was making it so that many non-moble fighters and tanks have to get righteous glory to get close instead of having the enemy attacking them be a means to get close. And yes there was also shurelya's reverie in season 2 allowing for non-moble fighters to charge at an enemy.

Today the only melee that tend to be going top consistently is Irelia and that is because she was created to be strong against ranged in a game that was ruled by range at that time. Having everything nerfed around her was not how I wanted to see Irelia being picked again but that is what happened.

Back in S2, they used to patch every 2 weeks. Anytime anything got overpowered ever, it got nerfed within 1-2 patches. There was usually an Op of the (bi)week that got nerfed in the following patch. This meant a lot of champions saw play, but most of them didn't stay super strong for long.

You know what's ironic? The biggest complaint was that Riot nerfed out of reaction. In that era, when Zed got popular, people would have argued against nerfs saying "Let the players figure out how to counter him!!!"

I think you really hit the nail on the head Irelia BOt