An Idea for Teleport (and Smite)
For years now we have witnessed an issue with balancing Teleport in pro play against ranked solo-q, and the reason seems simple: Teleport provides a massive advantage in cross-map play making which remains, for the most part, unparalleled. Add to that its accessibility to any champion in the game due to it being a summoner spell, and you begin to understand why it is valued so highly in a competitive environment with full communication and team synergy. In every game, it seems, we see at least one team take two, or even, three Teleports; even despite the fact that it has been nerfed in several ways. However, these nerfs have been felt in ranked solo-q. For so long now, the question has been how to nerf the strength of Teleport in pro play without making it too weak in solo-q; I do not think it is unreasonable to say that neither of these goals have been fulfilled. So, how could a simple pleb like myself succeed where Riot has failed for years? An offering of a fresh perspective, and maybe, a new idea.
So, here it is:
Instead of a summoner spell, make Teleport into a free item; this item could migrate to an active on boots when they are purchased. This idea can even be applied to Smite, though this would bring about much lager systematic changes to the jungle. Obviously, this big of a change would require some balancing of its own, such as, limiting this item to one per team (maybe, in the case of teleport, allowing a second purchase around 15-25 minutes.) If this seems ridiculous, allow me to lay out some of the advantages of this idea:
- Solves the issue of Mid and Bot also taking Teleport in most games
- Allows Top (and Jungle if applied to Smite) to have real variance in the secondary summoner spell slot.
- Increases pool of champion viability by granting more variance of summoner spells (i.e. Darius or Hecarim on Ghost.)
- Gives more power to Top lane due to having access to a combat summoner spell like Ignite or Exhaust.
- If the change is applied to Smite, then the Jungle items will no longer be required. (if you're unhappy with these items)
- Prevents issues of creating a conventional shop item tied to teleport, such as, forcing a 'must buy' and warping the meta as a result.
It is true that this plan would likely create its own balancing challenges. However, it seems apparent that a new idea will be necessary to create a better game state. It should also be said that this idea is comparable to a rework, and that reworks have been a regular part of League for some time now, albeit only for champions.