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Forced to play meta?

The thigh guy··26 votes·7,992 views

Does anyone else feel like the game has boiled down to “pick one of the top 4 champions in each role or lose”?

I mean look at bot lane. You have the wide variety of Lucien, miss fortune, kai’sa or Draven.

Mid is talon, Leblanc, zed or yasuo

Jungle is graves, eve, Jax and shaco

And top is garen, sion, urgot and Irelia.

The flavor of the month has become so bad that if you want to play a champion that isn’t s tier you have to outplay the opponent by three ranks just to go even.

So many champion are just unplayable without accepting you lose by default because the meta is so close knit.

You wanna play gangplank top? Good luck being one hit by the 0/3 garen in 4 minutes.

Syndra mid? Put 3 cloves of garlic in your pocket so you atleast taste better then the talon eats you at level 2.

Jinx adc? Have fun being zoned to your inhib turret by miss fortune q bounce with a duskblade.

Elise jungle? Hope you don’t want any of your buffs, because Jax is fighting you for ALL of them. And he will win.

33 Comments

Silverfang Blade12 votes

Garen's meta? Two questions, what year is this, and are you a Bronzer? Garen's range and kiteability is so laughable that he rarely sees play higher than Gold.

GentlemanTrap11 votes

No.

Wolfeur7 votes

Go back 8 seasons behind and you'll find the same posts.

"Blabla meta", "can't play x champion", "no diversity", "OP or lose", etc…

All the data tend to suggest that we're leaning to more and more diversity each season. Each Worlds, we see more different picks than before. It's just you.

9NINE5 votes

i remember one time in season 5 where i have a variety of adc champion pools.

GreenKnight1 votes

{quoted}

Go back 8 seasons behind and you'll find the same posts.

"Blabla meta", "can't play x champion", "no diversity", "OP or lose", etc…

All the data tend to suggest that we're leaning to more and more diversity each season. Each Worlds, we see more different picks than before. It's just you.

Worlds are a small fraction of playerbase. Please, don't compare Pro meta to regular old Joe meta.

Wolfeur1 votes

Pros show that the issue is often not the champion's power, but the player's skill. We should strive to be as good as the pros. Obviously, we can't all be, and Riot is doing its best to give a balance that works for mid elo as well as pro-play.

GreenKnight1 votes

{quoted}Pros show that the issue is often not the champion's power, but the player's skill. We should strive to be as good as the pros. Obviously, we can't all be, and Riot is doing its best to give a balance that works for mid elo as well as pro-play.

I kinda disagree, they are a bit too much focused on pro scene.

Pro players are really rare, you have to have some predisposition for being one, either you can dish out massive amouts of APMs, or you have almost impossible reaction time. Most players can't compare to them, and, as a result, cannot get to the same level of competitiveness. Balancing those two sides is incredibly hard to do, so, it's easier to focus balance around Worlds, because they are the most marketable thing Riot does. I don't blame them for that, but there are ways of getting around that, although they would cost a fortune (i think, i'm not a dev, obviously).

Worlds are getting more and more exciting, because the whole game revolves around them, and regular players are disregarded. That's why those threads keep popping up with alarming frequency, even comparing to what was happening during previous seasons.

Edit: I went a bit off-topic. Sorry :p

DNFVixen1 votes

{quoted}

Go back 8 seasons behind and you'll find the same posts.

"Blabla meta", "can't play x champion", "no diversity", "OP or lose", etc…

All the data tend to suggest that we're leaning to more and more diversity each season. Each Worlds, we see more different picks than before. It's just you.

Season 8 was a problem as well, the game has gone to shit ever since Runes Reforged dropped. Runes Reforged is the biggest mistake since the hiring of ghost crawler.

AirKingNeo7 votes

This thread is actually lying to you.

Mid is talon, Leblanc, zed or yasuo Jungle is graves, eve, Jax and shaco And top is garen, sion, urgot and Irelia.

Talon, Yasuo, Jax, Shaco, and Garen are not even close to meta in those roles (especially Garen, wtf).

You wanna play gangplank top? Good luck being one hit by the 0/3 garen in 4 minutes.

Nope. You have to be a really shitty Gangplank top laner to not know how to not lose to fucking Garen on a regular basis.

Syndra mid? Put 3 cloves of garlic in your pocket so you atleast taste better then the talon eats you at level 2.

You literally can match him for waveclear, poke better, and also you can use your E to move him away. Syndra is also statistically better than Talon (Source: op.gg).

Elise jungle? Hope you don’t want any of your buffs, because Jax is fighting you for ALL of them. And he will win.

Elise is a statistically better jungler than Jax as of last patch. 0.7% less winrate, but 2.6% more pickrate. (Source: op.gg)

The thigh guy2 votes

{quoted}

This thread is actually lying to you. Jungle is graves, eve, Jax and shaco And top is garen, sion, urgot and Irelia.

Talon, Yasuo, Jax, Shaco, and Garen are not even close to meta in those roles (especially Garen, wtf).

Nope. You have to be a really shitty Gangplank top laner to not know how to not lose to fucking Garen on a regular basis.

You literally can match him for waveclear, poke better, and also you can use your E to move him away. Syndra is also statistically better than Talon (Source: op.gg).

Elise is a statistically better jungler than Jax as of last patch. 0.7% less winrate, but 2.6% more pickrate. (Source: op.gg)

Oh really? So garen is completely balanced? Okay fine. We’ll say you are right cause I’m tired of arguing it. What do you do as any other champion against the other monsters? You lose by default.

As for syndra into talon. Did you miss the part where he 100-0s you at level 2? Because this isn’t a fucking exaggeration.

As for Elise. Pros have litteraly said she is too good for riot to allow her to be good. And so they don’t. There is a reason her play rate in the pro scene is gone after being top tier forever.

AirKingNeo7 votes

Garen isn't balanced. He's underpowered. Being underpowered is a form of imbalance.

Talon won't 100-0 Syndra level 2 because Syndra got lane priority level 1 for being range.

Ok? What do the opinions pros have to do with Jax being statistically worse than her? Did you also not know that op.gg stats don't count pro play but infact solo queue of the current patch?

mack91127 votes

It sounds like you don't understand multiple lane mechanics

Pika Fox6 votes

Its just you.

Zardo5 votes

I'd replace couple champs in there, for example shaco for kayn, but yeah the gap between s tier and everything else has never been larger.

AirKingNeo4 votes

Kayn isn't even in the top 10 most picked junglers (last patch). Try Lee Sin or Camille or Xin Zhao.

The thigh guy1 votes

{quoted}

I'd replace couple champs in there, for example shaco for kayn, but yeah the gap between s tier and everything else has never been larger.

Kayn is only strong if you don’t abuse him before he transforms. If you let him free farm til 17 minutes, yeah he’s gonna be a monster.

ModCaptainMårvelous5 votes

You're not forced to play meta.

A better way to look at it is that when you're climbing a mountain, the "meta" is a pick. Sure, some people have to use the pick to climb. Others are strong enough to climb with their bare hands (Read: Anything they want).

Nobody has to play meta. However, if you have to use meta to climb, chances are you've hit your peak in terms of skill and have to use meta to keep up with the pack. Which means you either need to A.) improve your skill or B.) accept that you need meta to climb.

Great players rise up every season using non-meta champs through both skill and personal power. Gotta get better or resign to the meta.

gabetheguy3 votes

no.

Noor Sakata2 votes

I had to spam the Anti meta champion , my main ,Ahri , idc what people say , she isn't a meta champion and will never be one , she was just an Anti-Meta champion I agree about what you said tho but the Top lane example was bad , GP was strong for the whole season in top lane

AquariusGine2 votes

This, I can only ever win if I stick to meta champions. Anything else= an uphill fight, there is no competing with the meta monsters

FCJAAAAGOOOO2 votes

Yes. All that matters is acting like an assassin, which means dealing burst damage or holding down people long enough to whittle them down.

The best at that are the only worthwhile picks rn. Doesn't matter which role.

zoliking1 votes

Yeah, I'm playing a variety of adcs in my main role and doing just fine. If you're gonna cry a river over this, at least go to a place that has a draught and do it there.

ooNerOoo1 votes

I just go to bronze bravery and play a ton of off meta shit.

I still win too. its hella fun, try it

Summonah123691 votes

Nidalee may not be the most meta, but if you master her and play her with DH like me she's gonna work for you.

RenownedWheat421 votes

Most Effective Tactic Available

That's what happens when things change and other things become strong or weak as a result.

That said, I disagree. I have had plenty of off-meta games where I've won. Alistar/Braum top, multiple double-melee bot lanes, etc.

The thigh guy1 votes

{quoted}

Most Effective Tactic Available

That's what happens when things change and other things become strong or weak as a result.

That said, I disagree. I have had plenty of off-meta games where I've won. Alistar/Braum top, multiple double-melee bot lanes, etc.

Outliers are not the standard. You can win with jungle Janna. But is it going to do so more than even 5% of the time? No

And yes meta is always going to be a thing, but the point is the meta is so close knit that picks that aren’t in the top 4 for each role are suffers way more than they should.

RenownedWheat421 votes

Nowhere did I say this was the standard. You asked if anyone else felt this way, and my response is no.

I completely disagree with you on how close-knit the meta is right now. I've only played the picks that I want to play, and I'll hardly actually suffer for it. I'm not winning every game, but I don't expect to, either, in ANY meta.

FlameHalbrdOkido1 votes

Join me i will show u the joys of breaking the meta however u please and having fun! A game isn't fun for me if im NOT breaking meta, gotta make them meta sheeps cry in the bot lane when i bury them and their towers as ADC Yorick!

MLDzXnRRR1 votes

How the fu_k you lose to Talon as Syndra - which is the biggest lane bully midlane aside from Karma?

gabetheguy1 votes

maybe you're just bad

5050BS1 votes

Yes it is. If you want to climb in ranked you have to play in the top 10 else its a loss.

ankoanko191 votes

Irelia top isnt meta and Yasuo mid isnt either but whatever

ZT Xperimentor1 votes

Last couple seasons have felt this way, but more exaggerated over time. Find it ironically funny how some notorious people are bandwagoning to berate you, yet lack substantial discussion material to disprove you.

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