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Why does Riot want to force a huge meta shift?

soulbanana8·1/21/2015, 4:52:18 PM·1 votes·1,300 views

Why? Preface This is all a hypothesis. If you disagree with some of the thoughts here, that's fine. With the removal of DFG, with the new jungle smite, with the new way mana regeneration now works, it seems like Riot wants to force a meta where:

Champs that spam abilities to poke are weaker(Orianna, Syndra, Ziggs to name a few) and those that combo off for a burst are slightly stronger due to the combo dealing tons of instant damage without having to poke too much(Brand, Vel-koz, Veigar to name a few).

Champs that can snowball like crazy after the purchase of one item(DFG) are a bit weaker(Ahri, Leblanc, and Fizz are some of the major users of this item) while champs that don't need DFG to snowball now can run over a game better than the assassins that needed to get DFG(Akali, Zed, Talon, just to name a few).

The new smite, well, I'm not sure(I don't play Jungle well enough to know this), but it's definitely a change where Riot seems to want people to use the one smite to gank/do something to get pressure, then use the second smite to get an objective like Dragon after getting that pressure.

Thoughts on what you think Riot is trying to do with all these changes?

11 Comments

Hocker1/21/2015, 5:22:50 PM2 votes

Easy: To shake up the game to then showcase formerly underplayed/never-picked champs in the pro-gaming arena. It keeps the game fresh so that its not wholly about who has played the game the longest

UberAffe1/21/2015, 5:17:48 PM1 votes

Personally I really like the new smite, it adds a lot more route options for the jungler. I also don't believe mana reliant mid's were hurt all that much assuming they take blue, because the jungler can still refill their mana even without the buff. I agree with removing dgf on the grounds of a single item purchase to burst almost anyone, but I think they should replace it with another top tier straight ap item.

Drávèń1/21/2015, 5:28:47 PM1 votes

They do it for a couple of reasons.

-They want the game to feel NEW all the time. Keep people interested. MAKING them ADAPT to the way the game changes. Always adding obstacles and learning curves.

-DFG was basically OP as shit. They don't want people to be able to 1 hitter quitter people, and this isn't just for ranked. Imagine how dull the teamfights are if everyone just kills everyone in one hit in competitive play in LCS. Malphite could DFG while ulting and it would literally KILL anyone if he had the right items. And if it didnt... good thing he has 3 other abilities? Where is the skill in that.

-They added another smite I think just so junglers could DO more. Yes, you could use one for a gank and for say a red buff, or for a gank and dragon. They wanted junglers to basically be able to do more and be as strong as solo laners. That is why I believe they added the gold and exp buffs to the jungle.

Nybx4life1/21/2015, 5:44:01 PM1 votes

How would you help adjust some of the lower tier champs, like Urgot and Yorick for example? While it helps put down the power of mana poking champs, which mean a fair amount of mages, and some ability-reliant adc champs (ez for example), I see nothing to promote the use of these other champions.

Also, what about these manaless/resource champions? Wouldn't this help them more since they can stay in lane longer?

Kuroi861/21/2015, 8:36:45 PM1 votes

Champs that can snowball like crazy after the purchase of one item(DFG) are a bit weaker(Ahri, Leblanc, and Fizz are some of the major users of this item) while champs that don't need DFG to snowball now can run over a game better than the assassins that needed to get DFG(Akali, Zed, Talon, just to name a few).

Except both Akali and Zed are both facing nerfs. Ahri and Fizz however are facing minor reworks to make DFG a non-issue.