Much ado about the Meta

One thing I get is that League is an ever evolving game and that makes me happy since I still love to queue up and play the champions I have grown to love over the years. But that doesn't mean that I dont have complaints about the game; much less, the current meta. The meta today is a very stark contrast to the game I originally played. I came to play League of Legends shortly after it was released. And so I have seen the rise and fall of what was once organized chaos that developed into a concise meta.

My best friend introduced me to the game and it was unlike any I've previously had played at the time. He explained it fairly poorly as just a simple PvP team game. My first game consisted of me playing as Warwick toplane while my friend played Mordekaiser. So in my eyes it was truely some sort of just PvP brawl to the finish. But as I leveled up my choice of both champion and lane changed. I had learned that there were assigned lanes and at the time the meta was solo ADC midlane. This was my prefered playstyle and was what turned me to becoming an ADC main. But this meta did not last

The meta as I knew it became what is most commonly seen today. Bruiser/tank top, an extremely mobile jungler, AP mage mid and the hard hitting DPS ranged AD carry being assisted by a support bottom. And this was a lasting and extremely organized way to play th game. Then there were the external factors of runes and masteries. These too have changed over the years and were just another layer of skill needed before jumping into a game. The runes needed to be bought and you needed a good understanding of the masteries. Were these perfect things in the beginning? No of course not and they were improved over time. Each season new changes either adjustments or new mastieries all together. I then fell out of playing the game due to losing access to my computer. And so when I tried picking it up again we were in a new season. In a new meta with so many new champions as well as the new rune system.

I have no big problems with the decision to merge masteries/runes. It stops new players from being at a disadvantage if they couldnt afford getting the runes that they want or need plus it saves ip for getting the champions instead. But whats troublesome is that the runes have certain metas as well. There isnt much diverse play in taking runes into the game. Essencially there are so many "useless" runes that it pretty much comes down to running the same ones for the different roles. With the occasional exceptions being Ezreal or others who have on hit effects that might work better with a different rune. This feels very bleak coming from a meta where i had about 10 different mastery pages for specific champions instead of relying on one page for all my tanks. Or one for all my mages.

Then the items drastically changed as well. This has thrown off my build order and I've shyed away from my once favorite role of ADC in favor of playing fighters or assassins since they arent as dependant on a timely build order. Has this been an extremely bad thing? No, of course not because I've built a firm grip on lanes I once had avoided. But my familiarity of ADC and their place in the newest meta has faded and I've become very sad about this. But I am learning. I am evolving and I am more excited for the changes to come. Part of me has become sad because this is no longer that familiar and safe meta game I enjoyed seasons and seasons ago but as League grows and develops I am looking forward to new challenges ahead.

Tl;dr: Changes to League have bummed me out because it has forced me to change out of my comfort zone but for that very same reason I am grateful and look forward to what comes next.