[Gameplay Discussion] Splitpushing/Backdooring
Inspired by Sir ArmaMalum and his debate series, I think it'd be cool to talk a bit about gameplay and how people feel about it.
Please remember that, as with all discussions, be courteous and understanding. What may be your least favorite champion might be someone's waifu and what you may perceive as broken might have a legitimate counter you just never noticed.
#Split-pushing and Backdooring
For this discussion I wanted to talk about one of my least favorite types of gameplay to deal with and/or play against, the split-push/backdoor strategy. Most of the time this involves a type of champion similar to 
or 
: A very strong duelist with great auto-attack potential who can quickly push lanes, kill towers and get out before a problem arises.
##A short history of Backdooring: From Furion to Pantheon
The furthest back I can place the origination of the hardcore split-push/backdoor hero is Furion/Prophet from the original DoTA. When he first came out, people were a bit confused of his role: His skills seemed VERY powerful but man, his base stats weren't that great. He was weak compared to others in the same role, so just what was he supposed to do?
It turns out one thing Furion could do better than anyone else is apply constant, global pressure to almost every-and-any lane on the map in the span of seconds. He could spawn a small army of treants that could tank minions as well as help push the lane. His ultimate was a map-wide attack that could kill tons of minions in a short span of time on a relatively short cooldown. People discovered that one of the best ways to play Furion was pressure on all fronts.
The term many people used for this type of gameplay was "Rat DotA", or playing DoTA like a rat and making the game a 4v5 battle while one guy spent all his time being a nuisance. Games could be won by applying pressure and taking objectives as opposed to getting to a level where you can successfully take down an enemy team, take an objective and then hurry back before they all came back up.
When League came around, no Furion clone really existed. The closest one could suggest is the original 
, who had a focus on map-wide ganking and tracking down enemies, just without the hardcore pushing power. The people who could do well in splitpushing were usually fast auto-attackers who had a great skill in burning down towers. This was slowly phased out over the course of League's lifespan with global ultimates being replaced/shortened to just long range, but there are still some characters who have kept their old powers. (
for example).
##Split-pushing Today: The Death of Fortify and "Hail Hydra!"
Two major changes happened with the split-push power and the counter to it (besides the obvious change to global ults). The first was the removal of fortify. Fortify is a spell in DoTA and DoTA2 that was ported to League. Rather than a summoner spell, however, DoTA gave everyone access to this. It turns towers and buildings invincible for the duration, making them immune to attack from all angles just as the LoL incarnation did.
This spell was removed a while back because very few people took it and, overall, it just wasn't very useful outside of turtling/anti split-push. As such, this spell was removed entirely with the only sort of remembrance this spell has is in {{summoner:17}} on Dominion's map.
Secondly, the other major change was the addition to push-friendly/AoE items for auto-attacking champions: 
and 
. While Hydra existed before in the form of 
, it just wasn't a great item. DoTA has a similar item in the form of battlefury, which provided cleave on attack, but it just didn't translate well when added to League. However, the evolution into Hydra served tiamat well. These two items, however, made it more possible than ever to focus on split-pushing builds.
The major problem these two changes did was A.) Buff the split-pushing power of several already strong champions and B.) Remove the most obvious counter to someone focusing on split-pushing. Now someone like Tryndamere with massive crit and damage can clear entire waves while gaining HP regeneration and lifesteal for less reliance on going back. Ranged damage dealers can hit tons of enemies at range and turn minion waves into splatters seconds before you can do anything.
Currently, there are three strategies that I know of when it comes to countering split-pushing. The first is to make the game a 4v4: Four people on both teams working toward teamfights, map objectives, etc. while the last one focuses on split-pushing or countering said split-push. The other two involve carrying around teleport as a summoner spell and going top to deal with said champion when it's a problem. The third and less counter-like plan is to just push as five and win teamfights. After all, five people can push faster and take towers faster than one person.
##Why do people like split-push/backdoor?
(In my opinion)When it comes right down to it, split-pushing is difficult to counter in League most of the time for many people. There are very few tools available to defend against it and too many to compliment it. It also relies more on individual skill than that of the team: One person pushing top relies on only your own skills versus five-man mid pushing to win. Comparatively, some people also like making team comps around that. For example, Shen-top was extremely popular for a time because he could split-push but ALWAYS be available if a fight broke out in another lane. Ult the low HP ally, fight that battle, teleport back top and resume what you were doing.
Likewise, for some champions, it's VERY easy to backdoor. Master Yi can easily dash in, kill a low health tower, and back off before you can even send someone to deal with him. Tryndamere can tank tower hits, undying rage through damage/counter-attacks, take said tower and spin away before anything can happen if he's good enough. Comparatively, there aren't many anti-backdoor champions available. Few champions can rush to the defense of a building as well as one-on-one handle these duelists. Homeguard helps a bit but most of the time you want to get teleport to deal with this.
##Why do people dislike split-push/backdooring?
For a lot of people, it's "cheap". Playing a game well, taking objectives, pushing when you can and capitalizing on mistakes...and yet you lose because one guy spent all game in one lane while your team was always just a bit too low to push for the win. Comparatively, when split-pushing fails, people become upset that the split-pusher spent all game making this a 4v5 while not successfully taking objectives.
It becomes frustrating for both sides, win or loss: Either you had to play a 4v5 and lost because you friend would rather just force top than group up or your enemy won because, regardless of how well you played, they had one guy who could continuously take objectives with no way to get there in time before he went back or take him on one-on-one.
##Discussion?
In a lot of ways you can compare this to zoning/keep-away characters in fighting games. It may not be the most fun to play against and there are definitely cries of "Spamming" and "You don't know how to play", but if it works, why not use it? Like it or not, for people it works. (Regardless of how people may feel about it)
Here are some key points I hope we can talk about:
- Do you feel split-pushing works? Do you play it? Do you play against it?
- How do you feel about this strategy on an enjoyment level? Do you feel it is fun to play as/against or annoying?
- Do you feel there are enough counters to it? Not enough? Just the right amount?
- If you could change anything about this strategy, would you?
- How would you feel about a champion who's sole purpose is to split-push?
- Likewise, how about a champion who is a counter-pick against split-push?
Remember everyone, there are no wrong answers and hopefully we can see a bit about what the community thinks.
