Champion Mastery. What is it?
I wanted to talk about what Champion Mastery is, since people don't seem to understand what the purpose of it is, or what is serves.
I'm looking to talk, not exactly about how it works, rather, more what the true purpose of it is. I will be referencing the Wiki on this, so please click here to read up on how Champion Mastery works. If you haven't read the Q&A, then you can find that here. Alright, now we can get to the meat.
I'd like to first start with easy bullets on what champion mastery is:
- a way for players to embrace their familiarity and aptitude with a champion
- a way to let teammates know the skill level with a certain champion
- association with a common standard of champion proficiency
- how you let your enemy laner, they'd better step it up.
When I see a Yasuo que up mid lane and we arrive at the loading screen, the champion mastery, or lack thereof, lets me know one of two things: Yasuo's Summoner is well off enough to hold a lane, so I can depend on him to utilize Yasuo's abilities to the fullest extent. Yasuo's Summoner needs more experience, so I must be cautious about leaving him against his counter in mid lane, and maybe prioritize strengthening/synergizing with another lane. That's two different view points on Champion Mastery, one positive and one negative. This leads me into my next description.
Now, I'd like to also talk about that Champion Mastery is not:
- indicative of true skill
- a way to mock enemies
- a way to intimidate your laner
- how you declare your "Main" champion
I've seen people cry on these boards (as they always do) about having 140k CP on Lulu after champion mastery 5, but not having level 7 champion mastery. There three issues, and I will hope to dissect them clearly and separately. First, let's separate two by reiterating that Champion Mastery has absolutely nothing to do with true skill, so as long as you hit 5, you pass the benchmark for champion familiarity. Champion Mastery 6&7 have absolutely nothing to do with Champion Mastery. So now we're left with Lulu that has achieved Champion Mastery Level 5, and indication of familiarity and aptitude. Based on the information directly above, we can conclude that "X" player has reached a benchmark level for Champion familiarity, and Champion Mastery
Reach a Benchmark on 1 champion, or Several? http://championmasterylookup-derpthemeus.rhcloud.com/?summoner=The%20littlest%20Lulu&region=NA I can see that certain people love a certain champion so much, that's all they will play. I have a large champion pool, and I've been playing for a very long time. I started out by buying Fiora a little after her release, and put her in every lane until I was able to dominate my way into level 30 and silver ranked. I have way too many champions, and I always play alone. I will never recuperate these unearned points, but that's okay because I still very much know how to play Fiora. I just don't have the champion mastery for her. Some champions I haven't even played again for over a year. https://championmasterylookup-derpthemeus.rhcloud.com/?summoner=Rand0mH3r0X&region=NA Some people, just got out of a game with their main champion. http://championmasterylookup-derpthemeus.rhcloud.com/?summoner=%20Malicious%20Metal&region=EUW
Keeping with the above situation, I want to remind people that "Maining" a champion is a great way for people to personalize an interaction, even objects. In this case, intangible and unreal, champions. Riot can capitalize on this by selling personalizing options. There is absolutely nothing with buying what you love, and selling things you'll love, even if the value-added cost is absolutely 0. So go ahead, choose one champion to play over and over, there's nothing wrong with buying one, or buying all the skins (me+Fiora). That being said, Champion Mastery is not something Riot can capitalize on since they can't sell you your time. We can look at this even closer.
Champion Mastery, and Rand0m Numerical Generators Champion Mastery 6&7 in the current state is about the closest thing Riot can do without explicitly charging you for it. Hex-tech crafting is the biggest freebie Riot has ever given, and I'm sure they're feeling the hurt. So to combat this, chests are obtained based on champion performance and rand0m chance. Since this has to be hard to earn, people shouldn't expect this to be but less than 2% of all games. Darius is a very strong champion, so in order to earn an S grade and a chest, you have to be the best Darius, not just great. I support that, it keeps an S grade from being so diluted and meaningless. There needs to be some way for Champion Mastery 6&7 to reflect a true indication of "champion mastery." And what I think, some of you could agree on in my aside.
So how do we measure skill? Well, I certainly would measure it performance for the role they were put in. Are they a badass support? They are skilled. Do they have Champion Mastery on Zed? That doesn't mean skilled, that just means they play Zed enough to get to know him. Ranking is how Riot measures 5v5 skill. There isn't a true indication of one's individual skill, and I believe that my measure would be the best for individual skill. Perhaps that's an avenue Riot can pursue later in the future.
Concluding Thoughts Circling back, I want people to understand what Riot has done. I feel as if it hasn't been explained in enough detail in one short response to "Why this Rito?" I take my information from observation and discussions from the Q&A and red posts. Maybe Rioters themselves are a little confused on details (CM6&7). So I want to start this discussion in the most open fashion. This is artificial problem that Riot has created. Let's help steer this in the right direction among ourselves.
I would love some more feedback and information, that I could add to this so that people would get a better understanding as to why everyone can't be best Mord NA, and why the few should. Why "S" grades are, and should be, rare. I'm looking for hard numbers with links if possible. I've seen some floating around, but no proof.
Aside: Champion Mastery 5 is a benchmark, not a true indication of skill level. To progress beyond the benchmark should require outstanding performance with that particular champion only. I believe that by earning an S grade, it shows proper teamwork, ability, and success enough to progress. Therefore, S grades shall be the only way to progress above in mastery levels. A sharp inclining tier is the only way to separate the good from the greatest. Champion Mastery 6 should require 10 S grades(or jump with 150k CP), and Champion Mastery 7 Should require 20 S grades, Champion Mastery 8 require 30 S grades, Champion Mastery 9 require 40 S grades, and Champion Mastery 10 require 500k Champion Points. That's 100 S grades and 500,000 Champion Points to prove that you are - #The Greatest "XChampion" main to Ever Play League of Legends How does Riot capitalize on this? Oh, there's a special skin opportunity for that. That's something that can't be traded, sold on eBay, or boosted without getting caught. Riot would have an exclusive share in that, so they can create a reasonable price. Me and many other people love our champions we play a lot, so we spend money on them anyways. There's money to be made on the way, and at the end.