Why is it 1 top 1 mid 1 jg and 2 bot? Why not 2 top 1 mid and 2 bot? or 3 top 1 mid and 1 bot? or 2 mid 1 top and 1 bot?
Why is the meta the meta?
Like legit curious here. Note I've only been here 2 seasons I came in S4 so....if it was something to do with S1 or 2 then idk. But I've always been curious on this :o
Ah. The young ones of today. Back in my days of ye olde League of Legends back when there actually WAS a League of Legends there was no lane meta. There was a summoner spell called Clairvoyance which would reveal a spot on the map for a duration. It was THE META for a support to take this spell and use it at the start of the game just to see where the enemy went because there was no meta. It was kill or be killed.
Veiger top. Ashe mid. Annie / Alistar bot. Nunu jumgle. vs Annie top. Alistar mid. Ashe top. Nunu / Veiger bot.
Those were the days.
Mages and ADCs tend to be squishy, so one of them gets the support while the other gets mid lane which is easier to return to after backing because its shorter. Mages get the solo lane because they scale with levels better than ADCs and ADCs need items so having someone help keep the enemy off their back while they farm is a strong strategy. The ADC and support go bot because that's where dragon is which was the only neutral monster pre 20 min to bother controlling. that leaves top lane as a solo lane that is away from the dragon action, and because they have to survive the longer lane without backing often champions with sustain (often that means tanks) go here. That leaves the jungle as a gold income source, which has a diverse set of champions who can go here, although the items have recently defined what champions can succeed here.
This ensures your team will at minimum have physical damage, magic damage, tankyness, crowd control, objective control, siege potential, etc... filling out your team comp.
The meta is merely the most optimal strategy to victory. It is not the only strategy to victory, and is_ not always universally superior_ in all situations. But it is effective for ensuring that 5 champions reach mid/lategame in an optimal manner.
solo mid- the mid lane has the shortest lane (in length/distance) meaning that they hit level 6 the fastest. Even more important; a champ at midlane can roam the the adjacent bot/top lane for ganks (which is much better than say, top lane which has to walk through the whole map to gank bot). As a result, the mid lane is kept solo, for roamers and champions that depend on early level 6s. (Tip: if you are mid, you should definitely be roaming to the sidelanes and ganking, especially once you hit 6 and get your ultimate; roaming is one of the big reasons why you go midlane)
jungler- the jungle is a viable source of income/exp, and by having one, it means that one of the lanes does not have to split up last hits/exp. Jungle also serves to provide global pressure primarily through ganks due to their lack of lane (which makes it difficult to track them, since they are in their jungle). (PS if you are a laner, yes, the jungler sacrifices lane farm so YOU don't have to compete for CS, so you better CS as best as you can.)
solo toplane- the top lane is a solo lane because there is no dragon at top lane. Dragon is a global objective that can be taken very early on in the game (usually as early as 5 minutes), because top lane has no global objective that impacts the entire team, there is no reason to send more than 1 champion, leaving it a solo-lane. Teleport is used to allow the top laner to provide global presence at bot lane. Usually because the lane is so far away from dragon, it rarely receives ganks/support so most traditional toplaners are tanky "meatwalls" that are hard to shove out of lane.
duo botlane- again, because the dragon is an important objective especially early game, having two champions botlane to help contest it helpful. The support + adc combo work well because the adc is not level dependant (remember adcs, scale with items and gold) meaning that they are okay with splitting exp (since they care more about autos than abilities), and the support is not gold dependant (or level dependant usually), meaning that they are okay with not getting last hits at botlane. (Pro-tip if you are support, the big reason why you and adc go botlane is because you guys can contest dragon, so make sure to ward it and fight for it!)
1 jung = not letting free farm in jung go to waste; assists other lanes, usually has high cc w/ damage options, pressures lanes 1 mid = shortest lane, least time to get to lane from recall = lane that gets the most exp/lvls, which is needed on mages and assassins, high roam pressure with higher exp/lvl 1 top = usually goes tanky with a lot of cc, farming lane away from action = needs tele; farthest distance from both towers = need to go tank to resist ganks 2 bot = adc intended to be fed = needs support to sustain them in lane and out, lane most resistant to ganks for good reason, high cost items require adc to be protected, glass cannons can exist due to having tank front liners with high cc, dragon high priority = needs more champs near
If I'm not mistaken the meta was formed sometime during the first world tournament at the end of season 1 and beginning of season 2. Before that even every server had its own meta I believe NA was ruining a tank top, a bruiser jg, adc mid and two mages on bot. Other popular meta on that time was a roaming support, a jungler, and the otehr 3 roles one on each lane. After worlds, the teams that were ruining the current meta just stomped over the other teams and was "decided"thatit was the best way to distribute gold and exp among a team. I started playing on season 2 and at that time the meta (even though it was set on today standars) wasn't always enforced. I woudl say around half of the games were played with a different meta than todays, back in those days a jungler was optional, you would see duo mids and duo tops all the time as well as solo adc, either on mid or on bot. In fact during some time there was some discussion on the old boards whether a mage or an adc should be on mid lane even listing the match ups where and when it was one better than the other.
I'm actually surprised how the meta has being enforced so much over the years. Specially considering the pro teams are actually running different meta with duo jungle early game and swap lane. Most of the balance changes are toned down to enforce the current metas as well (like moving jungle exp to the items to dis-encourage duo jungle)
Iv'e never liked any meta's, it forces you to play very specifically and takes away a lot of variety in the game, i like pre seasons because they totally fubar the meta and you see crazy shit like graves and teemo jungle and 2 adcs bot or an adc top and two mages bot lmao.
Maybe one day the meta's will be more forgiving and enjoyable.
Because everything is a counter to what was. You take one general play style, and you find a counter to it. Then that becomes the meta. Once A counter is found to that counter, the new counter is the meta.
Example1: Assasins. Season 3 didn't used to be a bunch of tanks running around everywhere. There were lots of assassins. Then Riot(yes, Riot buffs/nerfs/changes account a lot for meta shifts) buffed tanks. People started running tanks, because assassins are useless against them. So now what happens? The meta moves away from assassins.
Example2: ADC and Support taking a camp level 1, while jungle/top take another camp. Meta is bot lane goes to lane, no additional exp. Counter to that? Get additional exp so you can get level 2 and try to kill them as soon as you get it because they'll be level 1.
And yes, this explanation can carry on to the beginning, before there was a meta. Things were kind of messy, done for no reason. Counter to that? Be organized, and have a reason for doing what you're doing. Assuming that it works. Refer to flibitydoo's post for this. Pre meta, you could have duo top and solo bottom. Counter to this? Always put duo bot lane because there is a dragon bot side to be taken early on. If that's your strong side, and your enemies' weak side, then take dragon.
So from here, how do you counter that? You can't really(although you can make sacrifices for other gains, different story), so you adopt simply so you're still in the game. Not so your ahead, but so you're not behind.
