The reason why league is less popular now than years ago (in my opinion)
In my opinion the most influential change was the map rework in the year 2015 the map itself looks good as well as the champions but when u combine them, they just don't harmonize. Which unfortunately the harmonize part happens often these days. Like in Monster Hunter for example. I bet the maps looked good in the 3D Software and the animations and gameplay looked good on their own too, but when u combine them u get parts where the map / level layout is just too small for the gameplay. I bet the same was due in reworking the map in league. The artists looked at it and thought it looks nice, which It does, but the champions just don't fit in / harmonize compared to the 2013 map skin in which the map does harmonize with the champions looks and animations. I bet the people that have worked on the 2013 map skin had a deeper understanding of league compared to the people that have done the 2015 rework. Basically just look at that part https://youtu.be/LhNG4my37QI?t=131 of the video and that part https://youtu.be/LhNG4my37QI?t=273 of the video and make a look and feel. I feel that the prior part looks better (in my opinion)