Changes that need to be made if you want this to be seriously competitve

Lets face it, RNG NECESSARILY reduces the skill required to win in any game. If you want to make this a legitimately competitive game mode, youre going to have to take drastic steps to reduce the amount that RNG factors in to how people win.

First and foremost, the changes youre making to the way items work isn't going to fix the problem that currently exists, its actually likely to make it worse. RNG can still favor a player or two in a game, and now that youre also giving guaranteed item drops on certain waves youre going to see those people who do get items, being able to combine them into stronger finished products while the others are simply going to be stuck with a component piece.

How do you fix this? Simple, creep waves give you some sort of currency, that can be spent during a shopping phase that ties in with the carousel phase. Items do not drop at random anymore, and there are no creep waves with guaranteed item drops. People can then use their creep currency to purchase items to fit the team comps they plan on trying to run, instead of being stuck with items that don't synergize with what theyre trying to do.

Another problem that needs to seriously be addressed regarding items is how insanely powerful they can be when combined (usually with themselves) and especially on certain champions. The two biggest culprits that stick out are Spear of Shojin and Guinsoos Rageblade . Ive lost track of the number of games ive lost to a Pyke with double Spear or Vayne / Draven with two rageblades.

How do you fix this? This ones actually so simple, the concept already exists in the other parts of the game! Completed items are all Unique Effects, so they can no longer stack with themselves. This will open the door for other items to start showing up in games, since the OP ones cant just be stacked to ludicrous levels anymore.

As a side note to items, there seriously needs to be some work done on the balancing of items. I feel like there are about 2-4 items that are absolutely fantastic, while the rest are just adequate for what theyre suppose to be. Definite shout out to Shojins and Rageblade for being oppressively powerful on certain champions, especially when stacked. These two items especially and without a doubt need to be nerfed and brought into line with the rest of them.

Lastly, and easily the biggest problem in my opinion, is how champion buckets are handled by the system. Its exceptionally aggravating when you dump your entire 50+ gold economy looking for one or two more pieces to complete your team comp and make it competitive in the late game, only to find none of what youre looking for. Youve destroyed your economy, and not only did you not get anything in return for it, but in all likelihood if you've taken such a drastic action youre just going to lose your next match and the game itself.

How do you fix this? Simple enough, just put a higher chance for champions that match what you have on the field/on your bench (by name and/or by trait) to appear in your champion buckets. Perhaps with a slightly increased probability based on rarity? That's not to say that you can get entire buckets of 4 cost champions if that's what your team consists of, but more that if whatever algorithm that currently exists decides its going to put a 4 cost champion in a bucket, there is a higher probability that it is going to be one that you need rather than one that you don't.

As a side note to this, the Glacial trait seriously needs to be looked at. No mention of it what so ever in the latest PTR patch notes, and yet when someone is lucky enough to get a 6 man glacial team going, theyre opponent might as well just not even show up to the match. The glacial trait stun needs to have an internal cooldown per enemy champion, because its really ridiculous watching several of your champions get frozen for 10 straight seconds until they die, having done nothing but stand there and get beat on.

Changes like these would drastically reduce the likelihood of RNG alone factoring in to a win or a loss, and youll find that things may well start being decided by countering enemy team compositions or interesting positioning to counter your opponents team positions rather than who got great items or was lucky enough to reroll into the champions they needed.