The League of Legends Meta: Fiction or Reality?

Whether it is a Rammus top lane with Ignite and Teleport or a Viktor mid lane with Flash and Ignite, most people have a pretty good idea of what is considered viable on the current patch and what simply can't match the power of most other champions in the game. Champions come and go whenever they are hit with a buff or nerf, creating a dynamic game experience and so outlining the meta.

Dynamic experience

One of League of Legends' strongest point is the implementation of a new patch every other week and thus constantly shifting between which champions are the most dominant in their respective roles. Regularly forcing the player base to rethink the way the game has to be played and which champion will excel the most in the current state of the game has been one of many reasons why people keep playing League of Legends on a daily basis. And although it could be argued that the use of patches is just the way Riot Games is enslaving the players to their will and how they wish to see the game be played, it is without a doubt one of the most appealing ways to keep a game attractive to both seasoned veterans and rookie players.

With the use of the above mentioned patches, the meta is what is considered to be the best champions for each role, mostly dictated and inspired by which champion professional players pick or simply by what seems like a redundant but very powerful buff to a specific champion. The fact that the professional players have the most knowledge and insight on which champion is going to be strong on a certain patch speaks for itself, as they have their own personal experience and in-house analyst to solve every piece of the "meta puzzle" as fast as possible.

Image courtesy of VudzO

Leading the charge

The champions picked in professional play in one of the major regions has always been considered as an indication of where the patch was heading and which champions were dominant in their respective roles. Whenever a champion has been dominating in professional play -even when it was only one single game- , there is a distinct possibility that the champion will slowly infiltrate the solo queue ladders. One of the situations that could imply this is a proven theory was when Unicorns of Love mid laner Tristan "PowerOfEvil" Schrage chose Varus in the mid lane in game 1 of the EU LCS 2015 Spring Split finals. His absurdly high damage output and overall champion knowledge caused Varus to be a highly contested pick for weeks to come. In comparison to a few weeks earlier where Varus mid lane was considered an off-meta, or even useless, pick, it shows that the professional scene can have a huge impact on how champions are viewed upon by the community.

When talking about the meta and pro play there is of course one person that can't be overlooked when talking about defying the meta: Gravity mid laner Lae-Young "Keane" Jang ,notorious for his off-meta picks ever since he came into the NA LCS. Picking champions such as Jarvan IV, Urgot and Hecarim in the mid lane has given Keane a lot of freedom to work with, seeing there is little to no contest over the mentioned picks and thus adding some extra room for Gravity to work with.

Another honourable mention should go to former Moscow5/Gambit Gaming ADC Evgeny "Genja" Andryushin. Nowadays often referred to as "The Time Lord", Genja was known for his bizarre item builds at the time, refusing to not take Tear of the Goddess on most of his champions and picking up Randuin's Omen whenever he felt like he needed that little bit of extra armor. Being the only one in his role to do so during the active period of his professional gamer career, he can be considered a pioneer when it comes to defying the meta and predicting the future. With Varus players usually picking up a Tear of the Goddess nowadays and the possibility of the reworked Randuin's Omen being a perfect fit for ADC's in certain situations, off-meta in the past can be considered meta in the present.

Gaining an edge: Flex pick & off-meta

Flex picks have proven to be a valuable asset in champion select in pro play, as well as in a regular matchmade games. With champions being able to be played in more than one role(Shen, Lulu and Fizz to name a few) there is a possibility that the opposing team will draw the wrong conclusions and thus pick into an unfavourable matchup while they should have the final say. Due to the unique skillset every champion provides, there will always be a matchup where players of equal skill level are able to dominate the opponent in lane by having the superior skillset in that specific situation.

Another advantage that can be created during the champion select phase is the use of an off-meta pick. These picks haven't seen the daylight in pro play for a very long time and aren't even seen in matchmade games all that often(e.g. Rammus, Poppy, Yorick, etc.). As a result of this, people are not as comfortable playing against these champions and are more likely to make mistakes. Another remarkable aspect is that people often do not respect the possibilities and power that comes along with an off-meta pick and so being caught more often than usual.

One off-meta pick that has been gaining a bit of ground recently, although being it only in the LCK, is support Kennen. The ability to poke from a long range and having a massive Area of Effect stun is probably one of the biggest reasons why some teams have considered re-introducing him to pro play and other teams struggle to find a proper counter to him.

As for teams; one team that has proven that off-meta picks can completely catch your opponent off guard and already win a game in champion select is none other than the Unicorns of Love, pulling off-meta picks such as Poppy and Shaco out of their hat as often as a magician pulls a rabbit out of his.

Image courtesy of Penator

Conclusion

Although not every meta will fit the playstyle of every player, it can be considered one of the strong aspects of League of Legends. Being it Smite on laners or mandatory Cinderhulk's enchantments on junglers, the meta is what keeps the game challenging and up-to-date.

As a final note, there should also be mentioned that the meta is anything but a well-established fact with no room for deviation. One-trick-ponies have shown that incredible champion knowledge and knowing the limits of your champion can be as strong as a champion considered "in the meta". Being comfortable playing a champion can be as good, if not better, than playing a champion just because it is generally considered very powerfull and potent.

 

Thank you for reading and best of luck on Summoners Rift!

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