With the most recent patches to League of Legends killing off the funnel meta and a return of the Marksmen and women bot lane (albeit with the occasional bruiser mage [or awesome dudes as the LCK English casters put it] still making an appearance in the form of Swain and Vladimir). However, we have to learn from the crazy metas that come around every now and again, whether it be the recent madness we have just experienced in Season 8 or the global metas of seasons past. So, what can we learn? Well that is up to you, but hopefully I can shed a few nuggets of information in this piece on what I picked up on after analyzing this latest funky meta.

Not Every Marksman Player Can Play Other Roles

Now I’m sure we have all heard the story about Marksmen being one track mind people. That they want to farm all day then sit in the back late game and do damage with zero risks and this has been a playstyle for them for years. Now many people would say that this is very beneficial, as practicing that playstyle for so long can only make you very good at it, but we saw the downside to this effect, as not every Marksman player can change their longtime champion pool to adjust to the new wacky meta-state (the best example of this can be seen in Fnatic’s ADC Rekkles, who actually benched himself as he could not adjust his champion pool in time for competitive play). The point here overall is that not every player can change their champion pool to the meta and this can have a very negative effect on them, their team, and their performance as a whole.

This latest meta ‘funk’ has shown that not all players are as adaptable as we thought, especially certain ADC players in competitive and Solo Queue.

Some Non-ADC Champs Can Still Play in Bottom Lane

Now the ‘Awesome Dudes,’ as some have called them, are mostly gone from the bot lane carry role but, as I said, they are only mostly gone, not entirely. We have a few of these non-Marksmen come through the meta, primarily in the forms of Swain and Vladimir. Now the reason these two have survived is mainly due to three reasons. They both have ranged auto attacks, which means their farming capabilities are not limited to abilities such as other previous awesome dudes such as Yasuo (who is melee and has to use his Q to hit the majority of his farm). They also have a good level of sustain to ensure that they can survive the laning phase despite the range disparity they would have against a traditional ADC and they also have immense area of effect teamfight potential with their ultimates. This helps make up for the lack of steady damage that traditional ADCs such as Caitlyn would provide. So, the point here? Well, it’s that the traditional ranged damage source is back, but we have still expanded the type of champions in bot lane and that is still a threat that we should be wary of. Case in point is Week 8 of the EU LCS with Fnatic still using Bwipo in the Swain.

Bruiser mages such as Swain and Vlad have survived the meta shift and are still viable in the Bot Lane carry role.

The Importance of the Two-Item Mid Game Answer to Early Power

Now the reason the non-Marksmen bot meta came about was because of the changes to AD marksmen items such as Infinity Edge’s rework and the introduction of Stormrazor making crit attack damage carry’s point of power come in way too late. This meant they were no longer viable as a champion choice. Therefore, the meta required a new counter to the early game bully option which teams like KT Rolster saw great effect. As a result, we saw two types of champion come into the bot lane, the first was the caster marksmen who played as they always had done and the ‘awesome dudes,’ which constituted the bruisers and mages of Patches 8.11, 8.12 and 8.13.

Now, what do these groups have in common? Well, it's one major thing. MID GAME POWER SPIKES! Well, the two-item power spike to be precise. This is because it punishes early game bullies right as their power begins to taper off while not being so weak early that those bullies get the free reign to snowball the game as they desire. So, what is the overall lesson we learn here? That mid game power is always something to be respected due to the happy medium it provides and it will always be respected and so, will have an effect in future metas which, when considered, can help us read future metas.

The mid game casters ADCs such as Ezreal and Jhin where some of the few Marksmen to be played in this funky meta that has just passed because of their mid game power.

Conclusion

So, how to conclude this analytical piece? Well, we all know that analysis is a big part of LoL (look at how many teams have analysts on staff) and so learning everything you can from a meta is always a good thing (provided you apply it after of course), so don’t be afraid to analyse the metas of old and the patch notes are always a tool to help you predict the metas to come. With that I once again leave you with the thoughts of GL, HF, and GG.

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