META what is it and how does it work?

META, meta, Meta, This is a term we hear all the time within analysis and people talking about it in forums and other discussions in game. Well what is it? "Meta" refers to the best way to play the game at the current moment. As we know the game right now within the pro scene or people in solo queue you will most likely see someone play an AP or Tank in the top lane, Assassin in the jungle, AP scaling/ Assassin mid lane, ADC, and lastly a disengage support. This meta is the most effective way to play the game currently due to what champions are strong and how they synergize with the rest of the team. An example would be within the support role right now, the reason everyone is playing Janna, Nami, Braum is because they are well above every other support with disengage. The reason everyone is using the disengage is because once your assassins dive in and get what ever kills they focused they need an out, and that's when Jannas, Namis, and Braums ults come in handy. Use Jannas ult to knock the remaining members of their team back and heal your assassins as they run out, allowing them to prep for the next dive in order to clean up the rest of the kills. We can see how they work together in order to create the best tactics for the current game I.E. meta.

Why are meta shifts important?
Now that we know what the definition of Meta is, why is important to change it. For the pro scene it keeps things interesting, I personally believe that assassins always come into play around worlds time because they are most entertaining to watch. Seeing a Zed dive threw dragon pit to ult someone running away and then shadow step back to safety and pick up his teams red buff  whilst his ult is popping and killing the opposing player is way more entertaining than watching Nidalee spear someone down under tower (which can be a very slow game to watch). This creates for a little more boring laning phase but a fast paced high action mid game which everyone loves to watch. As for us simpletons within solo queue the meta shifts are to keep the game interesting, if I had to play against a Ryze or Rumble in the top lane for the next 8 months to a year I would be so bored and most likely stop playing, or at least stop going into the top lane simply because I like my tanks and assassins and assassins do not bode well against Ryze and Rumble.

How does the meta effect players?
As I alluded to in paragraph above Ryze stops assassins because of his range and  rune prison. This allows us to see players make rises and falls based simply upon champion pools. I will again use the top lane for my example simply because it is the most obvious and blunt examples of how the meta can effect players. For all you OGN (The Korean pro league) watchers out there you probably know who the great Flame is, he is one of the last of the carry top lane players and almost was phased out because the meta was out of his champion pool for long. We know flame for playing Irelia like a boss, and carrying his team to victory, when Irelia was pushed out and we saw Dr. Mundo in the meta. Flame couldn't carry his team, simply because you cant carry on Dr. Mundo. He doesn't have the kit for it and inst designed for you to have enough damage output to destroy enemies at will. So this is when Flame was effected most and his team wasn't able to utilize him to the best of his abilities and he was pushed out of the meta. This is when teams should be allowed deeper rosters and use subs (that's a whole different article that I will cover in the future).
      When it comes to a top laner who is never out of the meta we should talk about Dyrus from TSM. even though he may not be one of the premiere top laners in the world he is definitely one of the top 2 in NA (North America). Dyrus is a player who has held up the test of time because he easily has the deepest champion pool in all of league we have seen Dyrus play everything from Shyvana to Lulu and manage to be competitive on all of them. Dyrus is the perfect example of a player who can keep up with the meta shifts and still stay relevant in the game, by showing his mechanical ability on many different champions.


Summing it all up.
Knowing how much the meta can effect the game and what to watch for in the meta. You can stay on top of it by simply reading forums or watching streams. The meta could work in your favor or completely shut you down. Watch for it respect it and admire it because it is all in the game developers hands.

Why did I create this blog?

Who am I and why did I create this Blog?

My name is Chris Fischer and I love watching pro league and playing it myself. I have been playing league since Season 1 and I am a very average player (bronze 3). I would say I understand advanced concepts but my mechanics are still sub par. I watch almost every game within the NA LCS and OGN, and watch top games from EU LCS, LPL, and  GPL. I would say I watch probably about 15-20hrs of league a week simply because I enjoy it.

Why did I create this blog?
 I created this blog because I love watching and talking about league, this just seemed like a perfect platform in which I could create content on what I enjoy and share it with you all. Maybe one day I will be picked up by a site and become a journalist. The biggest reason I created this blog is because I feel there is a lot of information out there that isnt always told. Yes we have major sites for the big trades and Macro analysis of the game, but what about this analysis can help you all as Players? I will have multiple series within my blog, some talking about Pro games, pro analysis and others talking about solo Q and what to do to improve.

Sorry this first  blog was all over the place I tried to explain too many things without going to deep into detail, because if I did, I wouldn't have anymore content for you all. So please enjoy your selves and leave a comment if you enjoyed it.