In-depth explanation about new metagame?

[quote=GodKiIlThemAll]Greetings, First of all, pardon my English, it's not my first language. I'm a new member here so I want to say Hello to everyone here and hope you guys will help me with my below questions. I'm starting a new commentator career, not an official commentator but I'm under training and I'll be live on stream in January commentating in GPL. I'm working as an analyst, and for the last few weeks, I've found that I still have many lacks of knowledge about LoL, I only know the surface, not what under it. Google won't help much so I get here to ask for your help. Here is my questions: 1. What is the current meta about? I see a lot of [[lissandra]] appearing in competitive matches. She's indeed strong in laning phase as well as big fights but what really made her return to the scene after more than one year being called "not fit in the meta"? 2. I see [[elise]] coming back, not so strong but she still does a fine job in jungle. Before that [[elise]] completely disappeared due to the critical nerfs on [[cocoon]] and [[rappel]], besides, [[elise]]'s level 6 is not as effective as [[lee sin]], [[jarvan]]'s or [[pantheon]]'s. Why do people start bringing her back again? 3. Poke teams ([[jayce]], [[corki]]...) are still very strong and very hard to deal with. It's also pretty hard to force them to fight because they always have some sort of movement speed boost ([[janna]]'s passive, [[jayce]]'s [[acceleration gate]]...) to avoid fights. What are the strong counter picks to these kinds of teams? 4. Top lane is now dominated by [[maokai]] [[rumble]], [[irelia]], [[lissandra]] and lately, [[poppy]]. I like the fact that [[poppy]]'s coming back, such an interesting champion! How does she do in the match-ups versus those 4 champions? The latest match I watched was Poppy vs Rumble where [[rumble]] completely made [[poppy]]'s life a living hell on top lane. 5. Still about poke teams, but it's [[ziggs]]. His poke is very strong, good AoE, but why do people don't use him much? These are all questions, for now. I hope if I have some more, I will be able to get some helps here. Thanks in advance.[/quote]

[quote=Savlonic]1. Current meta is still figuring itself out I think in terms of a 'solid' composition. 2. [[Elise]] compared to previous top tier jungles has an easier time in new jungle due to spiderling kiting, allowing her to gank generally healthier than other champions would. Also she's getting a [[Neurotoxin]]/[[Venomous Bite]] buff in 4.22/5.1(not sure what patch it is, but soon™) 3.Countering siege comps is still pretty difficult and requires lots of hard engage, granted with a champion like [[janna]] on the siege team it's near impossible to keep the fight going so long as [[Monsoon]] is up, I like the fact that UoL I think it was used [[wukong]] for his [[Decoy]] stealth and [[Nimbus Strike]] + [[Cyclone]] combo initiate against TSM's [[maokai]], [[nunu]], [[azir]], [[corki]] and [[soraka]]. Also new inner towers provide some defense against siege comps as well so turtling is a bit more doable against a siege comp but obviously still rough. 4. [[Lissandra]] was a solo queue favorite in top for awhile and can be played in both solo roles quite well. Just a matter if you're willing to give up another spot that would otherwise be spent for a somewhat tankier champion for her, granted she can go sort of tanky as well. [[Irelia]] has always and probably always will be strong, I still imagine we'll see [[Jax]] return at some point in season 5, it's just a matter of time. [[Maokai]] is very safe and scales well, not to mention is absurd in terms of his CC for peeling or just gluing himself to carries. [[Rumble]] is in the ball park of [[irelia]] and has always been strong, don't think that'll change soon either. [[Poppy]] is an interesting one and I still don't know how I feel about her, scaling wise she is the best champ pretty much available however getting to that point is damn near impossible against any sort of early game jungle aggro and/or early game bullies. Also I'd like to add these in too, [[Gnar]] has potential and I figured after they finally got the boomerang fix onto the competitive scene he'd definitely see play, and I was right, how long will he remain though? Who knows, he's basically a less reliable rumble since your Rage on him doesn't decay as fast as heat on [[rumble]]. [[Rek'sai]] is also one I'm personally keeping an eye on, depending on what riot settles in terms of nerfing her she could potentially become a higher damage, more wave clear, shorter cd global tp with lack of shield and can be prevented from ever being used by destroying tunnels - version of [[Shen]]. Her roaming capabilities are pretty great, and she can get back to lane pretty much free every other 1:40 or less. Only thing she lacks is ANY form of CC except a gimpy knock up, which is considerable enough to also argue that she's actually useless. 5.[[Ziggs]] is outshined currently by [[Xerath]] and [[Azir]], hence why he's a rarer sight. Basically he's a slightly weaker in terms of Q damage [[Xerath]], with an escape and wave clear/pit burst rather than clean up near-global ult. Whereas [[Azir]] is just better in every sense. Q is trivial to hit, Soldiers do insane damage in few autos, and he can escape or gap close over such huge distances if he casts [[Shifting Sands]] before using [[Conquering Sands]] or otherwise known as the 'banana juke' by some. Video of what it looks like below. 6. One more piece, [[Syndra]] is announced to be receiving an early game base damage nerf in next patch as well, [[Scatter the weak]] width is also being reduced (max rank width increase to clarify is being made smaller), so it'll be interesting to see what happens there, her max level [[dark sphere]] will be doing same damage as it does now, but early levels are reduced. [quote=S@20]Syndra Dark Sphere (Q) damage lowered to 50/95/140/185/230 from 70/110/150/190/230 Scatter the Weak (E) [According to Ricklessabandon there will also be a nerf to "width on Scatter the Weak missles. Source: [url=https://twitter.com/ricklessabandon/status/545408228285108227]1/2[/url]][/quote] [embed=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egS_3oIVsWQ][/quote]

[quote=TheKut]Savlonic asnwered very well and I would just like to add a few things on question 3 and 4. 3. As Savlonic said, the one thing that poke comps fear is hard engages. Therefore the easiest way to deal with is champions like [[Jarvan IV]], [[Hecarim]], [[Fiddlesticks]], [[Pantheon]] and such. If you can't straight up run them down then always try to flank the with a good initiator. Sneak behind them and jump in with [[Onslaught of Shadows]]. That will make them shit their pants and then just go hardcore all-out. 4. Gnar should be on that list as well, as said. All of them except [[Poppy]] can do fairly well against most match-ups and are very good late game hence why they are top tier. [[Poppy]]'s deal though is that she is the reincarnation of Satan if she gets to late game, while she is the equivalent of a fragile ming vas if she has a hard time top. The reason she is picked a lot is mostly because of [[Maokai]] and [[Dr. Mundo]] (where her first LCS encounter was). Those champs are very safe and struggles very little. Their streangths are that they come through laning phase without much trouble as they don't have many hard counters. Their weakness though is that they can't really do anything against the other laner. They just are there and become brickwalls late game. That's where [[Poppy]] shines. If she is not bullied in lane she will be the late game devil that all teams wants to play with and no team wants to play against.[/quote]

[quote=PsiGuard][[Enchantment: Juggernaut]] was also a big buff to Elise. [[Spirit of the Ancient Golem]]'s change into a [[quill coat]] recipe instead of [[spirit stone]] (and it also lost the tenacity that patch) sucked so much for elise that people started building [[spirit of the spectral wraith]] instead, which kinda sucks. The new Juggernaut enchantment is basically the same as SotAG when it was in its prime. That's one of the reasons she got some of her early power back. The other main reason is probably that her sustain is valued more this season. Edit: To clarify, I mostly meant in the competitive metagame. There are always people who will build damage (in this case AP) in soloqueue, in which case the Juggernaut buff doesn't really matter as much.[/quote]

[quote=Savlonic]Some including myself still favor [[Enchantment: Magus]] over juggernaut on [[elise]] however, I think it comes down to whether or not you need the tenacity sooner rather than later, because you can completely ignore tenacity if the enemy doesn't have any game changing CC early on, and just buy [[elixir of iron]] later.[/quote]

[quote=PsiGuard]I was thinking competitively. Every competitive Elise I've seen since preseason started has been full tank. I'm sure some people still build AP in soloqueue but I've never liked it.[/quote]

[quote=GodKiIlThemAll]Thanks for enlightening me a lot. Here is some more I want to ask. 1. Speaking of [[hecarim]], I'm pretty confused about him. Some say his gank is weak, but I think his damage output is pretty decent and with the movement speed boost from his [[devastating charge]] which can help him to approach the enemies quite well. His [[onslaught of shadows]], as TheKut said above, is very useful to force teamfights. I played him for several times and I kinda liked him. But is the early counter-jungle, especially if he loses his first Blue buff, making him so vulnerable?? I mean he can still buy [[ranger's trailblazer]] to farm up and have decent level to attemp the ganks. Champions like [[xerath]], in my opinion, is very vulnerable to his ganks due to his lack of mobility. Somehow, I think he's more useful than [[lee sin]] especially in teamfights where his [[onslaught of shadows]] can be very disastrous if it's hit well on the enemies. 2. [[cho'gath]] appeared in several matches in season 4, he did his job quite well on top lane (I've seen him jungling but it was just useless). He has wave-clear power, tankiness and his true damage is ridiculous to deal with. But somehow, [[maokai]] still survives and [[cho'gath]] became unviable. Can you guys explain for me please? 3. [[gnar]], I forgot to mention about him in my questions. Yes, he's a very strong champions in bot laning and teamfights. But I still think he's kinda predictable. Of course noone wants to stay close to a [[gnar]] who is having his big form, or reaching 100 fury. 4. Still about the jungle, [[shaco]], [[fiddlesticks]] are pretty strong in the jungle, but why are they not used in competitive games? They are very popular in soloqueue.[/quote]

[quote=LevasK]I will try to answer your questions: [spoiler=Hecarim] Well, you have pointed out one of his biggest flaws already- the vulnerability to invades, but [[Hecarim]] is also a very snowbally champion and sadly the snowball can go both ways (meaning, if he gets ahead he will be a nightmare to deal with, but if he falls behind, he will be nothing more than [[Onslaught of Shadows]]- CC bot, since he's very item dependent jungler). As for his ganks, they are strong due to his speed and high damage.[/spoiler] [spoiler=Cho Gath] One of the biggest differences between [[Maokai]] and [[Cho'Gath]] is their consistency. All of [[Cho'Gath]]'s CC abilities are skillshots (more or less and [[Rupture]] in particular is very hard to hit on people who have upgraded boots/have gapclosers) and he needs to use [[Feast]] to get really tanky, on the other hand you have [[Maokai]] who has a targetable root in [[Twisted Advance]] and a guaranteed slow/knock back after it, as well as needing only levels to get tanky, due to [[Vengeful Maelstrom]]. The bottom line is [[Maokai]] does what [[Cho'Gath]] does only a lot better. [/spoiler] So, what questions do you have about [[Gnar]]? [spoiler=Shaco and Fiddlesticks] Both of those champions rely on enemies having poor vision/communication, which is a lot worse in solo q, than in competitive play. [[Shaco]] suffers from poor teamfighting capabilities and having trouble, if he falls behind/is unable to make stuff happen early on and in lane swap situations he would have a lot harder time doing what he needs to do. He also doesn't offer much utility and has fairly poor base damages, thus forcing him into building damage. [[Fiddlesticks]] just got nerfed recently and he's a risky pick. He has always had problems, if he got invaded, especially if he lost his 1st blue buff, but I think he's a decent pick for solo q or competitive play (sadly, generally decent isn't good enough for competitive play). [/spoiler][/quote]

[quote=NicknameMy][[Cho'Gath]] is tankier, has the better CC and more damage than [[Maokai]], but all of them are inconsistent. He also has the better lane sustain. For that, [[maokai]] has more team utility with his ultimate. The inconsistency of [[cho'gath]]'s tankyness got fixed with the latest ultimate change, as every 24 seconds 1 stack shouldn't be that hard to stack up. Basically, if the inconsistency is no problem for you or you find other ways to make the inconsistency no problem for you, you should play [[cho'gath]]. Welp, but who wants to play hard champs over easy champs, right?[/quote]

[quote=LevasK][quote=NicknameMy][[Cho'Gath]] is tankier, has the better CC and more damage than [[Maokai]], but all of them are inconsistent. He also has the better lane sustain. For that, [[maokai]] has more team utility with his ultimate. The inconsistency of [[cho'gath]]'s tankyness got fixed with the latest ultimate change, as every 24 seconds 1 stack shouldn't be that hard to stack up.[/quote] The cooldown of [[Feast]] being halved, if you kill a minion/monster, does not negate the fact that you can lose 450HP by simply dying. Also, looking purely at base damage, [[Maokai]]'s damage [b]is[/b] comparable to [[Cho'Gath]]'s ([[Feast]] does make it tip into Cho's favor) and as for CC, [[Cho'Gath]] has the "potential" to have better CC, but again the CC is comparable and [[Maokai]] provides consistent CC. [quote=NicknameMy] Basically, if the inconsistency is no problem for you or you find other ways to make the inconsistency no problem for you, you should play [[cho'gath]]. Welp, but who wants to play hard champs over easy champs, right?[/quote] Consistency might not be a big factor in low level solo q, but it's of at most importance in competitive play and it's not about playing hard vs easy champions- it's about playing champions that give the best results consistently. (If you want to win)[/quote]