Bilibili Gaming’s rise to League of Legends stardom was largely a result of their willingness to break the rules and switch up the MOBA‘s overarching meta. However, at the moment, it feels like very few botlane marksmen are worth playing, meaning BLG’s star ADC Elk’s pocket Vayne pick in the MSI Finals fell pretty flat. In the wake of the grand finale, I asked Elk whether League of Legends‘ botlane meta is just a little too constrained at the moment.
In an exclusive PCGamesN interview, Executive Producer for League of Legends ,Jeremy ‘Brightmoon’ Lee, claimed that the MOBA’s meta is currently “in a state of flux” – and the botlane is no different.
At the moment, there are only a few good marksmen: Aphelios, Jinx, and Zeri. Aphelios had 46 picks at MSI 2023 according to Gol.gg, with Jinx bringing up the rear at 43. Zeri, who became a mainstay for Elk – especially during their game against T1 – was locked in 21 times, showing a clear trend towards the Weapon of the Faithful and Loose Cannon.
When I asked Elk about the lack of flexibility in the botlane during the MSI 2023 Finals press briefing, he replied, “in terms of the MSI meta, there were so many late-game carry champions on-stage. I think teamfights were also crucial in this meta.”
However, with the sweeping ADC and support item changes that have been introduced in League of Legends patch 13.10, he believes that the ADC meta is finally shifting away from being overly rigid. “We have the new meta already,” he tells PCGamesN. “Maybe, in the next patch and in summer split, we’ll see a lot of different playstyles and strategies in comparison to what we’ve seen on-stage.”
Concluding with “there will be a lot of changes,” I’d argue that these are largely positive – both for ADCs and the playerbase. Coming into the next split – and laterally Worlds – hopefully we’ll see a little more variety in the ADC role; goodbye Aphelios, hello literally anyone else.
If you’re fired up after all the MSI action, be sure to check out our League of Legends tier list; after all, the meta has changed post-13.10. We also have a list of the best LoL champions for beginners, if Elk’s performance has inspired you to take to the Rift.