The current League of Legends meta is the product of a plethora of game-changing updates that, for many, have left the MOBA in a bit of a weird state. Amid the chaos of MSI 2023, I asked League of Legends executive producer Jeremy ‘Brightmoon’ Lee about the current state of the game, and what Riot is planning to do to temper the chaos.
Sitting in the front row of the packed-out Copper Box Arena for the MSI 2023 finals, my jaw literally hit the floor when JDG’s Seo ‘Kanavi’ Jin-hyeok locked Nautilus jungle. Not only is it a throwback to the early days of League of Legends, but a testament to how much the game has evolved over the past couple of years.
With the durability update handing one-shot assassins pretty hefty nerfs, as well as Aurelion Sol’s midscope update jolting a long-sleeping titan awake, the meta feels like it has been in a constant state of change. With League of Legends patch 13.10 making sweeping updates to ADC and support items, it feels like things are up in the air yet again, so I asked Lee whether or not Riot is happy with the current state of the game.
“I think the current game state is in a bit of flux,” he tells PCGamesN in an exclusive interview. “I would say that, from a pro play perspective – particularly what I’m seeing at MSI – there are a lot of exciting strategies that players are able to enact, as well as interesting team compositions. I’m surprised we’re seeing so much Annie!
“Going into MSI this year we spent some time focusing on jungle diversity with a desire to see more viable champion picks, and I think we did that fairly well. Where I don’t think we were as successful is [getting] some of the diversity in botlane that we were hoping to see.
“But in every year of League of Legends, the meta is always an evolving thing,” he continues. “One of the reasons for doing midseason changes again is because we think that there are opportunities that the game really could use before we get to the next pre-season, so we don’t want to wait – things like itemization for ADCs, supports, and assassins, and just an overall look at early game and snowballing. Those are the major areas where we’re trying to see if we can make some adjustments in the middle of the season. As a team we’re also always talking about the feedback we’re hearing about toplane and mages as well.”
With a smile, he concludes “I suppose that’s a long way of saying I’m happy with it, but there’s definitely still room for improvement.”
While I’m sad that my overpowered support days look like they’ll be coming to an end sooner rather than later, there’s a sense of understanding about Lee – especially when he mentions toplane, easily the weakest role in the game at the moment. Post-MSI there’s a bit of work that needs doing, but at least Lee acknowledges that instead of brushing it under the rug.
With MSI done and dusted the League of Legends tier list will likely settle down for a little while, so why not check out how much you’ve spent on League of Legends – wait, maybe that’s a bad idea.
Image courtesy of Lauren Bergin.