Riot Games and the Flawed Pick and Ban Phase in League of Legends
Riot Games has gained attention in recent years for its popular game, League of Legends. With millions of players and a thriving esports scene, the League of Legends World Championships is the biggest tournament of the season. However, concerns have been raised about the pick and ban phase, where players choose their characters for each match. The consensus is that this phase has not kept up with the demands of the game, as the number of bans remains the same even with a larger pool of champions to choose from. Critics, however, fail to recognize the real flaw in the system: Riot Games’ balance team.
Constant Changes and the Shifting Meta
Riot Games frequently introduces changes to the game, altering the gameplay every few weeks. This constant change forces players to constantly adapt, as they have to figure out the most powerful character and item combinations for each patch. This ever-changing meta defines how the game is played until the next patch arrives. While players passively accept these changes, it leaves them little time to master the game before the meta shifts again.
The Impact of Poor Timing
During the Season 4 World Championships, Samsung Galaxy White emerged as the dominant team. They were able to adapt to the meta because their sister team, Samsung Galaxy Blue, experimented with new champions and strategies. The World Championships were held on a patch that had no major changes, allowing teams to perfect their strategies and mechanical abilities. However, the Season 5 World Championships were marred by major changes introduced just weeks before the tournament. This left very little time for teams to adapt and resulted in surprise upsets during the Group Stage. This highlights a flaw in Riot’s system: their champion balance decisions are too rash.
The Need for Better Champion Balance
Riot Games relies on public testing to balance their champions, but this approach is not always successful. The Season 5 World Championship revealed the impact of introducing changes right before the biggest tournament of the year. Several champions became dominant, while many others were rarely picked. This imbalance was evident in the Finals, where only 10 champions were picked or banned in every game. To solve this problem, some may suggest introducing more bans, but this would limit players’ champion pools and hinder the competitive scene. Riot needs to improve their champion balance system and consider the timing of their changes to create a more fair and balanced game.
Riot Games, League of Legends, esports, pick and ban phase, World Championships, champion balance, meta, Season 4, Season 5, Samsung Galaxy White, Samsung Galaxy Blue, champion pool, timing of changes, competitive scene