Riot has another problem to solve. Developers have led to a situation where a new meta appeared on the top lane.
All the recent changes have led to an unhealthy situation in the developers’ opinion, with a new tactic to play support champions in the top lane. By far the most “harmful” is Janna. The players found that she is able to win nearly 60% of the matches.
How? Just by roaming, but in a specific way. Players choose Janna, take Smite, and roam from level 1 or 3, making full use of the “Bounty” system. Janna is just the tip of the iceberg that Riot has a hard time with. There are already a lot of tutorials on this topic on Youtube.
60% winrate, and that’s not the end
The whole tactic is to take a supporting character, usually Janna, pick Smite and roam, steal the farm, gank other lines, and use the “Bounty”. The opponent, despite farming, will be behind anyway and it will be difficult for him to do anything sensible because all other lines will feel supported by Janna. The character has recently been reworked, Riot has nerfed TP in the meantime, and here are the effects.
The problem is getting really serious. At this point, professional players point out that this is what most of their matches look like. To end Janna’s storyline a bit, the character in Master at the moment has 59% winrate using this (Smite + Flash, top lane). At lower ranks, it also exceeds 55%.
Her winrate and popularity are growing, as well as the number of matches in which Janna is banned. People above the diamond complain that in virtually every match Janna has to be banned or selected.
Former LCS player “Lourlo” explained on his stream why this is so OP. He plays this way himself.
It sounds simple, and it is. In the lower divisions, players are already starting to pick it up. Of course, if you’re in Gold, Riot will probably be able to deal with it until players realize just how strong this playstyle is. Especially that it requires the cooperation of the entire team.
Speaking of Riot, the developers confirm that it is problematic and they don’t really have a solution. They admit that this is another detrimental way to play LoL, and it’s something that has priority right now.
The problem has certainly been marked as a priority since Janna is not the only one. The same goes for Lulu, Karma, or Zilean. These heroes are getting more and more popular, and if you’ve been wondering why, you’ve got the answer.