[2020] Riot's perspective of "Limited Jungle Champions" says a different story to how they balance the game

In 10.4 patch when talking about widening the jungle champion pool they mentioned;

" One trend we've seen over the years is that new and low-MMR players pick jungle at a much lower rate than other positions—even when it's stronger than those other positions. For 10.4, we're approaching this problem by giving some popular champs at these skill levels better tools to jungle with, especially also because jungle has an arguably smaller champion pool than other positions "

While this statement is somewhat true, it is only true because Riot nerfs all champions that weren't intended to go to the jungle. Don't get me wrong, I sorta like the 10.4 buffs for instance the Diana buffs. But the wording used annoyed me more than it should have because of what Riot have done to balance the game in the last 6 months or so.

Four recent champion cases that were stripped off jungle duty were Qiyana, Camille, Sylas and Taliyah (Qiyana being the latest at patch 10.2). Granted they were quite strong in the jungle but why make them obsolete. Taliyah highest pick rate position is in the jungle at 1.7% at plat+, not only did they nerf her jungle but they killed her overall. But Camille's nerfs had me a little sad cause she was an fun and interesting jungler where she had to make high risk/high reward plays to win.

What are your guys thoughts on this?

External link →

I can speak a little for Sylas and a little to the general strategy. We generally want as many champions playable for regular play as possible. This includes Sylas. Usually when we're talking about removing a champion for a role, this is with relation to Pro play as it makes then very flex heavy and thus high blind pickability (and raises their presence dramatically). Usually when we're trying to remove a particular champion from a role for regular play, it's called out explicitly in the patch notes.

For Sylas specifically, we wanted him out of jungle for Pro. As it stands, Sylas is very playable for regular players in jungle, but not for Pro and that was basically the intended result. We were prepared to accept Sylas being a suboptimal pick for regular players in Jungle, but it seems like for now, we didn't have to weather that cost.

The main times when we want to remove champions from roles is when their gameplay becomes degenerate OR it's hindering their performance in their intended role due to having to be balanced around the other role. This is especially true when their fantasy is not in line with what players are usually playing them for. eg. If On-Hit Braum carry became a top lane staple; it would be pretty antithetical to Braum's identity as a warden/protector guy.

Recent League of Legends Posts

Patch 14.10 Notes

Phreak Akshan custom skin made by me :D

Feels like the lcs is in the attitude era

Wow, did not expect report feedback to ever have consolation LP!