If you haven’t heard, yesterday – June 10th, LPL Summer 2022 officially kicked off with two exciting matches between IG versus WBG and EDG facing off against FPX. The final results were not surprising as the higher-rated teams, WBG and EDG, both secured victories with 2-1 and had a relatively smooth opening day of competition.
Right from the first matches of LPL Summer 2022, we can see a clear change in the game meta, especially in the Top Lane position. In fact, during the post-match interview, EDG player Flandre stated that the current patch is like a “paradise” for Top Lane players. The reason is that Top Lane is currently very difficult to dive, and champion pools have been significantly widened after the adjustments in patch 12.10.
EDG Flandre: “I really enjoy the current version of League of Legends. You can feel much more secure when the turret protects the player very well. Additionally, Top Lane players are allowed to use champions with more carry potential. I feel like the current patch is paradise for Top Lane players.”
Before patch 12.10, Top Lane was often the target of turret dives by professional teams to gain a major advantage in the top half of the map. With the characteristic of only one player in Top Lane (at most, the Mid Lane can teleport), teams could take advantage of this to make their opponent “lose” a side lane.
However, with patch 12.10, when turrets received a significant damage increase early in the game, diving turrets has become extremely dangerous, and the frequency of trades has increased significantly. Therefore, teams have limited early dives to ensure their Top Lane and Jungle positions do not fall behind if mistakes are made.
This change allows champions that are somewhat weak in the early game but strong in the later stages, like Kayle or Vladimir, to have more time to shine. In fact, LPL teams have adapted to this very quickly, with both TheShy and Flandre effectively utilizing these champions to secure wins for their teams. It wouldn’t be surprising if in the upcoming matches of LPL, these key champions in Top Lane continue to be used.