Former World Champion Shines as NIP Defeats JDG
After the conclusion of the LPL Summer 2024 group stage, NIP was one of the most disappointing teams. Simply because they had a terrible record of losing all their matches in the group stage with 8 consecutive losses and displayed a very lackluster playstyle. Even a former World Champion like Rookie showed relative disappointment during the group stage and no longer demonstrated the performance that fans expected.
However, upon reaching the playoffs, NIP completely transformed with victories over LGD and even JDG. In this match, Rookie shone brightly with a KDA after 5 games against JDG of 26/10/27 and contributed up to 928 damage per minute (DPM). These are incredibly high numbers that completely overshadowed the JDG players. This victory also reignited NIP’s hopes for the 2024 World Championship as they have enough points to qualify for the regional qualifiers.
Former World Champion’s Strong Critique of Riot
Despite achieving such important victories, Rookie still had certain grievances. In the recent match against JDG, Rookie had to play marksman champions in all 5 games with names like Lucian, Zeri, and Smolder. Although victorious, the former World Champion of 2018 shared in a post-match interview that he was extremely frustrated with the current Mid Lane meta of League of Legends.
“I can’t even distinguish whether I’m playing Mid Lane or Bot Lane anymore. It’s really unreasonable that there are too many Marksmen being played in the Mid Lane right now. I’m not sure what they (Riot Games) will do in the next patch, but the current meta is truly making me very uncomfortable. I hope Riot will make some changes so that Mid Lane players have the chance to use Mages. If that becomes a reality, it would be fantastic,” Rookie shared.
Riot’s Plans to Adjust the Professional League of Legends Meta
Essentially, Rookie is not the first to criticize Riot Games regarding the current Mid Lane meta. ShowMaker also made similar remarks not long ago, stating that Mages are gradually losing their place in a role that should belong to this class of champions. Riot Games itself probably recognizes this issue, and in patch 14.16, they will heavily buff Mage champions and mercilessly nerf the overly strong Marksmen in the Solo Lane.
Additionally, Riot will also strengthen the Black Cleaver to buff physical Fighter champions so they can regain their standing in the Top Lane. Therefore, the prospect of former World Champions like Rookie or ShowMaker escaping the Marksmen Mid Lane meta could very well happen in the near future. Hopefully, they will take advantage of these changes to compete successfully or at least secure a spot for the 2024 World Championship.