Riot’s Decision to Eliminate the Meta: How It Left Faker “Dumbfounded”
Recently, Riot announced significant updates, particularly highlighting their determination to remove the current meta that has been the standard in League of Legends (LoL) since MSI 2024. Notably, Riot is also enhancing the warning system for the meta and increasing the strength of the surveillance of the current meta. Recently, Faker became the “victim” in Riot’s meta shift in the professional LoL scene.
Specifically, when Faker experimented with the new draft changes, he utilized Rengar and attempted to engage in the top lane. However, as he moved to the top lane and made exchanges with the opposing team, the system issued a warning. At that moment, Faker aimed to execute a play, resulting in a loss of 3900 health points and a fatality.
After this incident, Faker was understandably taken aback. He recognized that the current meta is quite strong, especially if the opponents are determined to engage in combat or execute plays, yet they can “one-shot” immediately if not careful, even with the legendary G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time) in play.
Could These Changes Benefit Faker and T1?
In fact, the need to adapt between the meta and Fearless Draft (if any) has caused T1 to face a lot of difficulties during the recent LCK Cup 2025. They struggled against all three teams they faced, especially as Faker himself encountered challenges in choosing champions suitable for his current playstyle.
In scenarios where the meta is heavily altered, T1 may revert to the “win lane win game” strategy based on the strongest bot lane in the current LoL scene – Gumayusi and Keria. This would also relieve pressure on the top and mid lanes, ideally setting up for a successful descent into the lower lanes, where T1 has historically excelled.
