Is League of Legends pro-play turning stale due to players refusing to draft beyond their comfort zone?

Professional play in League of Legends has been a hot topic in the community since its inception. Fans worldwide follow and cheer for their favorite pro players, who offer them excitement and pleasure throughout the year.

On paper, this aspect of the game appears to be a thrilling, fast-paced, and competitive platform. However, in recent years, it has been critiqued for being boring and monotonous due to professional players' proclivity to stay in their comfort zones when it comes to distinctive champion drafting picks. Over the last couple of years, this approach has resulted in a lack of variety in gameplay and a drop in general excitement among fans.

Draft picks are an important part of pro League of Legends since it affects team strategies throughout a match. This process is a highly critical element of the game, and a team's ability to select the right champions may frequently mean the difference between a victory and a defeat. It should also be noted that professional teams usually have the champion choice practiced well in advance of the match.

Many pro players, however, have established a tendency to continually select the same champions, regardless of their opponents or the scenario. As a result, teams repeatedly deploy the same techniques and tactics, resulting in a lack of variety in gameplay.

The pressure of winning is one of the reasons pro athletes are hesitant to pick outside their comfort zones. Professional e-athletes are extremely competitive and are frequently under enormous pressure to perform at their peak. To guarantee performance standards, they tend to stick to champions with whom they are most familiar and have had previous success.

This move allows individuals to depend on their previous experiences and familiarity to get them through bouts. However, they are not experimenting with new champions or playing styles, which may result in a lack of diversity in the game.

Another reason professional players remain in their comfort zones is the time and effort required to learn new champions. To be a League of Legends pro, one must grasp the gameplay mechanics, the strengths and limitations of each meta and off-meta champion, and how to play them optimally.

Learning a new League of Legends champion requires significant time, effort, and practice since one must play many lane match-ups to determine whether the champion selection suits them. Pro players might not have the luxury of taking the time to add to their pool due to the constraints of schedules and scrims.

This facet eventually frustrates fans wanting new and interesting gameplay since pro players cannot devote themselves to mastering new champions.

The lack of diversity in champion draft picks also reduced fan interest as professional play of League of Legends is highly competitive and thrilling. But when teams play the same champions again, it gets monotonous and uninteresting for viewers.

This has resulted in a fall in viewership and an overall decrease in the excitement surrounding League of Legends professional play. Last year's world championship audience was greatly influenced by DRX and Faker's T1.

Nick De Cesare, also known as LS (Last Shadow), a well-known League of Legends esports and streamer personality, has been outspoken about this issue. LS is one of the most knowledgeable people when it comes to the game and its ideas. He was also one of the first to question professional athletes' decision-making and cognitive processes.

As one of the most ardent League of Legends supporters, LS has frequently lambasted professional players and their tendency to choose the same champions, refusing to go outside their comfort zone. He has also remarked that players dislike change, which is why they are locked in their comfort zone.

He has continued by stating on several occasions that professional players choosing the same champions have eventually stalled teams and regions in themselves as their capacity to improve has been severely hampered due to their inability to come out of their comfort zone.

He has pleaded with professional League of Legends players to modify their drafting mentality, habits, and attitude towards drafting, but sadly nothing much has changed. Players rarely strive to make novel selections to produce creative drafts.

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Riot Games has been attempting to incorporate changes in drafting, but League of Legends pro continue to make comfort picks

When individuals witness repeated champions over a lengthy period of time, the community frequently holds Riot Games, the game's creator, responsible. But, in reality, they should not bear the brunt of the guilt.

Riot Games has constantly been buffing and nerfing many champions to break up the stagnant meta of pro-play and make matches more engaging for spectators. Only professional players are at blame here, with game developers releasing regular updates for League of Legends to improve game balance.

Champions like Aatrox, Fiora, Viego, and Aphelios were most popular throughout the League of Legends Worlds 2022 run. And, while last year's Worlds set a new record for Riot Games, it was mostly owing to T1 and DRX. The drafting was still fairly repetitious since it was typically predictable.

This year is no exception regarding League of Legends professional players and their comfort selections. With the start of season 13, one would imagine that more champion pick diversity would be on display, but that is not the case.

Champion choices like Maokai, Vi, Zeri-Lulu, Lucian-Nami, and Wukong have been significantly recycled not even five weeks into the 2023 split throughout the main regions. Drafting has become incredibly predictable, and professional players' comfort zone drafting has once again stalled the professional play scene.

Furthermore, League of Legends pros often hesitated to select anything other than standard lane match-ups in 2023. Gnar, for example, is being selected into Jax, Jax/Fiora is being picked into K'Sante, and Vi has been a near-universal pick by virtually every jungler in the major regions to Sejuani/Wukong.

With Riot Games strengthening a range of champions across successive patches to push forward a fresh group of meta champions usually rejected by professional players, the game developers can only do so much. After a certain point, League of Legends professional players must accept responsibility for limiting professional play due to their inability to pick outside their comfort zone.

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Overall, while League of Legends professional play is meant to be the game's greatest skill-level gaming, the lack of variety in gameplay has resulted in a loss in enthusiasm for fans and a fall in viewing.

Since pro players prefer to stay in their comfort zone when it comes to champion draft picks, this has eventually rendered professional play stale and needs to change to keep the game healthy. This approach to the game produces a boring and repetitive playstyle, resulting in a less entertaining viewing experience for spectators and predictable drafting stages.

League of Legends pros must consider the responsibility to keep the meta fresh and be more eager to try new approaches and push themselves beyond their comfort zones. This attitude can create a more dynamic and entertaining playstyle, which can help reinvigorate professional play and give viewers a better viewing experience.