League of Legends is old enough to enter high school, so it’s unsurprising it has birthed dozens of broken metas over the past decade and a half, with some even more egregious than others.
Most broken LoL metas of all time
10. Funnel (Taric and Master Yi)
The Funnel was a widespread and broken meta in League of Legends, mostly dominating the game in Season 7 and Season 8. It involved a support champion and a hard carry going Jungle together as opposed to their usual roles, with the former allowing the carry to take most of the farm. They would then engage in harassing the enemy Jungler and take all of the farm from the lanes, which was seen as highly toxic but nevertheless effective. The most common picks for this strategy were Taric and Master Yi, though Taric and Kassadin were also fairly popular.
This led to Riot’s complete destruction of the strategy, which they deemed too toxic and opposed to the game’s core design, and the company eventually even barred Junglers and supports from farming at all.
9. AP Master Yi
Those who’ve played League of Legends for a long time will certainly remember the pre-rework Master Yi, who was an absolute powerhouse when played AP. Having the capacity to heal ad infinitum and to one-shot everyone with a single Q cast, AP Master Yi was undoubtedly one of the most broken champions in the early days of League. You could also go down the hybrid route, which was exceptionally popular at the time with numerous champions running it, to turn Yi into a real beast. If you ever wondered why Yi is called the “noob champ,” his AP build is your answer.
8. Sunfire Evelynn
Before Riot Games decided enough was enough and reworked the entire invisibility mechanic (except for Shaco, he’s still broken), some champions were outright abusive. One example is Evelynn, whose use of the Sunfire Cape has gone down in history as one of the most obnoxious champion-item combinations.
She could equip the item and come as near an enemy as she liked and proceed to burn them to death. Keep in mind that in those times, players could purchase as many of the same item as they want, and they would stack. This means that most Sunfire Evelynn meta abusers would go for Boots and five Sunfire Capes. There was little you could do to defend yourself, save for spam-purchasing dozens of pink wards, but then you’d have no money for actual defenses.
The Sunfire Evelynn meta was eventually patched and changed and was one of the earliest genuinely broken metas which required next to no effort to pull off. As you may have noticed, such tactics are not as prevalent in modern League since Riot did as much as possible to completely eradicate them.
7. Lucian and Nami Duo Bot
Not all metas have to be abusive of the game’s design and mechanics to be broken and exceptionally viable. Lucian and Nami is a popular Bot lane duo still prevalent today, though not as much as in the past few seasons. The reason why they work so well together is that Nami can buff Lucian’s attacks, and since he can shoot several bullets at once in the early game, it’s enough to proc Nami’s Electrocute rune, dealing massive early game damage. This makes the combo highly deadly in the earliest parts of the game and can lead to total domination in Bot and a quick defeat for the opposing side.
Nami also works well with some other champions, but her partnership with Lucian is known by many as an extremely broken early-game meta.
6. Ardent Censer meta
Support champions have had many ups and downs over the years, mainly due to changes to their items, but there was a time when Supports reigned supreme when the abusive Ardent Censer was at its peak. Added to give Supports a bit of an edge and to make them more viable, the Arden Censer quickly turned into a must-have weapon for any Enchanting Support champion. By giving extra damage and lifesteal to ADCs, Arden Censer had the potential to turn some champions into absolute beasts, and so it did. The situation was so bad that Riot eventually nerfed the item, though it still remains in the game and is nonetheless a good item.
Ardent Censer was also a core part of the funnel meta we’ve covered above, and it is likely that without it, it would never materialize. At least not in the same overpowered manner.
5. AP Twitch
Though recent and not as game-breaking as some of the others, the AP Twitch meta has been a dominant strategy in Seasons 13 and 14. Players would take the champion out of his natural role, the ADC, and turn him into a roaming Support and Carry hybrid that would spend most of his time ganking other lanes.
The AP side of things comes from Twitch’s obscenely high AP scaling on his poison and E, giving him a huge burst potential. When you factor in the invisibility and extra movement speed of his Q, you can see why it’s a go-to tactic for many players. Some have even opted for going AP Twitch on the Bottom lane, which has also proven more efficient than anticipated.
4. Season 3 Kassadin (Kassawin meta)
You might notice that most of these metas were prevalent in the old days of League, and God, I wish we could return there for a day. Perhaps the crown jewel of old League was Kassawin, or Kassadin’s incredibly broken state in Season 3, which earned him a whopping 95 percent ban rate in the professional scene.
I remember not being able to pick Kassadin no matter what since he could dominate games single-handedly without breaking a sweat. Riot Games did eventually nerf the character and he eventually phased out of existence for a while before emerging again as a formidable force during the funnel meta.
3. Tank Meta
The Tank Meta is arguably still present in the game but at a much weaker state than in the seasons prior. It dominated the game since at least Season 10 with champions such as Malphite being nigh unkillable. The Tanks’ ability to do insane damage while not taking much themselves, unsurprisingly, was highly overpowered and had little to no actual counterplay.
This was additionally aggravated in the durability update, which sought to give all champions, Tanks included, more survivability. Tanks have been on a decline in the past couple of seasons, with Riot doing everything in their power to buff already powerful Assassins and ADCs so they could take down any foe, big or small, with relative ease.
2. Banner of Command Meta
The Banner of Command and ZZ Rot Portal meta was annoying, to say the least. It perfected Sun Tzu’s Art of War, which states that the best general is one who wins without fighting. Split-pushing champions would rush Banner of Command and ZZ Rot, spam them on alternate lanes, and allow the minions to take down structures and inhibitors in only a few minutes’ time.
One champion particularly stood out—Yorick—with his obnoxious little ghouls and the ghastly maiden running it down lanes and taking down everything that stood in their way. Both items were eventually removed from League, and all I say is good riddance.
1. Juggernaut Meta
In the hallowed year of 2015, Riot Games decided one class of champions needed a complete rework. Instead of updating a single character, they went for a group, collectively naming them the Juggernauts. This included Mordekaiser, Skarner, Darius, and Garen. Naturally, when you rework a bunch of Tank-Bruisers, things are bound to go south, and so they did. Mordekaiser, with his ability to resurrect an entire dragon to fight for him, dominated the game for a couple of patches. Darius and Garen were oppressively strong on the Top lane and could take on basically any enemy they come across and easily end the match.
One other champion that got reworked around the same time was Gangplank, who, with his 70 percent armor penetration barrels, earned himself a near 100 percent ban rate in the professional scene. That year has to be my all-time favorite in my 12-year-long League career since I mained nearly all of the mentioned characters at some point during that time.
