TSM's Mingyi "Spica" Lu, 100 Thieves' Can "Closer" Çelik and Dignitas' Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett are all junglers competing in the 2021 League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split, but they all share one other thing in common — they all agree that the newest item coming to League of Legends, Hullbreaker, could harken a major shift in the competitive meta.  

After the respective matches of TSM, 100 Thieves, and Dignitas on the first day of week 2 of the LCS Summer Split, the triad of junglers each gave their thoughts on Hullbreaker to Inven Global when asked about the item, which was recently premiered on social media and will be hitting the League of Legends PBE very soon.

Hullbreaker is to replace Sanguine Blade as an item on the standard League of Legends game mode map Summoner's Rift as of Patch 11.13, and its robust stats combined with its buffing of minion resistances makes it not just an ideal pick for split-pushing champions in a vacuum, but strong enough to essentially turn the entire meta in its favor in terms of win condition and team priorities.

Spica admitted that if Hullbreaker was to go live on League of Legends in the same form as it is about to launch on the PBE, it would drastically alter the competitive landscape of LoL esports.

"I saw it on PBE, and I think if they just release it as is it will be a really, really big shift for pro play," said Spica. "I definitely think the item is really, really strong and it's going to change the way teams draft and play." Dardoch echoed Spica  later in the day, stating that while he wasn't sure how specifically it would occur, it would change the meta. 

"I think if the iteration that was posted to social media makes it to live with all oft the same statistical numbers, I think it's going to have a pretty big impact on competitive play, at least," Dardoch said of the previewed Hullbreaker.

"I'm not sure what champions would be buying it; I doubt junglers would, obviously, so I'm not sure what champions in lane would be the most synergistic with it, but I'm sure there's going to be some sort of strong combination of a champion and that item that is going to be making the league at least adapt to it."

When asked about Hullbreaker, Closer said that it reminded him of another item that used to be in League of Legends focused on buffing minions, but that he wasn't sure if it would be a direct effect on just the top lane meta or to more roles across the rift. "I'm really curious. It feels like the old Banner of Command item where you could just buff your minions just like that. I think it will have a huge impact because I saw a couple of videos and it looks pretty broken," said Closer, thoughtfully.

"I think it will definitely change at least the top lane meta, or it could make it into more of a split-pushing meta. I'm not sure, but it will definitely change things up. It looks pretty broken." 

Split-pushing has become less and less important throughout the meta of the current season, but with carry-focused champions in top lane and solo lane physical damage dealers at a rarely-matched priority in the current meta, Hullbreaker might turn the meta on its ear and make split-pushing the best way to win a game of League of Legends should it be released in its current form without any alterations.