This week’s editorial cartoon is about how League of Legends keeps changing its meta to keep popularity up.

It has been 10 years since League of Legends was released. It has also been 7 years since LoL became an esports title -- that’s a long time for a game to stay relevant, which means it’s a challenge to keep it feeling fresh. However, League of Legends refused to relinquish its claim as the best esports title, and there are still many players actively engaged in studying the game despite how the system continues to grow more and more complex.

Extending the ‘life of a game’ is usually only possible through the consistent addition of new content and updates. This requires more than just new champions and items; there also needs to be changes that allow players to invent new metas and ways to play. Consistent changes like this help newbies as well as old players returning  feel like they are playing something new. It also makes for a better viewing experience since it shifts matches away from the usual repeated strategies.

Lately, there have been different metas that have surprised and entertained many League fans. After the ‘Ardent Censer meta’, which has been considered the ‘worst meta ever’ even by pro gamers, the new ‘zero farm meta’ found its way to the Rift. It was neither a bug nor an overpowered strategy, but it seemed like Riot thought the strategy was abnormal - thus they added a hotfix. The strategy will fade from the Rift before it was given a chance to shine - much to the chagrin of viewers who were excited to see such an unexpected meta.

It is hard to predict what kind of meta will dominate the Rift in the future, regardless of solo ranked or pro games. It could be a meta that depends on a handful of OP champions and items, or a brand new meta that steps away from the long-held norms of the game - like the ‘zero farm meta’. These unpredictable aspects of the game, however, are the reason League of Legends continues to stay popular to this day. We look forward to seeing more exciting changes in League of Legends.