User blog comment:Freedfg/What happened to variety./@comment-24841807-20140430033012

So true, so true. League has gone from "wonder who they have in {insert role here }, and how are they going to play vs. {insert allied pick for that same role here}?" to "Ok, they have Ezreal/Thresh bot, Renek top, Orianna mid, and Lee jungle, so we need to run with this counter strategy". Kinda makes me sad, really, cause if I want to run something older or something outside of the meta, it's looked at as stupid. Sejuani support, for example. Sure, she's an amazing jungler, hell, Riot recommends her there, but I don't actually run her as a jungler, I run her as a tank support, and it works! She has heavy CC, a good amount of damage that really only has kill potential if the enemy is low or your ADC is just an absolute sack of fail, and she's naturally built like a truck, which is something only a handful of supports can really say. Same thing to be said about Malphite top. You DO see it maybe once every 1,000 games or so, but it's generally regarded as a noob or a troll playstyle, when 2 seasons ago, Malph top was a nightmare. Meta-sheeping might net you some wins in the short-term, but proficiency with unusual team comps and wild picks in lane are what has the potential for long-term payoffs, and I kind of wish people saw that.