User blog comment:Megames1/Against the Meta - Sheep Edition/@comment-201.229.12.162-20130321143449

My problem with the current meta is how the support and jungler are treated. Both of these roles are cut off from the normal gold supply that other roles have good access to, support moreso, and they usually end up being moderately to severely underleveled. I understand that the purpose of having the jungler and the support is to increase farm efficiency for the top laner and adc, but people expect way too much from these roles and turn on the rage when their expectations aren't exceeded.

For the support, if bottom lane does well, it's because the adc is really good. If bottom lane does poorly, it's the support's fault. If the map isn't completely warded, the team rages at the support. If the support goes to ward something that isn't bot lane, the adc, who decided to turret dive the enemy tank support while the support was away ends up dying and blaming the support. If the support is supposed to be a tank, the support needs money for tanky items like thornmail or warmog, but since supports aren't allowed to farm unless the adc is away and since supports are supposed to spend money on gp/10 items and wards, well, you know how it is. The only time tank supports actually work is when you have a superb early game. If you lose during the laning phase, the enemy team will snowball.

Ranting doesn't actually do anything about it, though. My proposal to dealing with this issue is to have more people responsible for warding. That way the support can more easily get items that help with teamfights and there isn't an issue of lack of balance within the team, where the support is found to be the last one left but can't do much to defend against a full enemy team push.

In the jungler's case, the jungler is expected to gank. No, that's not right. I should have said that the jungler is pressured to gank. I understand that ganks are important, but poor underleveled Shaco won't help you much against a four levels higher AP Malzahar. Maybe if the jungler has really successful ganks early game it works, but if that's not the case? Then you have the top laner's aura of hateful rage causing the jungler to disconnect in a ranked game. Well played, right? Don't even get me started on what happens if the enemy team invades or counterjungles!

This problem isn't as easy to deal with as that of the support. An issue I didn't mention in the above rant is that the typical jungler starts with machete and five potions or boots and three potions in order to farm the jungle and buy more items. What items does a jungler buy? Jungler items. But is jungling really that important after the laning phase? If not, then why spend money on more advanced jungler items when you can just work on items that help with teamfights? Besides pushing, it seems moderately pointless to have all of these items which are good for killing monsters with but not much more. To be honest, I don't have much of a solution on this. Also, I have to go, not that anybody's ready this. :P