To say this patch is massive is an understatement. This is easily the biggest non-set expansion patch of all time. There's over a dozen reworks to champions, nerfs/buffs to traits, augment rebalancing, item changes, and even an entire trait getting restructured. Most importantly, the meta has taken a dramatic shakeup and now hero augments are, for the most part, rarely picked. Let's break down what's currently in our tier list and discuss why they are there.
Let's walk through the S tier:
Vertical Faerie
Vertical Frost
Witchcraft Flex
Portal Ryze
Chrono Karma
Blasters Ezreal
Zap Attack Blitzcrank
Vamp Scepter Warwick
Preserver Karma
Two things stand out about most of the tier. One is that there are primarily 4-costs featured as the key champions in the comp. The other is that they perform much better with an emblem start. If you examine the top-performing augments in the game, right now most of them are trait-driven.
These are the top 12 augments currently at the first augment selection in Stage 2-1. 10 of them are heavily directional -- 9 of them are trait related and Unleash the Beast is primarily used for Hecarim / melee carries. Only Living Forge and Tiniest Titan are more open-ended. This simply means that committing hard to a trait or powerful carry early is a strong way to approach the meta.
Not All Emblem Augments Are Created Equal
Looking closer, it seems like sometimes there's a major split in the emblem augments. Why is Faerie Crown so much worse than Faerie Crest. Is it because it's a prismatic augment and lobbies are stronger? Not quite. In fact, Frost Crown is the inverse. The prismatic Crown is stronger than the gold Crest. Why is that?
Examining exactly what these augments do gives the answer. With Faerie Crown, you get a Tristana and a Giant Slayer. A 2-cost and an item that is primarily good for late game because Giant Slayer will not activate often early, if at all. With Frost Crown, you get a Swain and a Protector's Vow which is instant frontline that non-upgraded units on Stage 2 will struggle to kill. Meanwhile, Faerie Crest's power is relatively similar for the Gold augment giving you the Tristana and the ability to activate 3 Faerie quickly for an extra item -- almost like a prismatic Crown. Frost Crest grants a Zilean which is a support unit that isn't exactly lighting Stage 2 on fire.
Critically evaluating augment starts like this can be the difference between an easy, cruise-control Stage 2 that transitions smoothly into your Stage 4 rolldown versus a hazardous uneven start that results in low economy, low tempo opener that ultimately results in a bot 4.
Using what we just discussed, can you potentially spot why this is the same with Blaster and Witchcraft emblem augments?
That's right! It's almost the same exact situation as mentioned above. Witchcraft Crown gives you a Cassiopeia, a 2-cost unit, as well as a Hextech Gunblade which is a weak early-game item. Meanwhile, Blaster Crown gives you Ezreal, a 3-cost unit, and a Shojin which is a powerful early-game tempo mana item (not to mention one of Ezreal's best items).
That's not to say that you never take Blaster Crest or Faerie Crown in this meta. Both Dishsoap and Frodan have had lots of success in their games taking the "worse" emblem augments at 2-1. Understanding when to take them will be a critical way you can separate yourself from the pack in this meta.
Let's dive some into A tier and break down some of the biggest movers. The first are the ones making the most headlines:
Multistriker Hecarim
Shapeshifter Cassiopeia
Honeymancy reroll
These 3 comps have picked up in popularity considerably and are dominant in Stage 3. For Hecarim specifically, 1-cost Hecarim with items can straight up bowl over many boards. Make sure your upgraded tank has real items otherwise you may blink and this crazy horse is wiping your backline. You have been warned. Cass 2 is very stable with cheap Shapeshifters. And the 5 Honey rework gives the comp a ton of power, especially if they are chasing Blitz 3 / Ziggs 3. Expect to lose often to these boards.
Some underrated comps in this tier:
Hunter Kogmaw
Warriors
Ryze Flex
Kogmaw has adapted to now run more of a hunter package instead of duo carrying with Tristana due to the loss of the Faerie item. Warriors are quite good in the stats when you hit 6 of them...just good luck ever getting Fiora and Gwen online this patch. Ryze flex proves to be a good backup option if you have generic AP items like Shiv and Deathcap but have no real power augments. He is a reliable top 4 farmer if uncontested and you can lose streak into a Fast 8, but try to stabilize Stage 3 because a full 10 loss won't cut it.
The #1 rule to succeed in this meta is avoid playing contested. If you are playing a 4-cost line, it's often fine for one other person to be playing the same tree (two Karma players, two Ryze players, two Varus players). But avoid a situation where 3+ players are going for it. You will struggle all game and likely spend 3-4x the amount of gold just to hit. If you are rerolling, avoid playing contested entirely.
Of course, there are exceptions. Hecarim reroll is going to be one of the most dominant comps in the meta from what we have seen. But Hecarim is one of the most contested units in the game because of his traits. So you'll naturally have to deal with this consequence when pursuing him as a primary carry.
But if you are angling for something like Cassiopeia reroll with a Rageblade slammed and see someone else take a similar line with a Caretaker's Ally, it's time to change the plan to something else. For example, you can use Cass as an item holder for Red Buff and Rageblade then transition those items to Varus and Smolder later on. But wait, didn't you guys say never pivot in the most recent podcast episode?
Well, if played correctly, like we discussed in the episode this isn't a pivot! You simply went to your secondary gameplan instead. If you are playing Preserver flex and end up on Ryze instead of Karma, that is not a pivot, you simply kept multiple options open and were ready to capitalize on whichever you hit first. Such is the same with playing the above example.
Always consider Plan A and Plan B when approaching your line. If you are contested Frost, think about who else could hold items besides Varus and Nasus. If you are contested Witchcraft, learn the Ryze variations instead of defaulting to Karma. This is how you avoid playing contested.
Last meta read, we talked about how Spatula vertical compositions were the biggest techs to keep in your pocket and Hecarim reroll is quietly strong. Now they are defining the meta.
For this edition, a couple of comps have caught our eye. Arcana Varus is a comp that has started making waves in China. It's essentially the AD version of Arcana Ryze, but with Varus-Shen-Warriors instead of Ryze-Taric-Mages. It's not going to win many games but it may pull a top 4 rabbit out of the hat when you see the other lines contested. Similar to Arcana Ryze, cap with true damage Xerath and watch Varus burn everything down if you get enough stacks.
If you get a Pan, consider trying out 6 Scholar. It's quietly one of the best verticals, but it struggles with frontline so it's often hard to pull off at level 8 unless you have multiple upgraded frontliners like Taric 2 or Tahm Kench 2. Caps extremely high with Milio, Diana, and Xerath.
If you want an off-meta reroll, give Bard reroll some looks especially if you have early augments that enable him such as Aggressive Preservation. Bard individually got buffed and Dishsoap has had success with carrying him as the primary alongside Zilean. The only main issue with Bard is that no one seems to know what the ideal frontline tank is. Do we play around Vanguards because Rumble is a Sugarcraft unit that powers up Bard? Do we go for Vex because of the Chrono ties, but how do we fit in Mage if at all? Or are we overthinking it and it's simply Wukong? No decisive conclusion yet.
As always we end with the best openers for you to consider on Stages 1 and 2. The strength of these openers largely depend on upgrades and items so don't only hold the best units if you are giving up pairs of other solid units.
S tier: Frost Hunter Twitch (AD), Portal Zoe (AP), Multistriker Hecarim (AD)
A tier: Shapeshifters (Flex), Honeymancy (Flex), Faeries (Flex)
B tier: Eldritch (Flex), 4 Witchcraft Neeko (AP), Vanguard Blasters
B-tier is largely defined by the 3-costs you get dropped. The exception is Swain since he enables two of the most powerful early-game traits (Frost and Shapeshifters).
Avoid if you can: Sugarcraft, Mages
Good 3-costs to keep from orb: Hecarim, Swain, Neeko, Katarina, Bard, Ezreal
These are the standard openers you'll often see. The more effective boards you can build for cheap, the higher the tier. This is because you're more likely to 2* units and snowball momentum. If you need to 2* a unit to be effective (example: Nilah 2), then it makes it hard to justify holding for unlikeliness of upgrading + impact on your economy.
That's all for now. Thanks for being a loyal Patreon sub! If you have any further questions, feel free to drop them in our Discord server. See you on ladder!