League of Legends esports is known to have a strict meta and players mostly stay loyal to it, as it gives you the best chance to succeed. However, when push comes to shove, those who are able to explore off-meta options become unforgettable. Let’s see some of the exciting off-meta picks in esports and the reasoning behind them.
From Flandre’s recent Annie pick to that time when Caps picked Vayne mid, off-meta picks always hype up us. Thus, seeing them picked on the draft screen is always a pleasure.
FNC Caps - Kayn
Fnatic was having a great year with their rookie mid laner Caps as he was showing a lot of promise in EU LCS 2017. However, Caps was also showing he was a unique piece of mind, and this pick against Misfits was one of his first which hyped up the fans. Kayn is normally a jungler that gives you two opportunities to play him, as an off-tank fighter or a high damage assassin.
Against PoE’s Syndra, Caps picked Kayn and went for the Blue assassin, and although he had some questionable choices throughout the game, it was a treat to watch him. Fnatic won the game in the end, and Caps’ pick did work.
EDG Flandre - Annie
Annie is not in the meta, not anywhere. Although she has some SoloQ presence, she is not a viable choice in professional games for a long time now. We rarely see her, and seeing Flandre play her against Jayce in the top lane was an unforgettable experience. Against JDG, Flandre put on an amazing performance and made this pick work.
Annie was played as a support in 2014 and before, but because her range of using crowd control on a lot of people is very short and she is pretty squishy, Annie is rarely picked because there are lots of better champions doing a better job.
G2 Esports - The off meta 5
G2’s 2019 roster was known for their flexibility, for their fun personalities and their PYKE. In this game against TSM, every single member from G2 Esports played something off-meta. Wunder picked Olaf, Jankos was playing the famous Pyke in the jungle, Caps played Lucian mid (not so off-meta), Perkz brought Zoe to bot lane and Mikyx was on Bard.
The incredible thing about these picks was that they were still able to annihilate one of NA’s best teams, TSM. After a 25 minutes long game, G2 took it home 18-4.
GRF Viper - Teemo
If you made a poll amongst League players, Teemo is surely one of the most hated champions of all time. Griffin’s incredible team in 2018 was aiming high, and Viper, who is the undisputed best bot laner today, picked Teemo twice back in 2018. The weird thing about that is he won.
Teemo doesn’t fit the current bot lane dynamics with his skillset and short range, but he was considered a secondary bot laner back in Season 2. Although their opponents were weak, it’s impressive that Viper picked Teemo and made it work in the professional arena.
FNC Caps - Vayne
Started with Caps and let’s end it with him. Although Caps showed promise in 2017, his breakthrough was 2018 when Fnatic utterly dominated the EU LCS and played Worlds finals. During Summer Playoffs, Caps made something questionable, he asked his teammates to pick him Vayne. You can check out the voice comms where he asks his coach to get Vayne for him and the game below.
Because Vayne is a marksman and doesn’t have too much of a mobility like Lucian, she is an unpopular choice in the mid lane, unlike top lane where she doesn’t have many opponents that could reach her easily. Caps considers Galio as a “free scale” opportunity, but the game starts very badly for him. One mistake from Hans sama and Caps stunning him while invisible turned everything around, and Caps started to dominate while Misfits fell behind.
These were our picks for the most notable off-meta picks in League of Legends recently. Of course there are many more, some worked and some didn’t, but these made me “Holy Poggers” out loud, just like Caps.
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