Foreword: Since Riot Games gutted AD items and support items for enchanters, Season 16 has brought the most warped meta in League of Legends. Classic hyper-carry AD champions are largely unviable in pro play, and many players have turned to mages like Ziggs, Xerath, and Mel in the bot lane. Because the competitive scene now favors a “magic artillery duel” in the bottom lane, Ghost—dubbed the “Bot Lane Mage Ancestor” by fans—has announced his return as an AD carry.

Ghost, the S10 champion AD, has had a rather unfortunate journey in recent years. Due to his inconsistent performance on traditional ADCs, many top LCK teams were reluctant to pick up a champion player who “disrespected the ADC role.” This led him to spend years in the LCK Challenger League and the LCS. This year, he joined KT Rolster as a support, and many fans hoped he would successfully transition to the role. However, his support play was not outstanding, and he spent most of the first and second splits on the bench.

But with the arrival of the bot lane mage meta, Ghost has found a second wind in his career. KT has officially announced him as the starting ADC for the third split. Many LoL viewers joke that the current meta is tailor-made for Ghost. After all, when Riot introduced lane assignments and bonus gold from minions for AD carries in Season 16, pros quickly realized that playing traditional ADCs is far less effective than conventional long-range mages. Bot lane mages scale faster than typical mid laners and come online much earlier than traditional ADCs. This means they can deal damage and help their team secure advantages much sooner in pro play.

Gumayusi Drops Another LoL Bible Quote

As a three-time Worlds champion and MSI-winning AD carry, Gumayusi is widely regarded as the best ADC in the world by many LoL fans. With his highly entertaining streaming style, viewers often dub his live comments as “LoL scriptures.” One of his most famous quotes is, “AD is the egg in instant noodles,” meaning that the ADC role can only add icing to the cake, not provide a lifeline when the team is struggling. The outcome of a match relies entirely on the mid-jungle duo, and the bot lane just needs to avoid collapsing to win easily.

Recently, during a stream, Gumayusi discussed the mage bot meta and dropped several memorable lines that fans have called the new “LoL scriptures.” He stated that the current LoL meta is absolutely terrible. In the past, you could guess the lane of a champion just by looking at the pick, but now you can’t tell where anyone is going based on champion select alone. Previously, top lane Vayne, top lane Varus, support Camille, and support Shen were considered pocket picks, but in this meta, they’ve become standard choices. Meanwhile, the most conventional bot lane ADCs have been completely replaced by mages.

During the stream, Gumayusi also complained that anyone who plays traditional ADCs will be bullied and humiliated by mage champions. Even as the most loyal defender of the ADC role, he is forced to pick mages to fight back. After all, if you pick Draven, you lose a stand-up fight against Cassiopeia; if you pick Caitlyn or Varus, your range is shorter than Xerath or Ziggs. After hearing Gumayusi’s stream gems, many viewers are curious whether the designers will adjust the patch to bring back traditional ADCs to the bot lane, since mages are clearly too dominant and unbalanced.

Conclusion

Of course, Riot has recently made some adjustments to both mage and ADC items. For example, they nerfed Hextech Rocketbelt, a core item for bot lane mages, and buffed several ADC items like Kraken Slayer, Rapid Firecannon, and Phantom Dancer. However, mages still dominate the bot lane. What changes do you think the designers should make to prevent the bot lane from being overrun by mages?