Diamondprox is very pleased with the changes to League of Legends in recent patches, but still needs some tweaking to make the jungle more effective.
As one of the legends of the League of Legends game, Diamondprox was the one who gave birth to the carnivorous jungle path and brought Lee Sin into the professional arena. Although he has not won any international titles, the imprints that the forest god born in 1992 left behind for professional League of Legends are huge.
At the age of 29, Diamondprox is still a professional player. He has just joined Biofrost, a League of Legends team in the NLC region (Northern European League of Legends). Recently, the star of the world League of Legends once shared about the new meta.
What made you choose the Nordic region as your next career destination? Why did you decide to join Biofrost?
Diamondprox: I would love to play in Europe. Whenever there is an opportunity to play for an English speaking team, I will not turn it down. Except for a few regulations on foreign soldiers, I hardly had any problems.
Biofrost’s lineup really appealed to me. I know the members of the coaching staff well, we even considered recruiting them to Team Spirit because they all speak Russian. Now, I have had the opportunity to work with them. I really like this lineup.
What do you think about the recent changes to the tank meta of League of Legends?
I believe these changes are really a positive signal for League of Legends, now that skirmishes will last longer, when all are harder to kill. In the past, you could easily be defeated after only 1 to 1.2 seconds of being controlled by an opponent.
Now, the calculation of the duration of the crowding effect will need to be more focused. The long skirmish period was also the peak of my performance. There was a time when the fighting took place very long, but the junglers still contributed in the fight by dealing damage or controlling effects.
Riot made a mistake in season 5 when it forced the junglers to use champions with a strong tendency to farm and have little control, while reducing damage. When mid lane damage becomes too strong, junglers have almost no effect in the game after 20 minutes of play. For now, most junglers have control and high survivability, and junglers will find their position more useful.
The only thing that bothers me is the ability to pressure lanes from level 3-6 junglers. Tank upgrades will make it difficult for early aggressive champions like Lee Sin, Xin Zhao, and Viego to find kills. I hope Riot will do something to help the junglers be able to unleash their power in the oil phase.
So what do you think about weird picks returning to the meta, like Shyvana?
I don’t think Shyvana benefits from the current meta. Maybe AD-style Shyvana? As for the AP-oriented Shyvana, I think this build will be more useful, but will be weaker in the meta. Now, Shyvana’s magic damage is reduced, while Shyvana is an uncontrollable gladiator, so I don’t think Shyvana is a good choice in the jungle.
The meta changed a lot, in order to combine well with the lane zones, the jungler had to adapt to the new meta as well. For example, in the case of Viktor, the champion became harder to kill in the early stages after getting a tank boost. This is a champion with great power-boosting ability, which will also have the effect of changing the jungle pool to fit the meta.
As a professional player for a decade, how do you think Esports and League of Legends have changed?
I think League of Legends is becoming more and more a team game. In the early game, a team will need one or more players to make sacrifices for the good of the team.
Teams also realize how important mutual support between members is. However, there are still some players who are more focused on their region and position than others. Some jungle champions that rely heavily on the team’s main carry would be a great fit for this meta.
