Asking because I think League’s biggest problem is that competitive play is dominated by a small handful of champions with nobody willing to explore alternative picks.
I actually think most picks can work in the right situation for them and with the pro having enough experience on the champ. It’s just highly discouraged by both solo queue and professional play. It’s not that they can’t win. It’s that teammates/coaches view it as not being worth the risk. Criticism is low if you just pick meta. Criticism is going to be extreme if you go off meta and lose with it. In solo queue anything that goes wrong will suddenly be the fault of the off meta pick.
I think Xerath is really powerful when picked in the right situation. The main issue with him is he is completely helpless against strong dive comps but when the enemy is low on engage his range is absolutely busted. Once he has an item or two a few skill shots landing can easily force a back securing an objective.
Honestly I think the game is actually pretty balanced and pretty much any champion can be picked at the top level in some situations. Just understandably hard for pros to practice off meta picks that the ideal situation for may not come up in a season.
Quinn/yummi bot, Lucian mid, Zac support, ad shyvana top or jungle. Maybe ez jungle
When I’m trying off meta picks I often look at disruptive picks from the past and see why what they exploited and can they still exploit that today. Eg voyboys naut top from s2 cool pick but I don’t think it works anymore because it doesn’t do enough damage. Zac top from s3. Corki adc probably still works. Kha mid? Riven mid? Olaf mid? 2v1 bot lane and have support roam with jg early?
All interesting strats and I think people could pull them off just because everyone is so stiff and unflexible in how they play.
Bruiser assassins. Especially ones with AP kits. Demonic into bruiser kits for tanky teams. Annoying, high damage kits that can escape easily and also are extremely hard to kill.
