Generally people thought Morgana would suck before she came out, and people thought Irelia would be OP before she came out. Both predictions were wrong so I don’t stock much faith in any predications about future characters. Plus Riot can still put in a quick nerf like they did with Blanc.

Excuse our scepticism about your the new dude's OPness then.

Whatever you wish, I was wrong about Trundle already.

Any big nerfs/buffs since the Halloween thing? I'm did two practice games with Morgana and Jungle Olaf, might check Amumu and Janna later.


Also did the Metagame change already?

Since Halloween? Oh yes they changed the metagame a whole lot. The specifics are to much to go into so I will hit the main points:

1. Range carries are no longer as uber, their speed was nerfed, they take more damage, the AS items that were once used like Last Whisper were changed into complete different items, and a couple of other stuff.
2. Mage tanks items and skills were nerfed and removed. Sheilds like Morgana’s E were nerfed on time and power and mage tank items like the Locket were removed.
3. New basis on cooldown-reduction items, a new item the Ionian Boots were added which gives movement speed 2 and 15% cooldown reduction and cooldown reduction on items like Spirit Visage were buffed.
4. AP item changes. They took out Zhonya’s and made two new items, the Hourglass and the Rabd Hat. The Rabd gives 155 ability power and 30% more AP and Hourglass has the few second immunity and 100 AP. Also items like the Archangel were buffed.
5. Nautral monster changes. Both dragon and Baron were made harder, dragon no longer gives global exp but gives more global gold, and they changed something with Golem
6. Summoner spell changes. Flash has a greater cooldown time and it no longer allows the user to dodge spells. Also Exhaust no longer blinds but it now nerfs AP and AD. They changed the values for Heal also to make it more viable
7. New types of heros. We have Trundle who is a anti-tank who actually gains stronger the more tanky the enemy is as one example.
8. Tank meta-game change. Like I said before mage tank items were nerfed along with others like Sunfire cape whose damage effect is now unique. Also tanks and tanky junglers got nerfed like Garen, Udyr, and Rammus(he will be nerfed next patch).
9. AoE attacks nerfed for most Heros, except Bltizcrank who has been buffed and is now viable
10. A long series of buffs and nerfs that have completely changed the characters. For example Miss Fortune and Corki have been majorly nerfed and Heirmerdicker is getting a major buff next patch.

So what about that ward baiting I keep hearing about but never see?

There are two really. There is putting wards outside a place like the Dragon or Baron and jumping people when they try to kill them. The second is putting a ward in the middle of the jungle, a person comes along with another ward or a oracle and sees it, takes the three hits it takes to kill it thinking it was to track their team’s gankers, and they get ganked. Only hardcore players do either of these styles against other hardcore players. Expect it in Ranked I guess and if you have a pre-made team plan to do it. Myself I usually just put Teemo mushrooms instead.

So that's it? I thought it was something new and crazy but it turns out I've been doing it the whole time, warding baron and all that.

Well it is differant now that wards take three hits to kill instead of one. Also the Ionia vs. Noxus game taught many of the non-pros about it, so it is more wide-spread. I don't know who told you it was something new or what he/she was thinking at the time.

WHAT

http://www.leagueoflegends.com/news/rel ... es-v100108

See Summoner Spells and General section near bot of page.

But teemo is a terrible character.

AP/AS Teemo is really good for laning, pushing and helping with ganks(both making and stopping them). His E makes his AP build actually worth it, since your auto-attacks are buffed and they all apply a DoT. Also his Q is really good for stopping ganks, helping in a teamfight, harrassing, and finishing off players. Then there is his R which is an improved version of a ward that does not cost money and is handy for stopping ganks and planning them. Plus Teemo is one of the few direct counters for gankers like Evelyn, Twitch, and Shaco which is always a good support for his team. Granted he is really squishy and only those with good zoning and map-awareness can play him, but if you can he is a good support unit and later in the game he can be a good carry.

You can also go AD/AS life-steal Teemo but I perfer AP/AS.

Question, what happens when I get to level 30? Are ranked matches different? I assume there are different maps at least.

Ranking matches are no different from normal. The only thing you would find would be scrubs, a less friendly environment, and ranking points added to your profile. Myself and the rest of my level 30 friends only play Normal since Ranking is really only for scrubs and for people who don't play the game to enjoy it. Basically the difference in competitively between WoW and Perfect World is the same as Ranking and Normal.

As for the difference of reaching level 30 there are few really. Yes you get more rune spots and masteries points but you can already get final tier runes at level 20. Oh and you get to be on the Tribunal and get daily IP at level 30. Though honestly Bear if you are quitting come MVC 3 I wouldn’t worry about getting to level 30.

Oh and there are no new maps, there are truly only two maps in the game(in less you include the holiday ones)