Like any competitive MOBA player, we’re always on the lookout for new strategies and techniques. Unless you’ve suffered a total internet blackout or somehow manage to avoid any League of Legends news (why?), you’ve heard of the “Funnel Strategy.”
True to its name, the strategy involves funneling all your resources into one massive hyper carry with the intention of that champion becoming strong enough to carry the game.
If this sounds all too familiar, it’s because this strategy was first seen in 3v3 Twisted Treeline before it saw widespread use in 5v5 Summoner’s Rift. 3v3 players have been using this meta to climb the ranked 3v3 ladder for a few years now.
How it works
You need a champion that works well with the strategy. The usual candidates are Kaisa, Xayah, Master Yi, Lucian, Kindred, Kayle, and Yasuo. The champion takes the mid lane becuase it’s a relatively safe, free farm lane. Relative to the jungler, of course, which is the next important role in this strategy.
While the mid laner takes care of the smiting duties, the jungler uses Exhaust and provides mid lane support. The usual jungler candidates include Braum, Taric, Nunu, Rakan, and Lulu. The jungler brings the camps low enough for the mid laner to sweep and collect XP and gold. When this strategy works, your fed mid laner will have an enormous advantage in teamfights.
IRL
It’s easy to notice that by relying on one pumped up champion, you have a single point of failure. The enemy team could simply focus on shutting you down by drafting superior early game pick compositions.
The strategy has been adopted by various teams in high level tournaments, but it has seen mixed results so far.
Until patch 8.13 arrives, we won’t know for sure if this is something that Riot will fix. In June, Riot’s lead gameplay designer said the following:
After spending time assessing funneling strats last week we’ve come to the conclusion that, at least for now, the correct approach to dealing with them is to address a small subset of champions, rather than trying to make wider systemic changes. Interested in why gamers are getting recruited in the army? Check out this post.
