Opinion: Hunter's Machete and Talisman Adjustments Are Good for the League of Legends Meta

​League of Legends Patch 8.14 went live Wednesday and brought many new changes to champions, runes, matchmaking, and items. 

One of the ​biggest changes in Patch 8.14 is in regards to the ​Hunter's Machete and Hunter's Talisman gold functionality. The description of the new effect now reads, "If you have the most individual total gold on your team, lane minions kills will grant 10 less gold. This penalty is removed upon completion of an Enchantment on Skirmisher's Sabre or Stalker's Blade."

This is a huge change, mainly because it will almost destroy of Gold Funneling meta that has risen over the past few patches. A quick rundown on what Gold Funneling is focuses on putting all the gold and resources on one champion, usually the AD carry. The strategy is done so one champion can scale hyper fast and reach power spikes at ridiculous times.    

​​Yiliang Peter "Doublift" Peng did a great job of explaining what the Gold Funneling concept involves and why he does not like it. One of the problems with the Gold Funnel meta is that it makes the game extremely passive. Teams that are executing this strategy will play safe because they just need to wait until one person gains those power spikes. Then, that one player can crush and dominate, becoming unstoppable for the rest of the game.

Another problem with this meta strategy is it's not fun to watch, especially in professional ​League of Legends. Sure, it's cool to see one champion taking on many and dealing tons of damage, but that's about it. There's no real strategy other than waiting until a certain amount of time. The other four players have a significantly less presence and impact throughout the game.

That is why the changes to the jungle items in Patch 8.14 will be good for players and spectators. Even though the game might be going back to a more traditional play style, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Riot Games does promote different ways of playing the game, but Gold Funneling makes the game too inactive. 

Before Gold Funneling, the game was already increasing in speed. Now, with this strategy essentially being removed, games should have players engaging with each other more.