About the Research & Source
This article is a simplified and thematic interpretation of an academic paper, reimagined through the lens of League of Legends to make its game theory concepts more accessible. The original research explores how imbalance can exist within playable systems — an idea that directly relates to the evolving balance philosophy of online competitive games.
“Different Forms of Imbalance in Strongly Playable Discrete Games I: Two-Player RPS Games”
by Itai Maimon
Note: This educational summary is not affiliated with Itai Maimon or arXiv. It is intended purely for academic and illustrative purposes. For the original paper, theoretical framework, and formal proofs, visit the official arXiv publication.
Every League of Legends player has felt it — a patch drops, and suddenly a champion or strategy takes over. The forums light up: “This champ is broken!” “Riot ruined the game again!” But a few weeks later, things shift. Counters rise, new builds appear, and the once-unstoppable meta monster becomes just another pick. This cycle isn’t a mistake — it’s by design.
League of Legends survives not because it achieves perfect balance, but because it constantly moves between balance and imbalance. Riot Games doesn’t aim for equality; it aims for playable inequality — a delicate, dynamic state where everything has a chance to shine, but nothing stays on top forever.
The Meta as a Rock–Paper–Scissors Cycle
LoL meta behaves like a living loop of counters: one strategy rises, a natural counter appears, and a third strategy checks the counter. This continuous motion prevents stagnation and keeps discovery alive.
Rock–Paper–Scissors cycle
A classic loop: each option beats one and loses to another — the same logic that underpins a healthy League meta.
LoL meta cycle
Poke wears down engage, engage forces fights before scaling peaks, and scaling outlasts poke.
- No hard dominance: if one node dominates everything, the loop breaks and the meta stalls.
- Room for adaptation: small buffs or nerfs should shift picks along the loop, not erase it.
- Sustained variety: over time, each node gets its moment — that’s what keeps the game feeling alive.
Why Perfect Balance Would Be Boring
Imagine a version of League of Legends where every champion had the same win rate, identical power, and equal impact in every phase of the game. There would be no reason to switch champions, no need to adapt strategy, and no thrill in discovering a new combo or counter. Perfect balance would turn competition into repetition — it would strip away the chaos and creativity that make League exciting.
What keeps League alive is asymmetry. Each patch introduces small waves of imbalance — a champion becomes slightly overtuned, an item synergizes too well, or a mechanic shifts the rhythm of fights. These moments spark exploration: players rush to master new builds, pros experiment on stage, and analysts debate which picks will rule next. Imbalance fuels progress — it’s the engine of innovation.
“The fun doesn’t come from equality. It comes from the race to adapt before everyone else does.”
The thrill of imbalance
In a perfectly balanced meta, every champion performs the same — predictable and dull. In a healthy meta, small win-rate variations create tension and excitement.
The “Playable Imbalance” Philosophy
Riot’s goal isn’t to make every champion equal — it’s to make sure every champion can matter. This is what makes the difference between a frustrating imbalance and a healthy one. A patch where one champion dominates 80% of games is unhealthy. But a patch where multiple champions rotate through the spotlight, each with strengths and weaknesses, keeps the game fresh.
Champions like Yone or Ahri might be strong for a few weeks, but as the community adapts — maybe tanks rise, or assassins return — the meta balances itself out. These self-correcting cycles are what keep League dynamic. They allow Riot to guide the ecosystem without scripting it.
When Imbalance Becomes Dangerous
The danger comes when one strategy dominates for too long. If a few champions hold a 55%+ win rate across all ranks, or if every pro match features the same compositions, the meta becomes predictable. At that point, the imbalance stops being “playable” and starts killing diversity.
Riot watches for these signs — high pick and ban rates, lack of viable counters, and player frustration — and uses nerfs or systemic changes to reset the loop. The goal is never to reach perfect equality, but to restore motion in the cycle.
Riot’s Subtle Balancing Act
Riot Games has mastered the art of steering chaos without removing it. Small adjustments — a 5% damage nerf here, a cost reduction there — may seem minor, but they have ripple effects that cascade through the meta. A nerf to a top-lane bruiser might empower ranged champions; a change to jungle XP can revive early-game comps. Each tweak shifts the web of counters, starting a new RPS loop.
This approach keeps League of Legends alive more than any new champion or event. The constant motion of power, adaptation, and discovery makes every season feel like a new game. Players don’t return because they want stability — they return because they want to solve the ever-changing puzzle.
The “Healthy Chaos” Zone
Great metas live in a “healthy chaos” zone — not too flat, not too extreme. In that middle space, players feel constant pressure to adapt, but still have multiple viable paths to win.
Why “perfect balance” feels static
- Solvable drafts: if every champ is equally strong at every stage, drafts converge to mirror comps; counterpicks don’t matter and flex value disappears.
- No discovery loop: new builds, pocket picks, and off-meta ideas have no edge to exploit, so the meta hardly changes week to week.
- Predictable play: mid-game and objective setups look identical across teams; viewers and players feel they’ve “seen this match before.”
- Skill expression narrows: champion mastery and creative pathing matter less if every option trades evenly over time.
Why “too much imbalance” feels unfair
- One-track drafts: if a comp or item pushes win rates above ~55% with weak counterplay, teams are forced to first-pick/ban it every game.
- Role compression: off-role picks vanish; only a few champs per role are viable, reducing personal identity and fun.
- Outcome tilt: games hinge on who gets the “overtuned” piece, not on strategy or execution, increasing frustration and toxicity.
Risks for the game
- Player churn: stale or unfair metas drive casuals away and burn out competitive players.
- Esports predictability: repetitive drafts reduce narrative tension and viewership engagement.
- Design debt: hard swings require heavy-handed patches, which can break other systems and start whiplash cycles.
Read it as a “sweet-spot” curve: diversity peaks when imbalance exists but remains answerable. Too little imbalance and the meta freezes; too much and choice disappears.
Conclusion: The Game That Evolves Itself
League of Legends has never aimed for perfect fairness; it aims for something far more dynamic — life. Every patch is a pulse, every buff and nerf a heartbeat that keeps the game breathing. What looks like imbalance from the outside is, in truth, the rhythm that drives its evolution.
By constantly shifting power, Riot creates a world where adaptation is the only constant. Yesterday’s broken champion becomes tomorrow’s forgotten pick, and a once-ignored item suddenly reshapes the entire meta. This perpetual flux rewards those who experiment, learn, and rebuild faster than the rest — not those who simply memorize what worked last patch.
Imbalance, then, is not a flaw to be fixed but a creative engine that keeps players, teams, and designers locked in a shared dance of discovery. It sparks new strategies, revives old favorites, and reminds every summoner that no knowledge is permanent.
“League doesn’t evolve despite imbalance — it evolves because of it.”
In the end, that is Riot’s true balancing act: not to freeze the game in fairness, but to keep it alive in motion. As long as imbalance remains playable — as long as change keeps sparking curiosity — League of Legends will continue to reinvent itself, patch after patch, season after season.