Trilanes are back

In the past year, trilanes and roamers completely disappeared from the game. We moved on a dual lane meta where both lanes (usually with a support and a core each) had to manage unaided the early laning phase.

Looking at the lane compositions during The Chongqing Major, the trend is reverting. It is important to point out that not all the matches featured a classic trilane: things are not set in stone yet, and maybe the dual lane strategies will remain - it depends on both the lineups and the tactics adopted by the teams.

There are several reasons behind this meta switch, but I believe the most predominant one is the change to the deny mechanic introduced by patch 7.20: denies no longer give the denier 25% XP.

Before, a strong duo could beat three opponents thanks to the level advantage gained via denies, while now (even with an optimal lane strategy) it is not longer possible to acquire such a leverage. Eventually, two heroes are fated to lose versus three.

I remember that pubs required months to adapt to the dual lanes (particularly at low and average ranks), so now I am wondering how much time we will have to wait before trilanes will become common again at Archon and Legend.

The role of the offlaner

If trilanes (or duos with a dedicated roamer) become popular again in the easy lane, then the offlaner will be forced to play solo.

Strong and reliable offlaners who are able to survive on their own, secure gold in the laning stage, upset the enemy carry, and exploit the adjacent jungle in the dead times, have been summoned back into the game.

The solo offlaner has been a thing also in the past, but in this particular meta you absolutely do not want greedy offlaners: the best choices are heroes who bring utility to the team and do their job even with the minimum amount of items.

We are playing in a very combative meta where lots of fights take place in the first 10 minutes of the match, so the offlaner must be ready to leave their lane at any time and contribute to team fights and ganks. They must have abilities that can make the difference in an early clash.