Chemtech Drake – two simple words added to the pantheon of newly introduced features for League of Legends that evoke mixed feelings among players. Riot Games’ trend of adding new mechanics to refresh its multi-billion dollar baby is no stranger to controversy, but the Chemtech Drake? Just go to Reddit to see how popular he is right now.
It’s currently so controversial that Riot has announced that it has “observed high levels of frustration around Chemtech Soul” and if it “continues to frustrate players, we are very open to higher range changes, including rework. according to the latest Quick Gameplay Thoughts article.
The LEC broadcast has certainly had a field day recently. During the SK Gaming vs MAD Lions game, Daniel “Drakos” Drakos and Marc Robert “Caedrel” Lamont even joked about the importance of the topic on the show.
“I think we talk more about Chemtech than anything else [on LEC]”Drakos said. “Hextech? Who cares? We’ll get there when we get there.”
He also humorously added later, referencing MAD jungler Javier “Elyoya” Prades Batalla’s 3/0/0 kill/death/sitting ratio while prowling around the Rift
“It’s literally John Cena’s flaw,” Drakos said. “Elyoya on Diana is John Cena as far as I’m concerned.”
[Author’s note: Unlike John Cena, you can actually see this article. I hope.]Chemtech Rift: Now you see me…
Caedral, meanwhile, had already explained his issues with the new mechanic before it was released. He focused on the Chemtech Fog, which engulfs parts of Summoner’s Rift and uses overly punitive camouflage that forces players to use unhealthy counter-strategies to deal with it. And for the record, even Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng took a break from retirement to express his displeasure, calling this particular map “the worst experience to play, by far.”
Much like Doublelift, SK Gaming support Erik “Treatz” Wessen has gone out of his way to water down his feelings about the new mechanic.
“I don’t like the Chemtech Rift or Soul to be honest,” Treatz said. “The map is just dark because it’s obviously a fog, and it’s hard to get the vision you want. I think they’re both very boring and poorly designed, and should be reworked.
Astralis bot laner Kasper “Kobbe” Kobberup also agreed with that sentiment.
“From the solo queue, I really don’t like the map. It’s just a whole different game, isn’t it?” Kobbe said. “There are these areas in the jungle where you are camouflaged and suddenly you can’t use the same protections. You have to think about the game differently. I mean, you can say that it becomes a little more random and it just becomes very different.
Despite the seemingly widespread disgust, there are benefits on the other side of the argument. Team Vitality jungler Oskar “Selfmade” Boderek actually enjoys the Chemtech Rift in solo queue, though he admitted that as a concept it’s detrimental to pro play.
“My specialty is assassins, so he’s my favorite drake. But I think it’s super toxic for competitive LoL,” he said. “LoL is a game based on vision. You always fight for vision, protect it and start fights around it. But this drake completely removes that element.
He explained how if a team wins, Chemtech Fog makes it much harder for the losing team to get back into the game because they can’t really know what awaits them in their own jungle.
Rogue’s mid-laner Emil “Larssen” Larsson mentioned that he doesn’t have much experience with the Chemtech Drake overall, but from what he’s seen he might- being part of the minority of people who like the mechanism.
“I’ve seen people complaining, but I think it’s fun, it’s new and it’s a bit of a game-changer,” Larssen said. “Change is often good, and I think it’s fun to play at least. Some people may be inclined, but when there are new changes, people won’t like it.
Chemtech Soul: Zombies. Zombies everywhere
These thoughts don’t even take into account the other half of the new mechanic, which gives players free rerolls. And who doesn’t love that? It’s okay if you make a mistake and die. Hell, just get a Guardian Angel, draft Zilean and you’ll never die.
OK, that’s an extreme example – but players haven’t been happy with Chemtech Soul granting what is essentially a Sion passive to the whole team. While Riot nerfed it yet again in the recent 12.2 patch, it’s unclear if this will help the community sentiment cool down.
The concept of professional gaming itself has already sparked a lot of discussion, with the recent SK Gaming vs MAD Lions Week 1 match painting a messy portrait of just what could be possible when a team secures the Chemtech Soul.
For MAD Lions top laner İrfan Berk “Armut” Tükek, who played the game himself, it turned out to be a frustrating experience.
“They just have two lives. Especially with our lineup, with Yasuo, Diana and Gwen, when we engage it’s really difficult,” he said. “Against that soul it was really tough because after you kill someone you have to back up so you don’t have to deal with the zombie. So now we have to practically 5v10.
IT WAS 5v10 not gonna lie
— Irfan Tükek (@armutlol) January 15, 2022
“I’ve never faced this soul in my life before. I just played against him so I hate him right now. It looks so strong.”
Kobbe agreed, adding that the concept of Chemtech Soul is too far removed from what the other five souls offer.
“What makes the game interesting to see is when you’re in a 5v5 fight and you one-shot the enemy and that’s a game-changer. But then there are all these additional factors that you have to consider,” Kobbe said. “That seems overkill.”
Selfmade was much, much more direct.
“The soul is bulls**t. It just doesn’t make sense,” he said. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to describe it. If you die, you’re supposed to die, n “Isn’t it? It’s just dumb – simple as that,” he said.
Larssen maintained his different view. He said that the concept of Dragon Souls must be strong. Otherwise, it is useless for the teams to challenge them.
“There are souls that I think are really useless like Ocean and Cloud Soul and if you get four drakes you should be rewarded because it’s quite an investment,” he said. “Honestly, I haven’t seen enough to have a good judgment about it, but it doesn’t seem overpowered, although it also seems quite strong. Sounds good to me because I think it’s very bad when a soul is useless.
How would the pros change it?
It’s easy to complain, but luckily I’m certified Iron in Ranked so I can do it all I want. No one will take what I think seriously. The pros, with all due respect that comes with their position, have at least some solutions to their problems.
Armut suggested just removing the reroll and adding some extra base health.
“Hextech’s soul is for poke, so I would ask Chemtech to give life – Five hundred base stat HP or something to everyone on the team,” he said.
Treatz’s idea for the Rift was based on a suggestion he had seen elsewhere.
“I saw a good suggestion where you change it from being camouflaged to working like Senna’s Curse of the Black Mist (E), where you can still see the outlines of people walking around instead of being completely hidden” , did he declare.
As for the Soul, he said Riot could go any direction as long as it takes out the raises.
Selfmade isn’t totally against the Chemtech Rift’s camouflage concept either, but instead suggested moving it to Dragon Soul itself.
“The soul could give you an active on the boots that makes you invisible or cloaked for a few seconds. I think that could be pretty cool,” Selfmade said. “Let’s face it, though, it’s probably pretty strong because it would allow everyone to group together for surprise engagements. But that makes a lot more sense than the raise.
During this time, Kobbe went beyond the idea of fixing the Chemtech Drakes and took aim at the entire elemental drake system itself. He said it’s embarrassing that teams have to draft their rosters without knowing what the elemental flaw in the game will be.
“It’s been so long that you can’t ignore it, and a lot of matches end up turning into team fights,” Kobbe said. “It makes the game a lot more boring in my opinion because it takes away the elements of split-pushing or other creative strategies.”
Whether the recent Chemtech Rift and Soul nerfs in 12.2 will be enough for the casual and pro community to accept them remains to be seen. For now, prepare to continue to see zombies stalking the Rift as the Chemfog rises, haunting pros and casuals alike.
