A League of Legends player has proposed a wild yet oddly compelling solution to the game’s lane swap problem—introducing a Rift Golem that not only deters dives but also dishes out humiliation and causes mayhem in the jungle.
On League’s subreddit, the player focused on introducing a new creature called Rift Golem, which could stand near the alcoves and protect the player against lane swaps. “The Rift Golem is in statis but senses the energy from champions near the tower,” the player suggests instead of the traditional warnings on the Rift for lane swapping.
Riot could take a more creative approach with the Rift Golem to prevent lane-swapping than adding a simple “Warning: Lane Swap Detected” message for players. The Golem will stay dormant in the alcoves until teams lane swap, before protecting the player from getting dived by the swapping team, and even delivering gold and buffs.
Summoner’s Rift alcoves don’t play a massive role right now since players only use them to delay junglers from getting a kill on them, but the Rift Golem’s addition could make the space more fun and visually appealing.
The player on Reddit went on to say that the Rift Golem could even go on to do funny things like steal enemy camps and give it back to the losing team, and even throw some emotes down to liven things up a bit.
The Rift Golem could be someone like Galio, crafted by the Demacian sculptor Durand. He is made up of Petricite, a special material that absorbs magic. It was originally built as a massive statue to protect Demacia from magical threats, but it remained dormant for years. When exposed to magic—typically in battle against powerful mages—he comes to life, absorbing the energy and using it to move and fight, protecting Demacia.
By using a character like him, Riot can stay true to the game’s lore and change the defender in each region’s theme. For example, the current Noxus-themed season could have a Captain Farron like fighting character, who protects the teams with his power and instantly tips the scale toward the losing team.
Riot made several changes on Feb. 22 to discourage players from lane-swapping, adding penalties, debuffs, and powerful turrets changes. Anytime an extra player except the jungler comes near the lane, they get a lane-swap penalty warning, which makes them weak in the early game. This completely disrupted the lane swap meta.
While the lane-swap detection system feels a bit rough for players to adopt, Riot has confirmed that it’s not a permanent fix to the problem and it’s just a band-aid until it figures out a better way to end the problem once and for all. Adding something fun like Rift Golem could be the ultimate solution to Riot’s woes.
