LoL pros want the game’s balance to be worse

League of Legends is currently in one of the best states of balance its ever been, but some LoL pros are calling on Riot to mess it up on purpose.

On July 29, 2025, Team Liquid streamer Drew “Midbeast” Timbs called on Riot Games to purposefully unbalance League of Legends, and multiple other pro players have agreed with him. In a social media post, Midbeast called the game “too balanced” while reminiscing about the broken builds of the past. Other content creators have echoed his stance, and an actual Riot dev has responded to the calls.

The most surprising response was from Los Ratones mid laner Tim “Nemesis” Lipovšek. While he disagreed with the idea of the game being too balanced, he did comment that the item builds are too bland. He claimed that items have been simplified and runes have become stale, which results in repetitive gameplay at high skill levels.

Mythic Items

Image Credit: Riot Games

In later elaboration, Midbeast cited unique items like Prowler’s Claw and Galeforce, saying they created unique build options that kept the game fresh. He requested “new craziness” that presents problems to solve rather than flowcharts to refine.

Riot developer Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison also responded to the thread. As the lead gameplay designer, he has the most impact of any developer on the state of the game’s balance. He joked that the company was “suffering from success” and asked Midbeast to rephrase his requests. LoL fans will have to wait for the balance patch cycle to see if the streamer’s complaints were taken into account.

Is LoL balanced in 2025?

League of Legends is very balanced in 2025, leading some pros and content creators to ask Riot to make it less balanced.

As of Patch 25.15, the highest win rate for any champion at higher ranks is Kennen with 53.57%. Of the 239 champion and position combos listed on U.GG, only three fall outside of 45-55%. This indicates a high degree of champ balance, but Midbeast’s complains are primarily based on around item balance. Currently, item builds are very standardized per position, with the majority of ADCs and supports having their items set in stone the moment they lock their champion.