As the 2024 League of Legends season draws to a close, innovative and unexpected playstyles are emerging across the meta, creating fresh and thrilling experiences on the Rift before the new season brings sweeping changes.
Top 5 off-meta build in Patch 14.24
Assassin Renekton
Renekton has always been known for his brutal lane dominance as a bruiser, but a surprising new Assassin Renekton build is taking the Challenger and Grandmaster ranks of the NA server by storm. Instead of his traditional fighter items, the Butcher of the Sands is now rushing Trinity Force and Youmuu’s Ghostblade.
This item combo gives Renekton the ability to burst down squishy targets in the blink of an eye, turning him into a true assassin. By adding Serylda’s Grudge as a follow-up, Renekton amplifies his mid-game lethality, making him a terrifying force in teamfights.
While this build sacrifices durability and sustain, its explosive damage is well worth the trade-off.
Tank Akali
In an unexpected meta twist, Tank Akali is emerging as a viable and fun playstyle in the mid lane. This build focuses less on Akali’s burst and more on her survivability and sustained disruption.
The first item of choice is Dead Man’s Plate, which not only provides Armor and Health but also synergizes perfectly with Akali’s kit, enabling her to kite opponents while leveraging its passive movement speed for slick outplays and roaming potential.
After Dead Man’s Plate, Akali transitions to Demonic Embrace, which adds bonus AP damage that scales well with her durability. The interaction between Demonic Embrace and Dead Man’s Plate allows Akali to continuously harass in teamfights. For magic resist and additional utility, Abyssal Mask rounds out the core build, offering cooldown reduction, MR, and a Magic Resist shred aura for Akali’s teammates.
Hextech Rocketbelt Volibear
AP Volibear has been around for a while, but a new spin on the build has brought Hextech Rocketbelt Volibear into the spotlight in the top lane. This version of him focuses on mobility and burst damage, creating unexpected moments of chaos in teamfights.
The two core items—Hextech Rocketbelt and Cosmic Drive—work in tandem to give Volibear massive mobility and AP scaling damage. While Rocketbelt helps Volibear close the gap and initiate fights, Cosmic Drive’s bonus movement speed makes him significantly harder to kite, even without his ultimate.
Smolder’s Lethality Build
Recent buffs to Smolder’s Q and W damage scaling have opened the door for a powerful Lethality Smolder off-meta build, offering a deadly alternative to his traditional crit setup.
The centerpiece of this build is Hubris, a lethality item that packs a massive punch in the early game. This allows Smolder to deal significant damage from the very start, without relying solely on his passive stacks. After Hubris, Smolder builds components like Recurve Bow and Last Whisper to optimize his stats before upgrading into Lord Dominik’s Regards and Rapid Firecannon.
Zoe Support
Zoe has started to make waves as an unconventional off-meta as a support pick in recent patches. With her unparalleled long-range poke and powerful crowd control, she brings a unique dynamic to the bot lane.
The key to Zoe’s support success lies in the item Imperial Mandate. This early-game item is cheap, efficient, and perfectly complements Zoe’s poke playstyle, amplifying her damage while providing synergy with her teammates. Combined with Hextech GLP-800, Zoe becomes an unrelenting poke machine capable of whittling down enemy health bars before teamfights even begin.
For follow-up, Zoe builds The Shurelya’s Battlesong or Celestial Opposition, giving her durability and additional crowd control for peeling. By the mid-game, Zoe’s long-range burst and ability to set up kills make her an unexpected and potent support option.
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