Waiting for emergency medical assistance, the Yuanliu tank battle was in dire straits; even the popular Marco Polo was too weak to fight. (II)

The trend in the mid lane is hard to argue. According to the tier list and the national server power rankings, it seems to indicate that the era of utility heroes is over. The duels are accelerating, and the convenience and benefits of burst damage and instant kills far outweigh those of control heroes. It's good to be good at keeping enemies in place if you have short range, but if you rely too much on your teammates to finish off enemies, you're no different from a support. It's a parasitic way to climb the ranks, and it's better to play a tank role and ambush enemies from the bushes.

Middle lane

Jin Chan received an epic limited-edition skin this season, with a "Savior of the World and Zen Mind" and a martial arts exorcism theme. The design breaks away from the original skin's anchor point. At the beginning of the season, people only focused on experiencing the in-game effects, and the pick rate did rebound. However, if it weren't for the skin arousing curiosity, after trying it out, they would find that it is not worthy of being played on the main board. The pick rate is only 8%, and the win rate is 49.7%. It is disliked by all ranks. It is the first time in history that Jin Chan has fallen to this position. It is a mystery how Jin Chan ended up like this. The skills have been upgraded for several seasons. The headband restricts the flexibility. In this aspect, it has already surpassed Zhang Liang, who can cast spells while standing still.

The ultimate skill now features a knockback effect, transferring immunity to crowd control to the passive ability without requiring skill triggers. It should have great potential, but unfortunately, it's unreliable on our side due to inconsistent damage and unreliable crowd control. Even support classes have dropped to T4. However, from the enemy's perspective, the "golden headband" effect is frustrating, and they can't kill the enemy immediately, making the game frustrating. The win rate isn't ridiculously low, and the reason it's so disliked is probably the gameplay experience. Just like the old version of Baili Shouyue, adjusting the skill mechanics would definitely change the current predicament.

Development path

Marco Polo's situation is similar to Lu Bu's. His high-end skills and dual dashes are slightly better than Sun Shangxiang's enhanced basic attack, but his stats are undeniably weak. Relying on his dual resistances and dual dashes, he can maneuver flexibly, so the developers don't seem inclined to buff him for now. Since his pick rate is high, no matter how the meta changes, he will never be relegated to the sidelines. His weakness in high-level ranked matches, coupled with too many strong heroes to choose from, has led to his gradual disappearance. The "magic orb" build is outdated, and the delayed activation of his second skill are all blows to him. It feels like the developers want to focus on other marksmen, such as Lu Yana, Sun Quan, and other meta-ranked marksmen. Marco Polo has been around for so many eras, what difference does one more make? It's a pity that his main is still waiting for him to make a comeback in high-level ranked matches.

Image source: Internet