Teleport feels like a must-take summoner when you're playing in the top lane these days, but low-elo top laners don't know how to use the summoner correctly, while in pro-play, it's one of the strongest summoner spells you can take. It's a balance nightmare, so why not just... remove it completely?
Who remembers Season 2 of League of Legends? Teleport wasn't even a thought yet and looking back at World Championship games from 2012 and 2013, we can't help but think how much more exciting they were, especially in the top lane.
So, what has changed since then? Sure, meta has shifted, we've gained hundreds of new champions and Riot recently added a huge durability update to try and put a break on the impending power creep that has overtaken League of Legends. But one thing that stood out was the exclusion of the summoner spell Teleport. So, why would League of Legends be more exciting without it?
TP in Pro Play vs. Solo Queue
Teleport is probably the best summoner spell in the pro scene. Every top laner takes this summoner and even some mid laners will take it to create priority in lane and gain advantages this way. Sure, Riot has nerfed the summoner, especially ahead of Season 12, but it's still one of the most frequently used summoner spells.
A top laner is able to push a wave, go back to buy items and then teleport into lane without losing any farm or experience. This is done efficiently and smoothly, while in solo queue, players just don't know how to effectively put teleport to good use.
In later stages, players will use teleport to make it back into lane to join fights and while in pro play there is enough communication, as well as game sense, to know when to TP into a fight, none of this seems to exist in solo queue, meaning players aimlessly TP into situations they have no business going into... or they waste their TP ahead of time, and it's on cooldown.
Teleport Nerfs in Season 12
Teleport was already nerfed in Season 12, just as the season began with the new 'unleashed' teleport mechanic, but it hasn't done much to dissuade top laners from taking a different summoner spell. Ahead of Patch 12.14, Riot tried to nerf it once again, but ended up not going through with the changes.
Doesn't this just show that there is a need for some change if Riot is already tinkering with the summoner spell?
Certain Champions Would Gain More Priority
In Season 2, Shen was one of the most important top lane picks, and he was often played with Ignite. Other champions with global ultimates such as Pantheon, TF and Nocturne would gain instant priority without teleport.
Riot would likely have to elongate their ultimate cooldowns to make up for their strong global abilities, but overall, it would make match ups more interesting.
In the case of Shen, his opponents can simply push him in under tower and then roam into the mid lane. Shen can either choose to help his mid laner or continue to farm up top, meaning he would 'waste' his global ultimate. If you can stop Shen from having an impact, then in the later stages of the game, he also won't be able to have any impact.
Roaming Will Have More of an Impact
Without Teleport, roams will also be a lot more impactful. You have a Qiyana mid? Of course, she is going to come up top to stop that Shen from trying anything. This will also improve the top lane and stop this role from being 'such an island'.
More Summoner's Spells Needed
While removing Teleport could make League of Legends more fun and better, there is also a need for more and varied Summoner Spells in League of Legends. With Teleport gone, more players would pick Ignite, which is one of the few offensive summoner spells.
Summoner Spells have been left mostly untouched throughout the years and having some more added could make the game much more interesting and varied, but these are changes we would likely only see implemented in the League of Legends off-season ahead of Season 13.