Announcing end of Season 3 Rewards

In my experience I'd say it's much the opposite. At least in League, anyway. I probably wouldn't say the same about SC2.

Look at Cloud9 and many the korean teams. They went from being unknowns and in financial distress (at least in Cloud9's case) to being some of the strongest teams in the world by employing "lower tier" champions and tactics. They did what other pro teams weren't doing and it's been done quite well.
This isn't Super Smash Bros where every champion falls under a strict tier. Every champion is good in different situations.

People were terrified of straying from the solo top/mid, jungle, and duo bot meta for the LONGEST time. And now you rarely see a professional match that doesn't.

And if you're a lower elo player trying to rise the ladder, what good will it do you to try and be something you're not? How far will that get you? The second I stopped trying to be a "good" player is when I found myself doing the best. In LoL, sticking to what you know and what you're good at goes much farther than trying to pretend you're knowledgeable about how powerful champions are compared to others.

Um what? C9 have been playing all the strong champs every single game O_o don't know what LCS you've been watching. Don't really get on what youre saying with how people scared of straying away from meta, but pros do all the time. I see a jungler, 2 solo laners, and a adc/support lane every game.
And why do you constantly bring up competitive games when we're talking about soloq. people complaining how theyre still losing games in bronze and i see them playing champs such as poppy and karma. I really don't see what point you're trying to get across