Does playing something non meta make you a bad player?

I recently played a ranked game as AP Yi and was constantly told I was a bad player, that no one likes me and that everyone will report me by another player. I got first blood and the second kill of that game, but also died twice early on.

By the time that I died twice, it was 8-15 and our ADC claimed that "you're the reason we lost this game." even though she had already lost her lane, and top had lost their lane as well, while my lane was pretty much won, and I had been warding both sides of the river.

Near lategame, I started to build AS simply out of the fact that the carry could not push effectively, and that i had teleport and the gold difference was so large that a sneak inhibit might be the only way to turn the game around.

During end chat, I was harassed by our carry who said that I should admit that I'm a bad player, she even linked to lolking scores from a few past ranked games where my teams had lost (some due to DC'ers...)

Does playing a nonstandard build make me bad? Did I cause the team to lose? I feel so conflicted about this game. Almost every time I play mid, If the carry loses their lane, I get blamed for "the loss of the game" Is this normal player behavior or something? Even in games I've won, even in unranked games, I've still received a ton of harassment for playing differently.

Why are all players in this community so aggressive when it comes to harassing other players? It seems you can't play except for a team of your friends if you wish to play an alternative, but still competitive strategy.

Not playing the "meta" can not get you punished by the tribunal. If you didn't give into the harassment by said players with retaliation, then you are not guilty of doing wrong. The general consensus by most people who rage and play the blame game is because ranked is high stress. From what I heard, AP Yi is viable especially when played well. To me it looks like just a bad game. I would hope that you communicated your intent to play AP yi before the match started. A lot of people get into the mindset that if the Pros are doing something consistently, then they must match that playstyle as well. It's a good theory, but it doesn't work for everyone. Keep doing what you're doing just make sure you're not doing it to be a jerk.

As for your teammates, they're blaming someone else to be a jerk. I wouldn't worry too much about it unless there's evidence to be seen of you being that jerk too.

There's a huge difference between non-meta and unviable.
Currently, I'd rather say AP Yi is actually the meta.

Be assured that harassing has nothing to do with the game.
People start losing and look for others to blame (especially if they're premade, they won't blame each other, so they pick people who haven't done anything).

- Don't try to argue and ignore them.
- If players on your team start fighting, tell them to stop.
- Don't get frustrated.

Play as if it was 0/0. If you pick up a nice triple under your tower and do free baron they will shut up once they realize they have a chance to win.

If nothing works, there's a mute button. You should feel free to use it.
Constant harassing destroys the teamwork, so you're better off ignoring the player.

Sometimes you have to accept that a game is lost and people will blame you.
Everybody has a bad day and frustrated teammates. After all, it's just a game.

Try hard, lose, play another =)