League: Meta strict place?

Just wondering if you guys ALWAYS follow the norm. Or want to mix things up a bit in ranked.

You generally should follow the norm, because there's a reason the norm is in place. It's the most effective way to perform in a game. If you are able to form a counter-norm, it may be productive, but let me show an example.
The norm is 1-1-2-jungle
Another is 2-1-2 no jungle.
This counters the solo lane, but falls off late game since experience and gold is shared in the duo-short lane, and the jungle is run by a single person. Additionally, no ganks can occur without someone obviously missing, leading to a safe laning phase for the 1-1-2-1.

If you mean via picks, generally if you don't follow the meta, you'll be missing a role that's desperately needed.

You *can* go out of the norm, but it usually has heavy shortcomings.

It's not that strick, but people have very high expectations. A jungle Athena is op, remember that in Ranked. c;

Jungle Athena/ Hercules/ Odin/ He Bo etc etc isn't "not the meta", just stuff you don't see in casuals that much.

Stuff that isn't meta is going Ra support, going support and mage in the duo lane, going solo in the long lane, not having a jungler, having two junglers etc.

When it comes to ranked, you follow the meta or at least talk about what outside the meta you want to do. If everyone is okei with it have fun, but you are most likely going to be blamed if you lose (which is pretty likely) :P
DO NOT INSTALOCK Bacchus JUNGLE! That's asking for reports ;)

The obligatory meta is as followed (on average):

1 Jungle
1 Solo
1 Mid
1 Long - ADC
1 Long - Tank

Usually you are expected to pick the top tier gods for above places. And ideally a team has 2 or 3 magical and 2 or 3 physical. This to ensure you can't easily be counter built.

But it isn't unheard of solo's going mid or jungle going duo lane for over 5 minutes before actually jungling. Although they are not in the usual meta, they are still potent tactis when performed well.

I actually like to duo as a jungler until level 5. It tends to **** with enemy teams, they're always calling missing and being super defensive for about two minutes, and just when they relax I pop out and eat their souls. It also lets my team push. Additionally, if their solo isn't being super careful, its easy early kills into a snowball for our solo.

I think it makes the most sense to do the meta in league because everyone should know it and be on the same page. Trying to do something crazy or different involves discussing with your teammates to make it work. Otherwise your team isn't functioning as one and the game falls apart.

I see two separate issues here; there's going against/ignoring the meta, and there's countering the meta.

If you're the jungler and you see that the other team's 2v2 destroys you in the first two minutes, don't blindly go into the solo lane and sit under tower getting poked until you can't contest the first mid camps. Instead, try ganking mid around 1 minute, then steal the enemy jungler's red/speed and double back for mid camps. That's countering the standard meta, which has the jungler sit in solo lane for the first two minutes. You know what the meta is, and you're actively doing something to beat it.

Playing a character who's subpar for that role like a mage in support or Vulcan in anything is ignoring the meta. Vulcan isn't played for a reason. There are undiscovered strengths of characters right now, but you're opening yourself up to a lot of vitriol if you're trying to find them in ranked and playing sub-optimally while you do it. There's a reason a lot of that stuff is found by players who are good enough to get away with whatever.

It's definatly got tighter...

Well if You want to experiment with META You can do that in Casual or (what's better) in conquest premade so You don't ruin anyone game. People want to have some fun and play good games and You shouldn't ruin it because You just want to experiment or try new things ;)