These first two days saw ADC still dominated by Jhin and Varus, mid lane still seeing mostly control mage picks, and top lane sticking with tanks. Support players continue to go with the mages with one hope for tank supports, Braum. Jungle has been mostly as expected with lethality champions being the go to picks, but Elise made a surprising and successful return to the rift.
Jhin and Varus
As long as lethality is as strong as it is currently Jhin and Varus will continue to be the most picked ADC’s. The reason for these picks is their wave clear and long range initiation ultimates. Jhin can start a fight from the fog of war at almost any time with Curtain Call taking some of the initiation burden off of his team. Varus can do the same at much shorter range but with much better lock down potential. A well aimed Chain of Corruption can root multiple members giving his team a way to start a team fight instead of just creating a pick. Bottom line is these two champions can wave clear easily, lethality is perfect for their builds, and they give the team some utility that other ADC’s do not.
Jayce and LeBlanc are Banned
Jayce has been mostly banned in the the mid lane leaving no lethality champions to pick in the lane. This means control mages are the go-to picks because of their wave clear, crowd control, and because magic damage is rare in other lanes. LeBlanc has seen a 92% ban rate so the picks have been Corki, who basically fits the mage role now, Ryze, and Orianna. Pretty standard stuff, nothing really surprising here. One interesting stat is that Cassiopeia has won three out of the four games she's been picked in. Could mean more picks for her in the coming days. Hopefully, we will see some spice in the mid lane and see some more assassin picks on day three.
Mages and Braum
For the most part supports are sticking to Karma, Malzahar, and Zyra. They help push waves, provide some magic damage, and bring crowd control to the team. However, there has been one surprisingly successful pick that isn’t a mage, Braum. Even though he has only been picked five times he has won four of those games. Braum brings much needed tankiness in a world full of lethality and damage, but the big thing he brings is Unbreakable. As I mentioned above most games see Jhin and Varus in the ADC role. Long range projectile shooters. What better to counter that than a shield that stops those projectiles? If the ADC meta continues the way it is don’t be surprised if you don’t see more Braum picks.
Lethality and Elise
Basically the current jungle meta breaks down like this: if it builds lethality it is probably powerful. Kha’Zix, Rengar, Graves, and even Lee Sin are all dominating the jungle picks so far. Which is why it is so surprising to see Elise sitting at an 88% win rate.
You would think that with Edge of Night being in almost every attack damage build that she wouldn’t be this successful.The main reason we see teams picking Elise is because of her early game pressure. She ganks better than anyone at level three and has the tools needed to counter the early agression of these lethality junglers. A well timed Cocoon can lead to easy kills on ganks or can shut down a gank from the enemy jungler before it can get anywhere. Her power doesn’t tend to fall off until the late game which is great for the current game of mid game power. Teams with Elise can generally finish games before her power curve even becomes a problem.
Tanks in the Top Lane
Maokai currently has a 54% pick rate which is no surprise because he is definitely the best pick after Shen who is currently banned 62% of the time. Maokai is a great laner with Sap Magic for sustain, Arcane Smash for wave clear, and Sapling Toss for ranged wave clear if the situation calls for it. He provides instant initiation with Twisted Advance and gives everyone around him damage mitigation with Vengeful Maelstrom.
The other bright spot for the top lane tanks is Nautilus. He is currently sitting at a 64% win rate despite being a much less contested pick. He provides strong engage, peel, and tankiness that can’t get one of the top tier tanks and will most likely see more play in the upcoming days.
