The data presented below is taken from six premier tournament that started or ended in January 2013, namely:
LCS EU Live Qualifiers: (33 games)
LCS NA Live Qualifiers: (37 games)
IEM Katowice: (19 games)
The Champions Winter semi, bronze and grand finals and seed matches: (27 games)
StarsWar rounds 1-4: (28 games)
GPL Spring rounds 1-4: (32 games)
TOTAL: 175 games
Now that this is out of the way, let's get down to talking!
Most picked
Not even the new OP flavor of the month could dethrone Ezreal from his throne, something we see repeating over and over again, with every stats corner, with every new month and every new patch. Not that other champions did not try, though, and at one point Miss Fortune was and Caitlyn were actually leading the race but both gave up the competition at one point. In the end, it so happens that no other champion broke the three-digit mark, either because of extensive banning or heavy competition in its subcategory.
Speaking of OP flavor of the month, Kha'Zix sprung on the top of the most desired champions and formed a fat-ass triumvirate with old "Stats Corner" acquaintances Shen and Olaf, rudely pushing away the rulers of late 2012 Rengar and Diana.
On the question of whether Kha'Zix will continue to hold a kingly position in this particular chart we can only say "For certain!" The almost unfair level of mobility combined with strong AoE poke and the fact that the champion actually dodged the nerf in the most recent patch point towards a bug infested February.
Most banned and most contested
Given that all of the games presented in this article were played before Evelynn's ultimate nerf, it is no surprise to see her breaking the 70% ban rate. What is surprising is that this is the first time we see Evelynn at such high ban percentages since MLG Dallas, where she almost reached the 80% mark. With this particular data spanning across six tournaments and four regions, it's safe to say that we no longer see Eve as targetted ban - she's a problem that is globally recognized.
Much like Kha'Zix in that regard, who pushed beyond the 90% contested rate, beating Shen with just two points. Unlike the fat ninja, however, we see a heavy prevalence towards banning Kha'Zix (who is also #2 in the Most Banned ranking) as opposed to the more balanced pick/ban ratio of Shen which, combined with his 62% win rate clearly indicates there is indeed something wrong with the champion.
Important to note is the absence of Diana and Rengar in those numbers. While both champions were breaking ban, pick and contested records last year, they are now nowhere to be seen: Rengar has been picked just once while Diana is completely gone from all January records, marking possibly the hugest shift in popularity since "Stats Corner" was first published.
It's also a first to see an AD carry here but Miss Fortune and her ult buddy Amumu are not unexpected guests. Curse of the Sad Bullettime has been a determining metagame style for some time now and although not the most successful overall (see below), its presence in the "Most Banned" chart is explainable: no team likes to be aced in seconds.
Win rates (for champions picked > 11)
Champions above the pick rate median tell a story we haven't really seen before and it's a change much welcomed. Firstly, there isn't a single champion who's been regularly picked and going past 80% win rate, something which was very common in t he days of Diana and 2012 Evelynn, the latter even pinning the astounding 100% during IPL 5. Secondly, the top three in the left graph are all newcomers as Kog'Maw and Taric experienced resurgence of their own while Kayle established herself as the next big thing on mid/top lane, coming as a counter to the oh so popular bruiser compositions of today.In the chart next door, Orianna continues to be hugely unsuccessful, pocketing the abhorring 32% win rate. To amplify her mishaps, Orianna has been pushed out of the position of most popular AP carry, her place stolen away by the Evelynn, Twisted Fate, Ryze, Kyle, Kha'Zix and a variety of AD assassins.
Lastly, Amumu has yet another reason to be sad. The embalmed half of the Curse of the Sad Bullettime is at 35% win rate (Miss Fortune barely missing the lowest ten, having a 46%), indicating how picking a strong combo does not translate into winning with this strong combo.
This concludes our analysis of the numbers from 175 premier tournament games, which used a total champion pool of 86. Await the return of "Stats Corner" at the end of February and after every round robin stage of LCS.
Champions neither picked, nor banned:
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