Draven has been tearing up high Elo Solo-Queue for the last couple of patches.
Draven has always been a strong champion in the hands of high Elo players in League of Legends. However, he has been a tad too overpowered for the past few months. He is so strong that he has consistently been one of the most banned champions in high Elo games. In fact, for the past twelve patches in a row, Draven has had the highest ban rate in Master+ Elo.
So why is Draven so frequently banned in the highest levels of play? Well, there are several reasons. Firstly, he is a self-sufficient marksman who can deal massive amounts of damage in a short amount of time. He also dishes out tons of damage in the early game and scales pretty well into the late game.
Additionally, Draven’s kit is versatile, allowing him to play in various ways. He can go Full Crit glass cannon build, Lethality, or even semi-tanky build, depending on the situation. This level of versatility makes him a problematic champion to counter, leading many teams to ban him instead.
Another factor contributing to Draven’s high ban rate is his ability to snowball out of control. If Draven is allowed to get ahead in the early game, he can quickly become a dominant force that is difficult to stop. In a snowball meta with champions like Elise ganking nonstop from level 3, it has become even harder to stop a snowballing Draven. This is why games with Draven are incredibly one-sided, which can be frustrating for opposing teams.
Read More: League of Legends Patch 13.3 Notes.
Draven’s High Ban Rate
The case of Draven’s massively high ban rate started from Patch 12.14. He had a little over 50% ban rate on that patch. Although his ban rate dropped significantly after the patch, he still holds a 43.5% ban rate. But, it isn’t due to him losing power because of meta shifts; it’s the opposite; it made him stronger. He got indirectly buffed in Patch 13.1B due to the Crit item buffs.
The reason for his ban rate dropping is broken champions like Maokai, Udyr, and Kassadin are wreaking havoc in Solo-Queue. Once these champions are nerfed, Draven’s ban rate will increase significantly.
Will Riot Nerf Draven?
Many players have been complaining about Draven for the past few months, especially High Elo players. Also, with Draven having such an absurd ban rate, Riot will likely take notice. So, there is a good chance Riot might nerf Draven in the upcoming patches. When exactly? We don’t know.
