Imagine this: You’re on the cusp of promotion and in your make-or-break game’s champ select. You’re practicing some mindfulness to get into the “zen” mode, warming up your fingers in osu!, and gathering all the information you can about your team comp and your champion. You feel prepared and unstoppable. Victory is just within your reach, and you’re ready to show your enemies the true meaning of the word carry.

But then your opponent locks in Draven. Suddenly, that glimpse of victory shatters and becomes all but a fleeting dream. But hey — it doesn’t have to be. While encountering a Draven may be nightmare-inducing, there are ways you can stop his axes in their tracks and come out on top.

The first step to reclaiming your LP from a Draven main? Picking the right champions. In this guide, we’ll highlight the very best counter picks for Draven this season. We’ll cover their playstyles, abilities, and unique strengths, and most importantly, why they’re so strong against Draven.

4. Caitlyn

Caitlyn is a lane bully just like Draven. While she can’t quite compete with his early game damage output, she has plenty of other qualities that give her the upper hand.

Her basic attack range, for instance, is extremely long from the very first level and outranges Draven by 150 units. This allows her to easily poke down Draven in lane from a safe distance, while taking virtually no harass in return. Her Q poke ability also has a long range and a generous amount of damage, and she can strategically aim this where Draven drops his axes.

One of Draven’s main strengths is his ability to capitalize on any misstep. However, even if Caitlyn does misposition? Her E ability, which provides a nifty disengage dash and CC slow effect, allows her to evade his hard, all-in attacks. She can also place down traps to disrupt his axes and positioning — something that’ll no doubt send any Draven main into an instant run-it-down-mid tilt spree.

To top it off? Once she’s established a lead, her phenomenal minion clear means she can effortlessly manage the wave to her advantage and to suit the game situation. She can create pressure, zone Draven off his minions, and prevent him from gaining even the slightest chance of a comeback later in the game.

3. Nami

Nami is a mage support whose kit is overloaded with utility, defenses, and infuriating poke. In other words, she’s a great all-around champion who can keep any lane “afloat” when played right (pun intended). However, what makes Nami such a strong pick against Draven is her ability to consistently disrupt his axes (aka the most vital component of his kit).

Her Q ability, Aqua Prison, is an AoE stun that she can aim exactly where Draven needs to catch his axes. This forces Draven to play defensively — his worst nightmare as an aggressive snowballing ADC. If he tries to catch his axe, he’ll likely be stunned and vulnerable to harass, but if he avoids the stun, he’ll miss his axe and lose out on his Adoration stacks.

Even if Draven does manage to land some hefty poke on the ADC, Nami can use her W to keep them safe and ensure any trade doesn’t go unpunished. She can also empower her ADC’s attacks with her E ability while slowing down Draven’s hefty movement speed in the process.

Sadly for Draven, her ability to counter him is taken up a whole other notch when she unlocks her ultimate. She can use it to effortlessly disrupt Draven’s all-in playstyle, catch him out in teamfights, and as a disengage tool to keep her ADC safe if they misposition.

2. Nilah

It may come as a surprise that Nilah is considered a hard counter to Draven, particularly as her laning phase is relatively weak compared to other ADCs. However, she currently has a 52% win rate against Draven — and there’s a good reason for this.

Once she has some gold under her belt and hits her power spike, she outscales Draven phenomenally and can counter his all-in with her very own all-in attack. Unlike Draven, her scaling is also reliable as it isn’t dependent on securing kills. Thanks to her passive, which grants her increased experience from last hitting, she just needs to survive the lane and keep on top of her farming.

She also has plenty of tools that allow her to farm and survive Draven’s harass in the early lane. She can extend her auto-attack range to last hit minions from a safe distance and use her W to evade all incoming attacks. She can also use her E dash to effortlessly slip in and out of any skirmishes.

1. Leona

Leona’s early-level CC chain combo is one of the deadliest in the whole game. If she’s able to pull it off effectively, it almost guarantees a blown summoner spell (and in many cases, a kill). Of course, that’s only if she’s able to land it. More often than not, ADCs are cautious with their positioning and tend to play it safe to avoid her clutches…

Then there’s Draven. Sadly for him — and fortunately for Leona mains — practically every ability in his kit requires him to play aggressively and path in a predictable way. In other words: He’s Leona’s dream target. He naturally grants her plenty of opportunities to land her deadly combo from the get-go.

And when she does land it? Draven lacks the means to play around it or escape without losing health (and his dignity) in the process. If he tries to retaliate, she’s tanky enough to withstand Draven’s heavy harass due to her high defenses and W ability. She can also empower her ADC’s own attacks by marking him, giving them a means to compete with his high early game damage.

Even if Leona doesn’t manage to capitalize on her early level power spike, she remains a formidable threat. This is especially the case once she unlocks her long-ranged ultimate AoE stun, as she can use this to catch him out (and set up the perfect gank for her Jungler).

Taking the “Glorious” Out of the Glorious Executioner

You’re not alone if you’ve been a victim of Draven’s infuriatingly aggressive playstyle and sass. However, the champions above are sure to put the power back into your hands (and a whole bunch of LP too!). When mastered, they can effortlessly capitalize on Draven’s weaknesses and give you ample means to play around him.

Be sure to reach out to us on our Discord server for more tricks, advice, and tips on how to counter Draven!