Death's Dance on Draven: A New Core Item In Town
We're going to take a look into the Death's Dance Draven build and why it's so good on him.
In the midseason update, Death's Dance was an item that got an adjustment to it. Since it's buff we've been seeing champions like Riven, Illaoi, and, more notably, Draven include this item into their core builds. But what makes this item better than other core items? Let's dive right into the changes of Death's Dance for the reason why.
Death's Dance Buffs
In Patch 7.9, a lot of AD items were adjusted to compensate for the tank item changes in the midseason update. This includes Infinity Edge, Bloodthirster, and many others, including Death's Dance. So what did they change about it?
Starting with the first change to the item, the Attack Damage has been increased by 5. This changes the Attack Damage on the item change from 75 to 80. This is a straight up buff to the item as it gives you a little more bang for your buck (more damage for the same price). Rushing this as a first item is super strong as it has more AD than building an Essence Reaver, Infinity Edge, Youmuu's Ghostblade and Ravenous Hydra. So right off the bat, Death's Dance is already a good item to rush in lane. But what else did they change?
The second buff to Death's Dance changed the bleed passive amount. What the passive does is take a portion of the damage taken and convert it to a damage over time effect that is dealt as true damage, dealing 1/3 of the absorbed damage per second. Before this value was set at 15% of the damage, but now it was buffed up to 30% of the damage taken. This is a great buff to the item. Because the item already has 15% life healed on all physical damage dealt, it was a good lifesteal item and the DoT (damage over time) could possibly allow you to lifesteal the damage back before it killed you. Now that the item takes 30% of the damage taken as a DoT, you have a better chance of lifestealing the bleed damage back before it kills you.
So now we see why the item is pretty great right now for a lot of melee fighters who dive into teams and backlines to assassinate carries. But why does this also fall into the ADC category? The fact that the item provides CDR, a huge amount of Attack Damage, and the ever so useful bleed passive makes it a really good item for some ADCs to build. The first ADC seen to incorporate this into their core builds is Draven. This brings us to the main question: why are Draven players building this item?
Draven's New Build
(courtesy of champion.gg)
Draven's build has shifted pretty heavily since the Midseason update. Before, he would commonly rush either a Youmuu's Ghostblade into a Mercurial Scimitar so that he could do a large amount of damage while also staying healthy and CC free. As depicted above, his build has intensely shifted because of the buffs to Death's Dance. The benefits listed above make the item perfect for Draven when he is kiting or being kited. It allows him to sustain through any fight with any assassin, mage, or ADC while also dealing a ton of damage with the Attack Damage on the item.
The item's coming after his Death's Dance rush only make the item more useful. Statikk Shiv is the next item built after Death's Dance for several reasons. The Midseason Update in Patch 7.9 increased the passive damage bonus (50 - 120 (based on level) --> 60 - 160 (based on level)). Given that the passive is able to crit, this means that you'll have higher magic damage crits when you reach level 13 and beyond. This combined with Death's Dance could prove very deadly as Draven's auto attacks already deal high damage when Q (Spinning Axe) is active, which allows for higher crit damage than his regular auto attacks. This also means he will heal more than his regular autos when he crits.
The next two items, Infinity Edge and Rapidfire Cannon are the next components to his build. Infinity Edge is pretty self-explanatory, it increases his crit damage by 50% while also providing him with more Attack Damage and 20% more crit chance. Rapidfire Cannon brings way more to the build than you may think it does. Also being changed in the Midseason Update, it's scaling energized damage was decreased (50 - 160 (based on level) --> 50 - 120 (based on level)) but as a trade off all energized attacks (this includes Kercheis Shard, Statikk Shiv, Rapidfire Cannon itself, and Warlord's Bloodlust) charge 25% faster. This means more Statikk procs, range increases from Rapid Firecannon, and, if you choose to take Warlord's, more lifesteal procs.
Rapid Firecannon provides a lot to this build as it lets Draven get his Spinning Axe auto attack off from a safer range and makes other energized attacks charge faster. This means that if he's able to snowball early and keep the pressure up, he'll be able to hit his 2 item and 3 item power spikes quickly. However he is just as susceptible to being shut down early because he is a "feast or famine" champion.
How Can I Counter It?
Knowing how to counter this build is pretty important because if this pick gets taken in champ select, you don't want to get beaten by it. Usually, skillshot champions are very effective against a Draven because of the axe catching mechanic. When he throws a Spinning Axe, there is a small area where he can catch his axe to get it back. It's as simple as throwing a skillshot in that zone. Examples of these champions would be Ezreal, Caitlyn, Thresh, Blitz, and harass supports like Zyra or Karma. In addition, a large amount of hard CC is perfect because Draven does not have any dashes, therefore making it harder to escape from lockdown champions like Maokai or Poppy.
If you're not comfortable with the champions listed above, there are various items that you could buy that'll combat the healing and damage from Draven. Executioner's Calling is very effective if Draven gets ahead early and is able to finish his Death's Dance. This'll allow you to stop his sustain much easier during the game. Phantom Dancer is also a great dueling item if you are trying to shut down Draven. As a tank, Randuin's Omen and Thornmail are very effective against Draven because his damage is mostly from his auto attacks. On top of this, he cannot shred tanks as easily as Vayne or Kog'Maw so drafting a tanky frontline or going for defensive builds will help stop him.
That's all for this guide on Draven. If you have feedback, criticism, or other suggestions for this Draven build leave them in the comments below!
Like our content? Support us by getting our merchandise in our shop
