With the group stage of Worlds 2015 over, here’s what we’ve learned from the Pick and Ban phase from this year’s tournament as to who the best picks are, who sucked, and a few suggestions about picks that we might see sneak through into the Quarter Final games.

The Hot

Gangplank:

Gangplank is THE definitive “pick or ban” champion at 100% picked or banned after the 49 games in the group stage. The reason is simple – he has a strong, global ultimate. Teleport is THE Summoner Spell of choice for the top lane but GP doesn’t need to leave his lane to impact a fight.

Think of him as a more useful version of Ziggs; he can impact a fight on the opposite side of a match or self-defend against a 2-3 man turret dive in his own lane. If he’s helping across the map he has the additional bonus of being able to continue farming, but if not then it provides a window for his own jungler to gank another lane.

The change to Gangplank’s kit meant his E now places barrels – which have recently been tweaked to be less devastating – but they’re still a strong teamfight mechanic, on top of the fact that GP’s kit provides solid farming, lane sustain, and good critical hits for trading.

Gangplank. Image courtesy of League of Legends.

Mordekaiser:

Press Q. Hit your enemy. Watch them melt.

Okay, maybe Mordekaiser is more than this but he’s very strong at the moment. The common spot is as AD carry, though his damage style often goes AP. Players often start with a Relic Shield for the melee damage proc of the gold income, and most players take a melee support alongside to repeat the Relic Shield gold income, thus making the lane very profitable. Common picks alongside include Thresh, Braum, Leona, and Blitzcrank – the latter taking a player away from their partner (or team) and allowing Morde to do the big damage in a safe spot of his choosing, without exposing his lack of mobility.

Rylai’s Crystal Scepter is considered the pro’s core item, though Trinity Force seems as common in Solo Queue, and Luden’s Echo is nice to ramp up the burst damage.

Elise:

Elise has a 95.9% pick/ban rate. She has a win rate of 63.3% which is strong, but then you have to factor in that some teams have prioritised her as a pick and lost out on other strong picks. In reality she is the best jungler, with a very safe/easy jungle clear. Elise offers solid engage with her Cocoon, good magic damage, and she can Rappel to safety. Factor in the tanking Spiderlings and you’re on to a very useful champion.

Darius:

Solo Queue will attest to this – Darius is impeccably strong in team fight situations. His lane phase was overpowered in the past few weeks, but an adjustment to his damage and healing have fixed this. Strong but not broken, this guy WANTS to get stuck in. Despite criticisms levelled at Cloud 9's Balls for underperforming he managed to pull off a penta kill versus EU's Fnatic - just showing how strong this champion can be in skirmish situations.

Veigar:

Cloud 9’s Incarnation brought Veigar back from the support cheese to mid lane mashing. His Event Horizon is a strong stun, as well as a great way of controlling nearby terrain, and allows his team’s AD Carry to siege strongly. This objective control, plus the ability power stacking of his Q – Baleful Strike, forces teams to act early or suffer the consequences. Used against a team usually strong in the late game… punishing.

Other strong picks at present are Azir, for his team fighting as a control mage from the back lines, Twisted Fate, for his TP ultimate and the passive vision, Rek’Sai (bruiser/mobility), Jinx, Morgana, Lulu as a flex pick, and Kalista because of the strong trade damage.

I’d rather not…

These are the guys that perhaps – just perhaps – you should keep benched for another day, or maybe in some cases save for practice in Team Builder games.

Orianna:

Ori is a solid control mage. She can shield, has fair range, farms nicely, but too often we’ve seen her ultimate whiffed. This missing damage in a teamfight has cost several games and she really shouldn’t be the go-to mage after targeted bans if people are at risk of missing the skillshot.

Gnar:

A powerful and flexible top laner, Gnar has a poor 25% win rate. He's a good champion who can farm safely, kite, and become a tank when needed. So what's wrong? The issue is that Gnar is repeatedly picked against Darius for the range advantage. It’s a smart move, but ultimately a flawed one. A good Darius will keep the lane in the middle, or deeper, and make sure to dodge poke. The sensibility allows his jungler to force the use of your Summoner’s spells, if not land a kill. Then there’s the teamfighting. Gnar goes big, but it’s a window of opportunity. Darius is always big.

Certainly you could ban Darius to use a Gnar but there are other picks that are perhaps more reliable for the team, like a Malphite.

Irelia:

Just no.

Ekko:

Ekko can make a decent impact, sure, but he’s better as a top laner than a jungler. Fnatic’s Huni has made it work though many others prefer different picks to suit a comp with a more targeted ultimate ability. His damage levels and gank impacts aren’t the same as other junglers

Elise, Gragas, and Rek’Sai all have stronger team fighting potential. Skarner too. Beyond that, Nidalee can flank poke, Evelynn can flank engage and tank, and Lee Sin has excellent mobility and harassment potential. Ekko offers bits of each of these champions but nothing better than any of these picks in their own right.

Lissandra:

Lissandra is a counter pick selection. Teams want her for the fact she can self-ult and entomb, or use the Frozen Tomb to pick out a target. The two targets to counter specifically are Darius and Yasuo, but it’s very much a one-trick pony move. It’s useful, certainly, but it leaves Lissandra little else to do in a group situation, and if everybody ploughs damage into the trapped champ – especially Darius – then it leaves the rest of the opposition unaffected AND consumes a lot of their mana and DPS. In a coordinated team situation it’s tough, which is why Liss was only picked three times in the group stages, and won just once. It’s not beyond a top player to really make her work (I’m looking at you Faker) but it’s a pick that requires excellent team synergy to stay relevant.

Who might we see?

Teleport is pretty much the core Summoner spell bar Flash right now, because players don’t want to miss out on any unnecessary farm in lane phase, as well as the pressure they can apply with split pushing and backdooring. With this in mind we have already seen Karthus mid for his global targeted ultimate, Shen for his teleport/tanky support nature, and Tahm Kench for similar map mobility plus his ability to swallow his AD carry as a protective measure.

Bjergsen brought back Syndra in the mid lane for TSM and showed the solid combination that the champion can have with the number 1 jungle pick – Elise. Factor in a support like Morgana for the bind, or perhaps Nami for a bubble, and you could have some serious lockdown.

SKT’s Marin wrecked with Fiora in the first week, showing off her high damage potential. In the right hands we could see this pick brought out to alter the top lane preferences and throw off the groundwork preparation of some teams.

LGD’s mid laner GODV pulled out the Diana mid pick, one that some thought we might see more of as an ‘alternate’ pick. Instead we’ve seen LeBlanc and even Anivia appear, but the dive & burst potential of Diana and the scare factor she brings should see her appear a few more times at Worlds.

Cryocore Brand. Image courtesy of Leagueoflegendskins.

Finally, Brand. This is a champion buffed by the improvements to Rylai’s and to Liandry’s Torment. The result is very good damage, but with limited mobility it’s a liability mid. Cloud 9’s Incarnation has played a lot of Solo Queue on this champion but we’re more likely to see another support take it – perhaps EDG’s Meiko or Koo Tigers’ GorillA. Aside Morgana, it is the easiest champion to proc the Spellthief’s Edge gold income with, and has the double bonus of countering an Annie support pick. Here’s hoping…

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