With the League of Legends meta still shifting and transforming, many players are discovering powerful champions to pick and ban through their various solo queue adventures. At the top of the ladder in Korea, for example, there is a new trio that has taken over as the most-banned champions in the game in Master rank and above.
Through the last patch, Elise, Maokai, and Sylas have all risen to the top as priority ban targets for most players in Korea’s high Elo scene. The Spider Queen, for example, currently has a 67.8 percent ban rate, while still holding a 55.38 percent win rate in Master and above when she successfully loads onto Summoner’s Rift, according to League stats site U.GG.
Related: One jungle champ has now been played in more LCS games in the past 2 days than the last 2 years
Maokai, on the other hand, has also picked up steam as a jungler with a 59.8 percent ban rate and an equally impressive 53.54 percent win rate in Master+. Sylas holds a 51.5 percent ban rate, which is good enough for the third-highest ban rate in high Elo, although his win rate isn’t nearly as good as his predecessors.
Now, Sylas might not be nearly as successful in his games, but Elise and Maokai have taken off as premier picks in both amateur and pro play for good reasons. Runeterra’s favorite arachnid is a perfect early-game ganking jungler who can start off turret dives with a quick burst of damage before rappelling away and juggling the turret aggro to another ally. Her pick potential is relatively high since she can single out and assassinate a target with her Cocoon.
The Twisted Treant provides a ton of utility for his team, whether its vision through his Sapling Toss or massive area-of-effect crowd control. Maokai can control the pace of a skirmish and can start up a teamfight with the press of a button. Since he can affect huge areas with his various abilities, he can force opposing players to scramble for cover once he pops his ultimate ability, Nature’s Grasp.
