It has been a week since the beginning of the 2023 LPL Spring Split and League of Legends pros are already shaping up the meta for this year. In the 19 matches that have been played so far, Lucian and Ryze have stood out in the drafting phase with 100 percent pick-ban rates, according to stats site Lol.fandom. It shows that LPL teams have full confidence in these two champions and are willing to either snatch them up for their players or prevent the enemy from getting them.
Prioritizing Lucian in the bottom lane is not such a big surprise. He has high mobility and good scaling. Lucian becomes almost uncatchable in the late game and creates havoc in teamfights. He can counter short-ranged ADC champions that are currently in the meta (Kalista, Sivir, Zeri, Aphelios).
While long-ranged champions like Varus and Caitlyn counter Lucian, their limited mobility makes them more susceptible to ganks and decreases their appeal in the draft phase. Even though he has a low 29 percent win rate at the moment, it feels like Lucian will continue to be the most highly-contested champion among LPL teams until a new strategy or League patch brings in changes.
In the mid lane, Ryze has made a reappearance which can be credited to Faker’s incredible play against 369 at Worlds 2022. This champion is one of the perfect picks in his lane as he can clear minions faster, has crowd-control abilities, and can ambush or disengage the enemy team using his ultimate Realm Warp.
With the LPL teams being more prone to looking for ganks and team fights, Ryze fits into their macro playstyle quite effectively. Due to the appearance of Ryze, his counter, Syndra is also being picked up more (currently having an 88 percent pick-ban rate).
When it comes to other champions, the newly added K’Sante has emerged as a menacing force in the top lane and teams are still trying out different compositions and strategies to shut down this tanky bruiser.
It is still early to say which champions are going to be in the meta throughout this season. The choices of League pros are bound to change in the coming months as they experiment with more lineups and strategies.
