The League of Legends Summer Split kicked off on June 17 with ten teams fighting for a spot in the LEC Season Finals, and one LoL champion was banned in every single game of week one.
After an explosive first week that saw two teams go undefeated, there have also been rather intriguing takeaways in terms of drafts and champion picks, with one champion being banned in all 15 games played so far.
Vi was axed in champion select in every single game, achieving an average ban turn of 2.2, according to stats site Games of Legends. This means that every team prioritized the champion highly since she is removed from the drafts in the first ban phase.
The Piltover Enforcer has been one of the most present junglers in the game this season, boasting an overall 65 percent presence across all competitive leagues in the world, only behind Maokai, according to Games of Legends. She is the second most-picked and the third-highest banned champion among all junglers.
The main reason she is valued so highly in professional play is her ability to provide good crowd control, tankability, and most importantly, a point-and-click engage. Thanks to her ultimate, Cease and Desist, Vi can find great picks and lock down one enemy threat long enough to burst him down. Moreover, she is a solid blind pick since she doesn’t struggle particularly against any other meta jungler and can fit into various different team compositions.
That said, it’s still surprising to see her so highly banned in the Western regions. Vi also recorded a near-100 percent ban rate in the LCS Summer Split so far, according to Games of Legends. In the LCK and LPL, on the other hand, Vi was able to jump into Summoner’s Rift quite a few times already. In particular, the LPL played Vi in more than 50 games and that number will increase in the following weeks.
One thing, however, is common to all regions, and that is her overall presence: Vi is pick-or-ban status across all major regions, proving that she is still one of, if not, the best jungle pick in the competitive meta.
Her steady presence across the entirety of the season is why Riot Games is looking to nerf her in the upcoming Patch 13.13. Even though the devs haven’t revealed what part of her kit they will target, this is the second nerf Vi is receiving this season, following the nerfs in Patch 13.7.
