Just like in every game mode, League of Legends’ Arena has overpowered champions players will look to abuse—but chances are their ban rates are going to skyrocket the more they’re played.
As a result, players will always try to innovate and find new underrated picks that offer similar rates of success while being easily accessible. Now that the game mode has been out for a while, and Riot Games devs begin to balance things out with Patch 13.15, let’s go over some of the most underrated champions in Arena. While they may not have top-tier numbers, their decent pick rates and low ban rates will compensate for that, allowing you to consistently rely on them when necessary.
The most underrated champions in League Arena
Corki
Yordle champions love fighting in Arena and Corki is no exception. Thanks to his incredibly high and long-range poke damage, as well as his nature as a hybrid damage dealer, he can quickly shred through most champions’ health bars with a few rockets. And, in case he gets jumped on by the enemies, he can draw up a distance by flashing out and using his own W, Valkyrie, to get out of danger.
Corki has a 58.28 percent win rate according to stats site METAsrc with a first-place finish in 28 percent of the matches played while only registering a 1.34 percent ban rate—meaning he’ll always be available to play.
Viktor
Given the high damage, good crowd controls and zoning tools control mages have, they are great candidates for consistent results in Arena.
Among them, we have Viktor, who has been slowly creeping up in play rate. Patch 13.15 saw a steady rise in pick rate, up more than one percent from the previous patch. What’s more impressive about the Machine Herald is his top two percentage, which is the second-highest among all champions in the game at nearly 60 percent.
His kit is perfect for players looking to play a hit-and-run playstyle, throwing abilities while staying away from the enemies. He has AoE burst damage to chunk down enemies in a matter of seconds while getting extra movement speed and shields from his Q.
With more and more players catching up on the champion’s power, however, we might see Viktor on the ban list more often. Take advantage of him right now before it’s too late.
Orianna
Next, we have another mid-lane mage: Orianna. But unlike Viktor, the Clockwork Lady has a more supportive playstyle in Arena, providing shields to her allies while disrupting the enemy’s movements with her slows.
In most cases, Orianna is picked up with the intention of diversifying the damage output with her partner while adding a fair bit of burst damage. Her best partners are usually physical damage champions with bruiser-like characteristics and good mobility such as Fiora and Riven. Their synergy can lead to surprising combos since enemies won’t be able to predict when Orianna will look to cast the Shockwave.
If your duo is planning on playing a tankier champion, Orianna is a pick you can pair it up with. Her ban rate is basically non-existent at 0.23 percent while also having an incredible 31.37 percent in top-one finishes.
Xayah
Despite being the squishiest class of champions in the game mode, a few ADC champions have snuck through and are performing strong. Xayah is one of them, mainly thanks to her self-peeling kit, and her ability to kite champions while engaging in fights.
With some of the strongest champions being nerfed this patch, she has been slowly rising up in play rate, nearly reaching four percent with a 59.54 percent top-two finish rate, according to METAsrc. Even though ADCs aren’t usually the most popular choices in LoL Arena, she can be a good pocket pick to default to when other power picks are banned.
Wukong
The last champion on the list is Wukong, which is probably one of the most fitting champions for Arena: a tanky bruiser with consistent damage, sustain, and mobility. In other words, he embodies everything that you would want in a champion when jumping into the battling field. He won’t disappoint you.
I have been using him myself as an alternative to Jax whenever the latter is banned from the lobby and he’s proven to serve me faithfully. Unless the enemies have too many crowd controls to stop you, Wukong has all the tools needed to win the fight. While he may not be top-tier, he can increase your chances of getting top-two finishes in your lobbies.
