The Unsolvable "Broken" Champions of Pro Play

Understanding Broken Champions Through Data Analysis.

The Problem: A Stale Meta

In professional League of Legends, a few champions become "must picks." They bring a lot a value while being some of the safest champions to play causing them to be a priority ban or pick during drafting. This pushes out other champions from play and creates a relatively slow meta. Two prime examples: Azir and K'Sante.

The Data: LCK Spring 2024 Draft

This data is from the top region (LCK). It shows how often these champions were either picked or banned. "Presence" is the % of all games they were involved in the draft (Picked or Banned).

The "Pro-Only" Kit

These champs are picked not just because they're "strong," but because their kits are perfect when teams are perfectly in sync.

Azir: The ultimate "Jack-of-all-trades." He offers safe laning, high late-game damage, and can completely turn games around with one good ultimate.

K'Sante: A tank that can isolate and kill carries. He is incredibly safe in lane but transitions into a high damage champion that can isolate players away from the teams with the press of a button. This could result in team fights being flipped.

Conclusion: The Meta-Warpers

While these champions may have low play rates and win rates in solo queue, in the hands of professionals, they are nearly unstoppable. GenG's mid-laner, Chovy, for example, held a 78.7% win rate across all his games from 2022-2024.

This combination of versatile kits and high player skill means champions like Azir and K'Sante will continue to dominate professional drafts, forcing game designers to constantly try to balance them without making them unplayable for everyone else.