Stats from the MSI play-in stage show the meta is looking very healthy—except for Lulu

Fifty seven different champions were played over 24 games.
Image via Riot Games

Lulu had a 100 percent pick-and-ban ratio throughout the play-in stage of MSI 2017. She was picked for 15 games and banned for the other nine.

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That’s just one of several interesting stats from the site stage.gg, which has released a trove of interesting data from the first stage of the tournament. The stats give an interesting snap shot into what the international meta looks like in Patch 7.8.

Lulu is a top-tier pick right now, so her dominance isn’t surprising. While all top-tier mage supports were recently nerfed, Lulu was left untouched. As for other champions, Lee Sin was the most-picked jungler (15), Caitlyn was the most-picked ADC (10), Ahri was the most-picked mid (8) and Gragas was the most-picked top laner (8).

Picks aren’t everything though. Three champions share the “most banned” title. Graves, Ashe, and Syndra have been banned 13 times each by the wildcard teams. Fizz and Kennen share the second place “most-banned” title, with 12 bans each.

The stats also showcase how healthy the metagame is at the moment. In just 24 games at MSI 2017, we have already seen 57 different champions picked up, a substantial difference from previous international tournaments. In Worlds 2016, only 52 champions were picked up or contested throughout the entire tournament of 76 games, according to Stage.gg.

Only 44 champions were picked or banned across the 33 games played at MSI 2016, held in China a year ago.

The differences in champion pools at MSI 2017 can be accredited to the new 10-ban system implemented by Riot at the start of the season. Ten bans has made team compositions harder to lock down, forcing players to learn more than a small handful of champions to prepare themselves for potential counter-matchups and varying team compositions.

Of the 57 different champions, 15 were used mainly in the top lane, six in the jungle, 13 in mid, 12 in the ADC position, and 11 for support.


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Adam Newell
Assigning Editor. In 2015, Adam graduated from the University of Aberystwyth with a bachelor's in Media and Communications. Working in the industry for over ten years. If it has anything to do with Nintendo and Pokémon chances are you will see me talking about it, covering, and likely not sleeping while playing it.