Picture this for a second; So you're in champ select, and suddenly recall that one champion who just sends cold shivers down your spine—the one that made you ragequit last game. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Yeah, that's where the ban system swoops in for the rescue, and boy, do we love using it! It's the first strategic step to determine the fate of an entire match before it even starts—and in such a highly competitive game like League, that's quite a big deal!
In League of Legends, banning in and of itself has evolved into its own art form. While some bans are grounded in concrete tactics to eliminate meta tyrants, others are purely emotional responses to champions that have traumatized players one too many times.
The list of most banned champions can shift with the ebb and flow of patches, buffs, and nerfs. Yet some champions are just so frustrating and oppressive to deal with that they might as well have a permanent reservation in the ban list (*cough* Teemo).
The fascinating thing about ban rates is how they tell different stories across various ranks and accurately reflect player psychology. It's like each ELO is playing its own distinct game. While, on one hand, you've got Iron players frantically banning Master Yi like he's the final boss of solo queue, Diamond players are more worried about that pesky Pyke who's about to turn your bot lane into a charity fund.
Before diving into the most banned champions, it would help to look at why a few champions get banned more frequently than others. Here are some key factors:
Some champions aren't necessarily overpowered per se – they're just incredibly oppressive, unpredictable, or downright frustrating to play against. Think about Shaco mains cackling as they appear behind you for the fifteenth time, or Teemo turning your top-side jungle into a Soviet-era minefield. These champions often maintain high ban rates, regardless of their power level, simply because players value their sanity.
Every patch brings its own set of overtuned champions who suddenly become everybody's worst nightmare. Whether it's due to item changes, Riot sneezing some buffs, or some bizarre interaction that nobody saw coming, these champions will hold the game hostage at their mercy until Riot finally brings out the nerf hammer... eventually.
If one champion starts popping up on every Youtube thumbnail and solo queue tier list, you know players will be marching with pitchforks and bans. A high popularity paired with a killer win rate is the classic recipe for "nope, not today." Honestly, can you blame players? No one wants to face the patch's shiny new overlord.
At the higher levels of play, banning is about minimizing threats and ensuring that opponents don’t have access to game-changing picks. Here are the champions that consistently dominate the ban lists in Diamond and above as of Patch 14.24:
Ah, the swimming assassin who somehow ended up as a support! High-elo players absolutely loathe Pyke because his roaming potential is just insane. One minute you're peacefully farming mid lane, the next you're watching a gray screen while Pyke's already swimming his way to the bottom lane for seconds. His ability to turn a small lead into a team-wide gold advantage with his ultimate makes him particularly terrifying in coordinated play—which is often the case in high elo, sometimes. Plus, let's be honest - nobody wants to deal with a Pyke main who can actually land their hooks!
The machine herald has evolved from a niche pick to an absolute menace in high elo, especially after his recent mini Arcane rework. With his ability to clear a minion wave in an instant and scale into a late game monster, Viktor is the textbook definition of "better ban him or regret it later." His upgraded E can annihilate your backline faster than your support can even think about peeling for you, and don't even get me started on his team fight presence with his W and R combo. High-elo players know that a good Viktor is like a ticking time bomb with a PhD in pyromania—and they seem to take appropriate precautions by kicking him out of the playground.
The new champion on the block has been making the waves in high elo—and for good reason. Her ability to absolutely shred tanks, obliterate squishy and immobile champions, and dominate laning phases is enough to make anyone’s blood pressure spike. But wait, there’s more! She’s built like a tank herself, thrives in extended skirmishes, and dishes out unrelenting pain while barely breaking a sweat.
High-elo players particularly hate how she can completely change the pace of a game with her unique ultimate, turning seemingly safe plays into instant death traps. Add her infinite dashes into the mix, and fighting her feels less like a duel and more like trying to wrangle a greased-up, razor-laden butterball.
It’s almost like Riot heard us groaning about “200 years of experience” champions and said, “Oh, you hate 4 dashes? How about 4 billion?” Seriously, who let them cook?
In high elo, where AD Carry mains actually know how to catch axes and position properly, Draven becomes less of a champion and more of a walking financial crisis for the enemy team. One kill on this guy and suddenly he's cashing in enough gold to open offshore accounts in Switzerland. High-elo players ban him not just because of his insane snowball potential (despite how terrifying it is), but because nobody wants to deal with the emotional damage of watching a Draven main type "ez" after every kill.
The Sheriff of Piltover remains a priority ban in high elo because playing against a good Caitlyn is about as fun as approaching a Sniper with a pistol. Her ability to dominate the lane through superior range and trap placement becomes exponentially more oppressive when the player actually knows what they're doing. Add in her wild synergy with enchanter supports (looking at you, Lulu), and you've got a recipe for a miserable laning phase. High-elo players often ban her simply because they'd like to actually play the game instead of watching their health bar disappear from two screens away.
Each of these often avoided champions represents a unique threat in high-elo play, where players can maximize their potential to truly frustrating levels. The ban rates reflect not only their current strength in the ranked meta but also some collective trauma they've inflicted on the player base over the course of countless seasons.
Remember, in high elo, it's not just about banning what's strong - it's about banning what will give you the least amount of therapy bills!
If you're considering utilizing these broken champions to traumatize your foes yourself, at least do it in style! Whether you're confusing the enemy AD Carry with a triple shadow combo on Zed, or styling on your opponent with Draven, grace your champion with the most prestigious skins from our store page over at UnrankedSmurfs!
In lower elo, where chaos reigns and mechanics are less polished, the high priority ban list reflects a different set of priorities - demonstrating how simply lacking game knowledge could majorly impact entire divisions. These champions are banned not just for their power but for how they can single-handedly derail a game. So, let's line up for the top contenders in Bronze as of Patch 14.24:
The queen of "why can't I walk up to CS?" takes the crown, yet again, this time in Bronze! While high-elo players ban her for her sophisticated trap placements and scaling, Bronze players ban her because nobody wants to spend 15 minutes getting poked under tower while questioning their life choices.
Her unnaturally long range makes her the bane of inexperienced ADCs who haven't quite grasped the concept of trading and spacing. And let's be real - in an elo where supports sometimes forget they have wards, those bushes become prime real estate for Caitlyn's headshot festival!
Ah, the goodest boy of low elo terror! Bronze players ban Warwick because apparently, nobody has time to buy healing reduction or respect his mere presence when low on health. His "press W to activate wallhacks" gameplay means he can punish poor positioning from halfway across the map, and his ultimate might as well be a point-and-click ability when nobody expects it. Add in his insane healing which makes him practically immortal against teams that think Grievous Wounds is just a fancy term, and you've got yourself a low-elo nightmare!
The demon jester isn't just banned for his strength - he's banned for the psychological warfare he brings to Bronze games, making MK Ultra look like a light headache. Nothing tilts a low-elo team quite like watching their jungler spend 30 seconds attacking a clone while the real Shaco backstabs their carries in broad daylight.
Never mind his boxes, which turn every bush into a potential jump scare, and coordinating to catch him requires more teamwork than what your average Bronze team could muster. And with little to know map awareness, most players down here will completely lose track of him as soon as he goes invisible - and suddenly what's out of sight isn't so out of mind!
The fallen angel whose Q hitbox apparently exists in a different dimension! Bronze players ban Morgana because her binding lasts long enough to make a sandwich, do your laundry, and still come back to find yourself rooted. Her black shield completely nullifies engage attempts (as if Bronze players were coordinating those anyway), and her ultimate in teamfights is basically a team-wide AoE stun when nobody knows how to disengage. The best part? Even if you dodge 9 bindings, that 10th one that hits will make your team spam "?" on your cold body!
Last but not least, the Lady of Luminosity lights up the Bronze ban list! Why? Because apparently, skillshots are way easier to land when nobody has heard of sidesteps. Her full combo can delete squishy champions faster than they can type "mid diff," and her Ult somehow has a lower cooldown than most basic abilities.
The real kicker? She's banned as much by teams tired of their own mid laner picking her and missing every ability as she is by teams afraid of facing her! And don't even get me started on support Lux building full AP and "securing" all the kills... I'm sure Silver IV Timmy would appreciate that.
What makes these bans particularly interesting is how they reflect the unique challenges of low-level play. While higher elos might scoff at some of these choices, they make perfect sense in an environment where mechanical skill is still developing and macro play often boils down to "All mid" by 20 minutes. These champions excel at punishing the most common mistakes that keep on plaguing these trenches: poor positioning, lack of vision control, and the eternal struggle with dodging skillshots from a mile away.
Remember, in the lower ranks, it's not about banning what's mathematically strongest - it's about banning what's going to make you throw your keyboard out the window! These popular champions might not be breaking any records in pro play, but they're certainly breaking spirits in Bronze solo queue.
Understanding why these champions are banned so often requires a closer look at their stats. Riot provides detailed insights into champion win rates, pick rates, and ban rates, which paint an overall clearer picture. This data is publically available through their developer API, which is often used by your favorite League of Legends companion apps.
With that being said, let's examine how these key stats correspond to Yasuo being permabanned in your lobbies:
The cold, hard numbers can tell it all - a high win rate is usually a flashing red sign that a champion is too strong. When certain champions consistently hover above 51% win rate across all skill levels, it’s only natural for players to start banning them to keep things fair.
But here's the kicker: it's not just about raw win rates. Take Pyke, for example - his 53% win rate in high elo looks scary, but it's his ability to snowball games that really earns him those bans. Meanwhile, some champions maintain terrifying ban rates despite sub-50% win rates (looking at you, Yasuo) simply because nobody wants to risk facing a smurf who actually knows what they're doing.
High pick rates often translate to high ban rates for a simple reason: people get tired of seeing the same champion every. single. game. When Caitlyn shows up in 25% of matches across all ranks - which is currently the case - players just get tired of seeing her face on the loading screen.
Popular champions also attract many players who might not fully understand their intricacies (you know who I'm talking about, those who think a "0/10 power spike" is a real thing), leading to either feast-or-famine performances that everyone prefers to avoid altogether on both ends of the Rift.
Some champions just feel unfair to play against. Whether it’s their ability to snowball out of control, their oppressive laning phase, or their innate ability to deny you any real skillful counterplay (*cough cough* stealth champs), certain kits are designed to test your patience more than anything.
Champions like these tend to be high on the ban list, not necessarily because they’re broken, but purely because their playstyle makes players want to uninstall, regardless of their actual power level. It’s not always about the numbers—it’s about how much hair you’ve pulled out trying to deal with them.
When a pro player pops off on a champion in a big tournament, you can bet that champion's ban rate is about to skyrocket in solo queue. Watching pros like Gumayusi or Faker pull off game-winning plays with Draven or Ahri inspires many players to lock them in... which then inspires everyone else to ban them. - not because they're afraid of the champion, but because they're afraid of their teammate trying to recreate that highlight reel moment and failing spectacularly.
It’s a vicious cycle fueled by dreams of grandeur, an unrelenting fear of being on the receiving of that highlight reel, and Gold IV teammates who try their hardest to sign a contract with G2.
Remember, while this list represents the most commonly banned lol champions, the best ban is always situational. Maybe it's the counter to your main, maybe it's the champion that just stomped you last game, or maybe it's just Yasuo because... well, it's Yasuo. There's no shame in banning a champion that you personally struggle against.
One thing you must bear in mind is that ban rates are constantly evolving with each patch. So, while the champions listed here represent some of the most consistently banned picks in the current meta, the specific order will most definitely shift around with the new season. Basically, look at the reason these champs get banned so often, and use that knowledge to make informed decisions in your own games.
So next time you're in champion select, think about whether you're banning based on statistics, strategy, or simply because you're still traumatized by that one game where the enemy Sion built full Lethality and disintegrated your carries like house flies. Whatever your reason, make it count!
