Optimal Best Champions Bans At Each Division - Patch 6.9 May List

Hey everyone! No doubt you're all working your way through the cluster known as the mid-season mage update and major pain points are starting to worm their way to the surface. Since the solo queue tier list will take a bit longer than this one, I thought it would be a good idea to give you an idea of what to expect near the top end first. Check out the goods below!

If you're looking for the regular solo queue list, it should be updated later today or tomorrow along with the FOTM tier list as well. Stay tuned!

The purpose of this list is to discover optimal bans, with the knowledge that enemy teams will likely ban the ones at the top of the list.

SEASON 6 - PATCH 6.9 BAN LIST

"Problems"

Preface Chatter

Hey everyone! No doubt you're all working your way through the cluster known as the mid-season mage update and major pain points are starting to worm their way to the surface. Since the solo queue tier list will take a bit longer than this one, I thought it would be a good idea to give you an idea of what to expect near the top end first. Check out the goods below!

If you're looking for the regular solo queue list, it should be updated later today or tomorrow along with the FOTM tier list as well. Stay tuned!

The purpose of this list is to discover optimal bans, with the knowledge that enemy teams will likely ban the ones at the top of the list.

Banning Thought Process

1. Which champions could the enemy team pick that would really screw my team over?
2. Which champions could the enemy team pick that would really screw ME over?
3. Which of the champions above is the enemy team likely going to pick if it's not banned?
4. Which of the champions above is the enemy team probably going to ban?

After considering these items, it's time to hit the ban phase.

Optimal Bans

 Diamond+

God Tier [Likely/Should Bans]: Nidalee, Kindred, Malzahar, Maokai, Ryze, Ekko, Soraka, Taric, Zed
Good Bans [Popular Strong Champions]: Ahri, Janna, Fizz, Gragas

Meh Bans [Probable But Unnecessary Bans]: Azir, Graves, Malphite, Master Yi, Alistar, Brand
Removed from list: Yasuo

Platinum

God Tier [Likely/Should Bans]: Malzahar, Ekko, Kindred, Soraka, Taric, Nidalee, Zed

Good Bans [Popular Strong Champions]:  Ahri, Janna, Blitzcrank, Fizz, Maokai

Meh Bans [Probable But Unnecessary Bans]: Master Yi, Darius, Leblanc, Malphite, Graves, Poppy, Alistar, Brand, Ryze
Removed from list: Irelia, Jhin

Gold

God Tier [Likely/Should Bans]: Malzahar, Ekko, Taric, Kindred, Soraka, Fizz
Good Bans [Popular Strong Champions]:  Maokai, Janna, Sivir

Meh Bans [Probable But Unnecessary Bans]: Zed, Master Yi, Malphite, Darius, Graves, Alistar, Leblanc, Yasuo, Nidalee

Silver

God Tier [Likely/Should Bans]: Malzahar, Ekko, Malphite, Taric, Kindred, Soraka
Good Bans [Popular Strong Champions]:  Fizz, Blitzcrank, Ahri, Yasuo

Meh Bans [Probable But Unnecessary Bans]: Zed, Master Yi, Darius, Leblanc, Alistar, Graves, Jax

Bronze

God Tier [Likely/Should Bans]: Malzahar, Ekko, Taric, Malphite, Yasuo
Good Bans [Popular Strong Champions]:  Brand, Ahri, Blitzcrank, Soraka

Meh Bans [Probable But Unnecessary Bans]: Zed, Fizz, Master Yi, Darius, Leblanc, Graves, Kindred
Removed from list: Xin Zhao

Method

To do this list, I first start with whichever statistical compilation site I have available (my personal preference is leagueofgraphs.com). Afterwards, I check the most banned champions and separate them into either "God Tier" or "Meh Bans" based on win rate and popularity, sometimes subjective reasoning (in which case I'd do a write up).

Last I do an analysis of both the win rate and the popularity by division and add in good bans for that division based on such.

Some people may note that most sites don't distinguish between "Platinum Only" and "Platinum and Higher". However, this generally doesn't make much of a difference as a result of the way the overall player distribution is between the ranks. Bronze and Silver make up the highest percentage of error, but generally run similar to each other.

Explanations

• Azir [Meh Ban - Diamond+] - Azir is certainly still a very strong champion. However, the latest mage buff did not improve upon any of his core item build components, which makes most of the other mages relatively stronger than before, whereas he stayed the same. Meanwhile, with the number of "must-ban" champions on the rift now, hitting him seems like a waste of a ban unless you know for sure someone on the enemy team is an Azir main.
• Brand [Good Ban - Bronze] - The  new Brand is exceedingly good against players that tend to clump up close together, especially the ones hammering down mid lane non-stop. As an excellent pick that's a very straightforward damage dealer, Brand excels at Bronze and is also starting to get picked up quite a bit as a result of the rework.
• Fizz [Meh Ban - Bronze] - Similar to Azir, his build path did not receive any buffs this patch, whereas other champions did. As a result, he's proportionally weaker and requires much more skill with regards to timing his playful trickster for maximum effectiveness. He's still good to climb with, but there are stronger champions that need to be banned unless your opponent is very skilled.
• Irelia [Removed - Platinum] - After the Guinsoo rework, her powerspike is significantly delayed if she builds it. This puts her at a relatively low tank density mid-game, allowing her to be burst down before she gets her stacks up. Additionally, the sheer number of required champion bans no longer gives us the luxury of banning her. 
• Malzahar [Likely Ban - All Divisions] - I'm not sure how his new passive made it to the live servers, but it's somewhat silly how much benefit he receives from it. His ultimate is also much easier to maximize now that his old pool is automatically dropped underneath his intended target. Both Malzahar mid and Malzahar Jungle are extremely annoying and difficult to deal with, and even Malzahar top does well as a result of his range combined with his burst preventing passive.
• Master Yi [Meh Ban - All Divisions] - The removal of devourer and subsequent rise in Guinsoo's price reduced Master Yi's effectiveness tremendously. Although he's currently still often banned for nostalgia of the last few patches, he's not really worth a ban at the moment, especially with the massive number of definite bans on the rift today.
• Ryze [Likely Ban - Diamond+] - The new Rod of Ages allows Ryze a nearly unlimited health + mana pool, and the new Tear lineup also gives him a massive amount of regen otherwise. His burst damage is still somewhat skillshot and passive cooldown reliant, which is why he still only performs well at high divisions. However, at these levels he's near nonsense levels when he gets ahead. Luckily, at Platinum and below he doesn't fare nearly as well.
• Xin Zhao [Removed - Bronze] - After the removal of devourer, Xin's late game isn't quite as strong. If they make Guinsoo's a bit cheaper he might rise back to ban-worthy levels, but in the meantime isn't necessary to ban out.
• Yasuo [Removed - Diamond+] - For the same reasons as Azir, Yasuo's being removed from the ban list.
• Zed [Likely Ban - Diamond+] - There was a lot of complaining going on when people heard QSS no longer cleanses Zed's ultimate and how overpowered Zed would be in the upcoming patch. However, his ultimate is still reliant on dealing damage to the enemy after it lands, meaning that Zed first needs to snowball before his ultimate is completely broken. Additionally, the mage reworks helped out a lot of his usual targets, making them stronger than last patch in comparison. Although Zed is still an okay ban in high divisions and will continue to be banned, I think he's fast becoming a mediocre ban in other divisions.

What do you think about this new list? Agree? Disagree? Comment below!

Click here to check out previous versions of this list!