Optimal Best Champions Bans At Each Division - Patch 8.1 January List

Hi folks! Season 8's ramping up in a few days, and now's a good time for a refresher on some good pick/bans by division.

If you're banning Zoe under diamond, it's probably best to just leave her open in case the enemy's got someone who thinks she's broken but has no idea how to play her. Meanwhile, most of you have caught on, but banning Vayne over Ezreal is a good idea just because of the whole Relic Shield meta.

Anyway, check out the full list below!

SEASON 8
PATCH 8.1 BAN LIST

"Problems"

Preface Chatter

Hi folks! Season 8's ramping up in a few days, and now's a good time for a refresher on some good pick/bans by division.

If you're banning Zoe under diamond, it's probably best to just leave her open in case the enemy's got someone who thinks she's broken but has no idea how to play her. Meanwhile, most of you have caught on, but banning Vayne over Ezreal is a good idea just because of the whole Relic Shield meta.

Anyway, check out the full list below!

Be sure to check out the regular ranked queue list, and the FOTM tier list as well!

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]: Zoe, Kha'Zix, Katarina, Evelynn, Malzahar, Leona
Good Bans [Popular Strong Champions]: Vayne, Janna

Meh Bans [Probable But Unnecessary Bans]: Ornn, Ezreal, Zed

Platinum

God Tier [Likely/Should Bans]: Katarina, Leona, Malzahar, Vayne, Evelynn

Good Bans [Popular Strong Champions]: Janna

Meh Bans [Probable But Unnecessary Bans]: Zoe, Zed, Ornn, Yasuo, Ezreal, Kha'Zix

Gold

God Tier [Likely/Should Bans]: Leona, Katarina, Vayne, Malzahar, Blitzcrank, Evelynn

Good Bans [Popular Strong Champions]: Jarvan IV, Alistar

Meh Bans [Probable But Unnecessary Bans]: Zoe, Zed, Yasuo, Ornn, Ezreal

Silver

God Tier [Likely/Should Bans]: Leona, Vayne, Blitzcrank, Katarina, Malzahar

Good Bans [Popular Strong Champions]: Miss Fortune

Meh Bans [Probable But Unnecessary Bans]: Zoe, Zed, Yasuo, Darius, Ezreal

Bronze

God Tier [Likely/Should Bans]: Yasuo, Blitzcrank, Leona, Vayne, Katarina, Teemo

Good Bans [Popular Strong Champions]: Miss Fortune

Meh Bans [Probable But Unnecessary Bans]: Zed, Zoe, Darius

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

• Taking out explanations to make this list faster to put together, feel free to ask questions in the comments section below!

Agree? Disagree? Comment below!

Click here to check out more versions of this list!