The LPL was the first major region to start its Summer Split due to the higher amount of participants, as well as having a Bo3 regular season format. After two weeks of play, the Chinese league has played a total of 88 games, with K’Sante picked or banned across all those matches.
According to stat site Games of Legends, despite the repeated nerfs at the start of the season in Patch 13.3 and Patch 13.1, K’Sante is still boasting a dominant presence in professional play. The top lane tank brings so much value to the team comps both in terms of tankiness and also dealing loads of damage whenever he goes All Out.
So far, he has been picked a total of 40 times with 48 bans. Out of those 40 games, K’Sante was able to win on 21 occasions, with an average KDA of 3.6.
Why is K’Sante so powerful in professional play?
There have always been League of Legends champions that have performed well in professional play and K’Sante is no exception. Usually, the reasons are always related to the champion’s designed kit as well as how much proficiency impacts their success. Despite not having difficult abilities, K’Sante has an immense learning curve when it comes to mastering him.
This is also why K’Sante has been performing well at the highest Elos in solo queue, according to stats site lolalytics, while his numbers plummet as you go down the ranks: at platinum, his win rate drops to below 47 percent.
Therefore, only a limited amount of players are able to draw the maximum potential from K’Sante. Riot Games cannot make the champion any stronger for the average player base, or the champion would become too overpowered in pro players’ hands.
K’Sante has one clear strength that no other meta champion has in the game: the ability to remove a champion from teamfights. By using All Out at the right moments, K’Sante can displace an enemy and take him out of the fight through the terrain. This can be cast onto the most important enemy threat and given K’Sante All Out form, he also has enough damage to kill the focused target.
While there are champions that do a similar job like Poppy and Mordekaiser, they don’t have the same amount of damage and mobility as K’Sante, making him the best choice out there.
On top of that, K’Sante is currently one of the best blind picks in the game, having the ability to be flexed between mid and top. This makes him one of the most valuable picks in the meta, which further increases his priority during the draft phase, and thus, his ban rate as well. Even though the LPL is entering Patch 13.11 from Week 3, it’s likely that K’Sante will continue to be the most prioritized pick.
Four other champions are nearing a 100 percent presence rate in the LPL
K’Sante is not the only high-priority pick in the LPL, as four other champions are close to max presence. Milio is the champion right behind K’sante, with a 99 percent presence rate (87 out of 88 games, according to Games of Legends). Milio has been considered the strongest support of the meta, having totaled 73 bans and a 71 percent win rate in 14 games, as well as an impressive 10.7 KDA. Unless he gets nerfed in future patches, he will likely contest K’Sante for the highest presence.
At a 98 percent presence rate, we have Vi and Aphelios, the most preferred jungle and ADC picks respectively. Vi has been a steady presence in professional play throughout the season: she is over 71 percent presence across the four major regions and MSI, with an impressive 54.8 percent win rate.
Aphelios, on the other hand, has been rising towards the end of the Spring Split and is now one of the most preferred picks in the eastern regions. Despite his negative win rate, teams are always willing to pick him up.
The last champion with a near 100 presence rate is Neeko, sitting at 97 percent. Following her recent mid-scope update, she has become a potential flex pick and brings incredible value for ganks and teamfights with her updated passive. As long as she can maintain her damage and crowd controls, she will likely remain a priority pick for the rest of the split.
