A guide to drafting in League of Legends (Part 2) – executing a game plan step by step

Today we put it all to the test. A team can only play as good as their team composition, so the right draft is immensely helpful when facing seemingly a stronger opponent.

That is why drafting is also called a form of “art” among coaching staff and sometimes even has a dedicated coach solely for drafting. He or she discusses with the strategic and head coach what should be drafted but has the last say. In this article we will approach both the blue and red side of the draft.

BLUE SIDE

Initial thoughts

Let us start with the blue side first. We instantly recognize we have the possibility to pick a strong or so called “OP (overpowered)” champion first, but to make optimal use out of it, we also do not want to give multiple “OP” champions to our enemies on the red side. They can pick two champions at once, so we must balance the odds out. This is a meta-focused approach to the draft and should be used if both teams are at least considered equally strong. It would be smart to pick this side in side-selection if you have your eyes set on securing an “OP” champion. If you are given this side by the enemy, that means they probably want to see your plans first before drafting their composition.

If you are the stronger team, you can just play the meta-picks that are considered “OP”. If you have a specific team composition in mind, you start thinking what champion in your composition can best be first-picked. For example, if you play around your midlaner, make sure he does not have to first pick his champion and first pick a strong jungler instead to cover him and help him out in the 2v2.

First set of bans

We have prepared some bans against the enemy specifically, so we will ban those champions first. These could be champions that the enemy onetricks, unique picks the enemy likes to play around or a combo that they use that you do not want to face. These are particularly good first bans, as the enemy will never ban them, so you do not lose tempo. After you banned these champions, you proceed to ban champions that are good against your planned composition. 

If you want to play a Twisted Fate composition, ban Nocturne or Galio so they cannot counter or match your global presence. If everything goes to plan, stick to it, and do not invert major changes. If the enemy bans something you put out of your preparation for a team composition, instantly switch over to the next plan and use the time you have to optimize for this plan.

First pick

Everything that we wished to see banned is off the table, now we can go on and pick our first champion. This is either a champion that is extraordinarily strong in the current meta or is a more specific champion for out team composition. If none of the previous statements is true, we can always pick the champion of our composition that can still be a flexible pick. For example, if we wish to play Tristana as a marksman in our composition, we can first pick her since she can also be flexed to the midlane. In this case, the enemy does not know where our champion goes and will not gain additional information besides the champion itself.

Passive or proactive second set of picks

The enemy has picked two champions of their own. Our first goal is to figure out what their plan is and how it will stack up against ours. If you are lucky, they give it away on their first two picks, but most of the time the enemy waits to reveal their hand too. We now have the option of staying on course with our picks, since theirs did not affect our team composition, or we go full reaction-mode and we divert a bit from our team composition to draft a strong counter composition. 

It is always difficult to go off-book, but when you are an experienced drafter this is the first skill you will have to master. The best thing to do here is to find a balance between countering their two picks and staying true to your plan. This could be by changing one of your picks with a champion that does the same thing for your team composition but counters a champion of the enemy specifically.

Two more bans

Best case scenario, you have your first three picks, and the enemy has walked right into your trap and/or has drafted as you predicted, and you only had to make minor changes (swapping one champion for another). With your next two bans you should prioritize attacking an enemy player on the redside. Most of the time, they save their counter pick for a solo lane to play around. In your preparation you can find who that is and you can throw two bans at him. These bans should be focused on banning out counters for your blindpick sololaners and focused on champions that are particularly good against your team composition plan. 

Do keep in mind that the enemy has first pick after the ban phase and you should not solely focus on securing a good lane for one champion. In that case, the enemy just picks that champion, and you have no real means to counter since you banned those. Balancing these bans between the previously mentioned things is hard and you will find out how to do it via trial and error.

Last call

You must pick your last two champions but must consider the enemy’s last pick as well. It is important here to stick to and complete your plan that you made in the preparations. Most of the time, coaches blunder by picking a champion that is a specific counter to the enemy but has no use in your team composition. 

So, after going over all your options and discussing with your teammates, you can lock in the last two picks to round out your team composition. It is crucial that you only focus on your team composition now and how it plays out against the enemy. No reason to feel bad about your champions or plan, as these are the tools you are now given to win the game. Rally your team, repeat the plan one more time and make your players ready for the game.

RED SIDE

Initial thoughts

We just discussed how to draft as the blue side. Sometimes you are not given a choice and the enemy has side-selection and picks the red side for you. This usually means they want to play on the blue-side (or they do not trust you have a good plan on the red-side, but that is a rarer approach to the side-selection). Your initial thoughts should be “why does the enemy want the blue side”. Most of the time, they want to secure a strong first pickable champion that is considered “OP” in the current meta. With your preparations next to you, we hop into champion select.

First set of bans

The enemy bans our comfort champions as the blue side must ban less “OP” champions since they can secure one on the first pick. We, on the other hand, must ban some of the “OP” champions we do not want to give away on the first pick. Another approach could be that we do not ban any “OP” champion and dive into banning comfort-champions of the enemy. That way we can secure two “OP” champions on our first two picks and they can only secure one. 

Most of the time when this happens, blue side starts banning one more “OP” champion so they, at least, even the playing fields and you can both secure only one. On the red side we identify that we can play for a strong solo lane as we have the last pick in the draft and can hopefully counter their whole composition with it.  With this in mind, we select one of our game plans from our preparation that contains playing around a strong solo lane. 

Two for one

We now must pick two champions in reaction to the blue side’s first pick. Usually, they will pick something we cannot easily counter, so we pick two champions that are either considered good in the meta or we pick flexible champions, so the blue side has no idea where these champions are going. We can also secure a strong botlane if for example Rakan and Xayah are open and are good in the current meta, we can pick these two as they are stronger together and we leave no chance for the enemy to pick or ban it.

Last pick with two bans

Rounding out our team composition on the red side, we can either react to what the enemy has drafted, or we secure one of our two sololanes and use our next set of bans to ban out counter matchups. For example, we pick Orianna as a control mage in the midlane on our third pick. Now we should focus on banning one or two midlane champions away from the enemy so our Orianna has a good time in the midlane. We can also use this pick to get a jungler and save our last two picks for strong sololanes.

All cards on the table

When the last ban phase is over, we can secure a good blindpickable champion. In previous meta’s this was a tank toplaner, good scaling ad carry or control mage in the midlane. Your preparation is key here. After your opponent locked in their whole team composition, you can use your last pick to round out yours. Look to secure a good solo lane matchup for your star player so he can take over the game. You must give him a lot of trust, but you know that against this team he can carry with this champion. Your team composition is now complete and you go into the loading screen. Repeat the game plan to your players and make sure they are focused going into the game (so do not talk too much about things you cannot control).

As you can see, preparation is one of the most important things in the draft. If you cannot anticipate anything your opponent will do, you can be surprised in the draft which will result in mistakes. Stay true to your game plan as much as possible and adapt along the way. Of course, there is much more to drafting but this is a considerably basic guide to provide more detailed information. Lastly, test drafts by going into custom games with your friends. You know how they play and ask them to take it seriously. You will make mistakes, even the professional coaches on the highest level do. It is a stressful task as you only have a couple of seconds to make decisions. 

Also read:

• League of Legends: How to play Gwen
• 5 Support champions to help you climb out of low ELO in League of Legends

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Image credit: Riot Games