League of Legends’ Patch 9.7 was a long-awaited patch for fans of the All Random All Mid (ARAM) game mode. Riot put everyone’s favorite pirate capital back on the map, changed Barrier to have a jump-back mechanic, added a huge list of balance changes and included bans.
The new ban phase begins when a game lobby is created and all players are connected. Each player has one ban, totaling ten bans in a lobby. Once when the bans are done, each player then receives a random champion. They can reroll their given champion and trade champions from the pool or with their team.
The question is: which champions should be banned? There are so many worthy of a ban. This guide will highlight some of ARAM’s most dominant champions.
Permabans
Veigar
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Veigar has one of the smoothest farming experiences in ARAM. His Baleful Strike grants him bonus AP when he kills a minion, making him scale indefinitely. Veigar is known for his kit’s burst potential. Veigar will look to use his Event Horizon to trap someone and finish them with the rest of his kit. If anyone survives the first round of abilities, Veigar will execute them with Primordial Burst.
Karthus
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Karthus is one of the best team fighters in ARAM. Lay Waste offers both solid single target and moderate AOE damage. His Defile generates strong AOE damage surrounding Karthus. Both of these abilities are supported by his Wall of Pain. It lowers enemy magic resistance and slows them if they get caught. Karthus’ passive allows ability usage after death for a few seconds. This cleans up any team fight. Finally, his Requiem hits every living enemy champion for sizeable damage. Requiem becomes more powerful by building cooldown reduction items.
Illaoi
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This Lovecraftian worshipper is another team fight dominator. Illaoi has great harass from Test of Spirit. This summons a leashed soul of the champion that shares damage to the owner. When it expires, the enemy will spawn hostile tentacles they need to dodge. Finally, Leap of Faith summons a tentacle per enemy hit in a radius. Illaoi commands her tentacles to target someone with Harsh Lesson, to deal huge damage to them. Also, building items that heal Illaoi in combat make her one of the strongest bruisers on ARAM.
Twitch
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Twitch is one of the strongest mid game Marksmen in the game. Building Runaan’s Hurricane is even better on ARAM because of the thinness of the map. Twitch’s auto attacks stack Deadly Venom on opponents, which is spread easily by Runaan’s. Contaminate spends the stacks, dealing damage to the contaminated opponents in range. Twitch’s Ambush allows the player to sneak around for better positioning. Ambush also synergises well with Spray and Pray, which enhances his range and auto attacks. Lining up multiple opponents means his kit deletes lots of opponents very quickly.
Flavor of the Month Bans
Jarvan IV
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Jarvan has no issue shredding most tanks and destroying AP and Marksman carries. Jarvan’s kit is designed for getting up close quickly and trapping them. However, building Jarvan as an assassin means he can kill squishier champions instantly. Demacian Standard followed by Dragon Strike drags him to an opponent, where Cataclysm deals huge damage to those in the area. Jarvan also makes a good bruiser when needed.
Kayle
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Kayle is weak early due to being melee and having low damage output. However, when Kayle hits levels 6, 11 and 16, she becomes ranged and deals more damage. Divine Judgement makes herself or an ally invulnerable. Her auto attacks generate powerful waves that hurt anyone near her target. Kayle’s intensity grows the more on-hit items she builds. By late game, Kayle can solo win her team the game.
Honorable Mentions
Nidalee
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Nidalee has received a +15% damage buff on the ARAM mode. This combined with her Javelin Toss delivers serious damage when it connects. Nidalee can also turn into a cougar, which allows her to pounce onto anyone hit by her spear or stood on her trap. Nidalee is really good at poking and bursting in melee. She also has a heal which make her a valuable ally.
Kog’Maw
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Kog’maw is also one of the greatest ARAM Marksmen. When Kog’maw gets lots of AD items, his Bio-Arcane Barrage attacks quickly and shreds the HP of most enemies in a short space of time. Bio-Arcane also gives Kog’Maw additional range allowing him to safely hit targets. Also, Runaan’s Hurricane allows Kog’Maw to shred more than one person when Bio-Arcane Barrage is active. Kog’Maw also makes a decent mage. When Kog’maw has lots of AP and mana, he can spam Living Artillery to deal good AOE magic damage.
Pyke
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Pyke’s kit is supportive, but he can dish out pain as well. Pyke’s Bone Skewer can hook enemies closer to him, so his allies can get free damage off. His Phantom Undertow allows him to dash forward and stuns people who are caught by his ghost a second later. Combining the two together makes Pyke a prominent threat. In addition, Pyke’s Death from Below is an execute that resets if he gets the kill. This can clean up most team fights and gives his comrades gold if successful.
