The League of Legends developers often ship patches that don’t produce the best results. The same applies to Draven, whose win rate has plummeted seven percent after Riot Games nerfed his passive—and players aren’t happy.
The Glorious Executioner has seen better days in League. His 53.25 percent win rate in Diamond descended to 46.39 percent in just four days, according to stats site Lolalytics.
Draven, once a favorite AD carry among players, saw a significant decrease in popularity after the nerf. On May 18, he had a high of 78,638 players, but this number dropped to 67,367 on the day after the patch, illustrating the decline in player interest following the changes to his kit. One player on Reddit summed up the changes, saying “His passive is just wack, Draven is such a cool champion tied to a stupid gimmick.”
The nerf came on May 17 with Patch 14.10, with Riot reducing the champion’s passive bonus gold from 40 plus 2.5 per Adoration to 10 plus two per Adoration and lowered his Spinning Axe damage from 45-65 to 40-60.
The Noxian Champion has always been known for his high skill ceiling. Players have to pay special attention to his passive: League of Draven. The stacks of Adoration are challenging to obtain by catching the axe continuously during the match. After having a solid stack, players also need to cash out before falling to death and losing them altogether, adding a layer of complexity to his gameplay.
His challenging playstyle is likely why the champion’s play rate has remained the same in the low Elo. Instead, players above Diamond, who have mastered his kit, have abandoned him following the nerfs.
If the trends continue, we might see other AD carries taking the spotlight.