Data for preseason EU games come from the European LCS Promotion Tournament and the Battle of the Atlantic (39 games).
The niche picks for European teams—namely, Caitlyn, Renekton, and Zyra—suggest an emphasis on zone creation. They also play more Sona than other regions. In other regions, Sona and Zyra are not played because of how easily squishy supports are abused by Annie and Leona, but Europe seems to value the creation of zones with Sona and Zyra ultimates enough that this isn't as much of a concern.
Indeed, the fact that they are the only region to favor Renekton and Dr. Mundo over Shyvana, the top pick and contested top laner in all other regions, further suggests this emphasis on zone control. While Shyvana will dive an enemy team's back line with her ultimate, Renekton and Dr. Mundo are much better at peeling to protect the marksman, and Caitlyn's long range and 90 Caliber Net have always made it easy for her to abuse space created by beefy top laners.
Data for preseason NA games come from the North American LCS Promotion and the Battle of the Atlantic (37 games).
An emphasis on Shyvana, Sivir, and Olaf pits North America as a region that forms team compositions around speed, but they seem to be trumped in this area by the niche picks of Southeast Asia. North America, rather, favors late game power picks like Nasus and Jinx—who, though not pictured, bears the same pick and win rate as Lucian, making North America the region that picks her the most. Though both these picks lack high mobility, which is why they aren't played as much in other regions, few champions out scale Nasus and Jinx in the late game.
Couple this with a high priority on Kassadin shared with Europe, and North America has set itself up to abuse the long turtle stage brought about in the preseason patches.
Data for preseason SEA games come from League of Legends Nova League and Garena Premier League starting December eight (70 games).
As already mentioned, Southeast Asia seems to be the region of speed. With a higher priority on champions like Shyvana, Sivir, Olaf, Karma, Kayle—and even Lulu mid, Southeast Asia seems prepped to set their teams up around the bursts of speed offered by Talisman of Ascension.
Also like North America, Sotheast Asians tend to favor the longer games, which is why late game hyper carries like Jax and Kayle have held out in the region longer than in others. Speed coupled with late game picks make Southeast Asia specialized in rushing end game scenarios when death timers last upwards of sixty seconds.
Data for preseason Korean games come from Champions, starting December eighth (46 games).
Korea has been the region of sieging and high mobility champions for a while now, and the preseason has not changed that. Koreans pick or ban Ezreal 30% more of their games than any other region, despite his weaker laning phase.
They also tend to favor Nidalee and Lee sin quite a bit more than other regions. The combination of Nidalee and Ezreal creates a great deal of poke and siege potential, and Lee Sin is particularly good at creating pick opportunities and displacement.
Their tendency to prioritize Elise over all other champions makes Korea unique, but when one considers her versatility in pick and dive situations, it makes perfect sense. Their emphasis on faster sieges and high mobility has left high priority picks in other regions like Jinx and Ziggs in the dust. Korea tends to be extremely exclusive with their picks, sticking to champions that suit their playstyle, as their top contested picks appear in 96 or 98% of their pick and ban phases.
Globally, the Lucian and Annie bottom lane seems to be the undisputable king, though many will play Thresh when Annie is banned, especially in Southeast Asia. In the top lane, Shyvana reigns all but supreme, and she is the number one contested champion in 182 games with a pick or ban rate of 84%.
Though Olaf's speed gives him an edge in North America and Southeast Asia, Elise is the favored jungle pick. And though the West and the East can't seem to decide whether Gragas or Ziggs is the better mid laner, they all agree that Orianna comes in a close second making her the most contested mid laner globally.
Interestingly, there's also an increased tendency for Southeast Asia and Korea to ban bottom lane champions when western regions will favor top, mid, and jungle bans, barring the occasional Annie. I would guess this results from a combination of factors. Korea especially hosts a collection of powerful support players, including Mata, Madlife, Mafa, and PoohManDu. With the right champion, their ability to get a pick is game-changing, which is why the semifinal between KT Rollster Bullets and SKT T1 K featured about four support bans per game.
In addition, an increased emphasis on sieging turrets makes certain marksmen picks invaluable, so Southeast Asia especially saw a great deal of Sivir and Jinx bans.
Different regions have found different ways to adapt to the new patch, what with the increased importance of movement speed, late game scaling, and the defensive tree, there are a variety of options available. Regions so far have showcased different styles and preferences, whether it's picking up Dr. Mundo to abuse the perseverance mastery in Europe or forcing changes to bend to an already established game pace in Korea.
Though World's revealed the importance of following other regions, it seems that picks and bans won't be streamlined entirely. One might expect even more variety when China finally plays a professional match on the new patches.
Writing and Graphics: Kelsey "Prehistorique" Moser
Graphics: Ryanne "Froskurinn" Mohr (Stream)
