What is Fearless Draft?
Fearless Draft presents a significant departure from the traditional pick-and-ban system in League of Legends. It draws inspiration from the "International Draft" format seen in Arena of Valor.
The core principle of Fearless Draft is that teams are prohibited from re-picking champions they have already used in previous games within the same Best-of-3 (Bo3) or Best-of-5 (Bo5) series.
For instance, if Team A selects Ahri in Game 1 of a Bo5, they cannot pick Ahri again in Games 2, 3, 4, or 5. However, Team B, having not picked Ahri in Game 1, retains the option to select her once during the remaining games.
While Arena of Valor employs a blind pick in the final game of a series, League of Legends' Fearless Draft maintains the standard pick-and-ban phase for all games, including Game 5. Riot Games has indicated plans to refine and evolve Fearless Draft further in 2025.
What is Hard Fearless Draft?
Hard Fearless Draft represents a more stringent version of the original concept. In this variant, both teams are barred from re-picking any champion that either team has played in the preceding games. This contrasts with standard Fearless Draft, where the restriction only applies to each team's own previous picks. Consequently, each game in a Hard Fearless Draft series results in ten additional champion bans, termed "Fearless Bans," on top of the usual ten standard bans.
Here's a breakdown of the accumulating bans throughout a Bo5 series under Hard Fearless Draft:
- Game 1: 10 Standard Bans
- Game 2: 20 Total Bans (10 Standard Bans + 10 Fearless Bans)
- Game 3: 30 Total Bans (10 Standard Bans + 20 Fearless Bans)
- Game 4: 40 Total Bans (10 Standard Bans + 30 Fearless Bans)
- Game 5: 50 Total Bans (10 Standard Bans + 40 Fearless Bans)
Advantages of Fearless Draft
- Champion Pool and Playstyle Diversification: Fearless Draft promotes a wider variety of champion picks and strategic approaches within competitive matches.
- Forced Adaptability: Players are compelled to demonstrate proficiency on a broader range of champions, revealing their strengths and weaknesses.
- Counter-Strategy Potential: Opponents can exploit identified strengths and weaknesses of individual players or teams through targeted bans and picks.
- Upset Potential: Teams with unconventional playstyles gain a greater opportunity to secure individual game wins against stronger opponents.
- Development in Tier 2 Scenes: Its implementation in lower-tier leagues encourages emerging players to expand their champion pools and skillsets.
Disadvantages of Fearless Draft
- Specialization Challenges: Players may find it difficult to achieve mastery on a vast number of champions, potentially impacting overall skill levels.
- Strategic Preparation Diminishment: The element of randomness introduced by Fearless Draft can reduce the effectiveness of pre-planned strategies and team compositions.
- Potential Skill Degradation: In a negative scenario, Fearless Draft could shift the focus from strategic depth to raw mechanical skill, potentially hindering the development of players and coaches.
Where is Fearless Draft Being Implemented?
The League of Legends Pro League (LPL) in China was the first major region to adopt Fearless Draft for its 2024 Summer Split.
Riot Games intends to expand the use of this format across both international and regional competitions in 2024.
The Vietnam Championship Series (VCS) is considering implementing Fearless Draft, potentially as early as the 2024 Summer Split.
The LPL, China's secondary league, was a pioneer in using Fearless Draft in its 2022 Summer Split.
The LCK Challengers League (LCK CL), the secondary league in Korea, has implemented a modified version of Fearless Draft known as Hard Fearless Draft in 2024.
