Fearless Draft in League of Legends: Everything You Need to Know
Discover what Fearless Draft is and how it works in professional League of Legends tournaments. Learn about its potential benefits and drawbacks.
Fearless Draft is a new format that has been gaining popularity in professional League of Legends (LoL) tournaments. It aims to introduce more diversity and experimentation in the drafting phase of the game.
The format has already been adopted by some leagues in the past. Riot Games has announced that a version of Fearless Draft will be used in the new international LoL tournament debuting in 2025, signaling their interest in exploring this format further.
What is Fearless Draft?
Fearless Draft is a format that introduces additional restrictions on champion picks during the drafting phase of a LoL match. The main goal of this format is to prevent teams from picking the same champions in multiple games of a series. By doing so, it forces teams to adapt their strategies and showcase a wider range of champions.
There are two types of Fearless Draft:
- Soft Fearless Draft: In this version, a team cannot pick a champion they have already used in a previous game of the series. However, the opposing team is still allowed to pick that champion.
- Hard Fearless Draft: In this version, once a champion is picked by either team, it becomes unavailable for both teams for the remainder of the series.
How Does Fearless Draft Work?
The specific rules of Fearless Draft may vary slightly depending on the league or tournament. However, the general guidelines are as follows:
- Fearless Draft is typically used in best-of-three (BO3)
- In Game 1, there are no additional restrictions. All champions are available for both teams to pick.
- In subsequent games (Game 2 onwards), the champions picked in the previous games become unavailable for the team that picked them (Soft Fearless) or for both teams (Hard Fearless).
Potential Benefits of Fearless Draft
- Increased Champion Diversity: By preventing teams from repeatedly picking the same champions, Fearless Draft encourages a wider variety of champions to be played throughout a series. This can make the matches more exciting and unpredictable for viewers.
- Strategic Adaptation: Teams are forced to adapt their strategies and draft compositions based on the champions that become unavailable. This tests a team’s ability to think on their feet and come up with creative solutions.
- Expanded Champion Pools: Players are challenged to expand their champion pools and showcase their proficiency on a larger number of champions. This can lead to the development of new meta picks and playstyles.
Potential Drawbacks of Fearless Draft
- Reduced Champion Mastery: Some argue that Fearless Draft might negatively impact the highest level of play by forcing players onto champions they are less comfortable with. This could lead to a decrease in the overall quality of gameplay.
- Unfamiliar Matchups: With champions being banned out, players might find themselves in matchups they are not well-versed in. This could result in more volatile and unpredictable outcomes.
