One of LoL’s most-banned champions isn’t even broken

When a League of Legends champion has a high ban rate, it usually means they’re overpowered and Riot Games needs to hit them with the nerf hammer. One champion has an incredibly high ban rate, but they’re not even close to being as broken as Skarner.

According to stats site u.gg, Shaco is the second most banned champion in Patch 14.8, right behind Skarner. While Skarner holds a 32.7 percent ban rate, Shaco has 31 percent. Skarner’s ban rate doesn’t come as a surprise because this champion has been dominating Summoner’s Rift since their rework, and once they’re ahead, it’s hard to shut them down. Patch 14.9 will introduce a new set of nerfs to Skarner.

Shaco standing on top of a lantern. — _{Shaco is the second most banned champion right now. Image via Riot Games}

Riot hasn’t touched Shaco’s kit since Patch 14.4, and his win rate is around 50 percent (which should be indicative of a perfectly balanced champion, yet players are banning him). I presume players are banning Shaco so much because they don’t like playing against him. Not only does Shaco have stealth and a gap close ability in one, but he also has strong CC in the form of fear from his jacks and burst potential if he gets ahead. When playing against him, Sweeping Lens is your best bet. This helps you find his boxes and Shaco himself after he uses Deceive.

Shaco’s high ban rate doesn’t reflect him being broken. Instead, players just struggle to deal with him. Shaco has a strong early game and can easily punish any mispositioned squishy champion, but if he fails, he struggles. His jungle clear speed is quite slow, and in the support role, he only offers CC. I recommend getting your sweepers and focusing on your positioning while playing against Shaco.