Draven does it all with style!!!!

[Silverocean]

How come Draven doesn't see more competitive play!!!D:!! I know people will say that catching spinning axes in team fights is not only tough but near impossible sometimes and I agree which is why I try my best to to either go in with spinning axe and get one off or if I can go in with two spinning axes!

I just picked him up and his soul reaver skin and love him!! His early game damage is just amazing and his range with his spinning axe is crazy o.O!! Is it because he doesn't have the mobility of Graves,Corki or Ez?

[Deleted]

Pretty much what you said at the end, his mobility isn't the greatest, he has a speed boost but that isn't much. Damage wise he is fine, just harder to play where as you can play the 3 you mentioned easily and do just as good as you could with Draven.

[Isrozzis]

Basically because he is the hardest ranged AD in the game. If you don't catch his axes his damage starts to fall off, and it's really easy to make him not catch the axes. It's not so much that the axes hit so hard, but that it refreshes his W, which lets you chunk them really fast.

And like you said, he doesn't have much mobility outside of a movespeed increase.

[Pandragon]

Not to offend anyone, but in my opinion he takes a decent amount of skill, and no one wants a champ that requires skill.

[Bombkirby]

Not to offend anyone, but in my opinion he takes a decent amount of skill, and no one wants a champ that requires skill.

No its just a high skill cap champ can be exploited by the enemy. Especially Draven's playstyle. It's like if you and a friend are carrying dishes to the sink, and you're holding them in your hands while he's balancing them on his nose. With practice he can flawlessly walk around with the dishes. But exploit the fact that he needs to concentrate by bothering/distracting him and he'll break a bunch of dishes while you took the safer route where such distractions aren't a problem for you.

[Duronos]

Not to offend anyone, but in my opinion he takes a decent amount of skill, and no one wants a champ that requires skill.

Half true, some champions bring so much though to the table (Anivia comes to mind) that they are worth it regardless. Draven really can bring a lot to the table due to his early game and lane domination. I mean this guy is just so powerful bot that you need to choose a gank happy jungler to make sure he dies.

[Pandragon]

No its just a high skill cap champ can be exploited by the enemy. Especially Draven's playstyle. It's like if you and a friend are carrying dishes to the sink, and you're holding them in your hands while he's balancing them on his nose. With practice he can flawlessly walk around with the dishes. But exploit the fact that he needs to concentrate by bothering/distracting him and he'll break a bunch of dishes while you took the safer route where such distractions aren't a problem for you.

Yes, but if he masters the skill to not get distracted, and hold his concentration solid. Then that won't be a problem. You can only be exploited if you let yourself get exploited.

[Bombkirby]

Half true, some champions bring so much though to the table (Anivia comes to mind) that they are worth it regardless. Draven really can bring a lot to the table due to his early game and lane domination. I mean this guy is just so powerful bot that you need to choose a gank happy jungler to make sure he dies.

Well Anivia doesn't have any mechanics requiring for her to go against normal/smart choices, unlike Draven who has to choose between grabbing an Axe or getting to a safer and more ideal position. That axe grab may just put you right in the way of a Blitz grab or something when you should have stayed behind the teammate who's next to you.

In fact I wouldn't say Draven's problem is skillcap. Its just how grabbing axes sometimes forces you to do something less-than smart. And most people won't be forced into that, making him lose out on DPS.

---------- Post added 2012-09-15 at 02:06 AM ----------

Yes, but if he masters the skill to not get distracted, and hold his concentration solid. Then that won't be a problem. You can only be exploited if you let yourself get exploited.

I was thinking distraction as in.... punching him or tripping him. Because thats what "distractions" in LoL are going to be. Getting hit by a single spell and getting your ass whooped because you werent standing where it would have been smarter to stand, thanks to the RNG of the Axe's landing spot. Its out of your control. No amount of skill will always make the Axe's land exactly where you need to be.

[Duronos]

Well Anivia doesn't have any mechanics requiring for her to go against normal/smart choices, unlike Draven who has to choose between grabbing an Axe or getting to a safer and more ideal position. That axe grab may just put you right in the way of a Blitz grab or something when you should have stayed behind the teammate who's next to you.

In fact I wouldn't say Draven's problem is skillcap. Its just how grabbing axes sometimes forces you to do something less-than smart. And most people won't be forced into that, making him lose out on DPS.

One axe though, the damage on it and then there is a bit of a DoT afterwards.

[StNimrod]

High skill cap, especially when you're trying to farm, avoid enemy supports from engaging (Blitz, Leona, Taric), dodging skillshots and catching the damn axes.
Also, catching this stuff in teamfight.. NOT FUN.

And other ad carries do just fine without that, much less spamming and pretty much the same damage output. (Ez probably has the most abilities to "use", rest has a volley or something along these lines)

If it wasn't for awesome personality, he would be overlooked :/

[Duronos]

I think he can work in some comps but it's more about what the enemy chooses for him to be chosen therefore making him more of a counterpick choice regarding enemy comp.

[Zeoni]

He does a lot of damage and doesn't really fall off ever, but the fact that you can't just right click people and kill them like other AD Carry's (for the most part) is why people don't really play him. If you're talking pro level play, the champions with escapes are just the cream of the crop. But if you mean just ranked games by competitive play, it honestly doesn't matter who you AD Carry with. You're not ever going to lose because of the champion you're playing in bot lane. Some comps are just harder to farm against, it mainly goes down to which ad/support play better together. Whoever farms better and gets the early kills will win the lane, and in the case of a stalemate whoever's team ganks bot better will win. The fact that he has to move around to do the amount of damage other AD Carry's would do in a team fight makes him a bit worse of a pick. However, if you can manage picking up the axes, you'll do more damage than even Vayne or Trist. What it all comes down to is how much effort you're willing to put in, it's not exactly hard to click circles on the ground to do maximum damage moreso inconvenient. I woulden't exactly say his skill cap is high since it's not really skillful as much as theres consequences of doing more damage (putting yourself in random positions just to pick up axes). Something that every other champion in the game doesn't have to deal with.

His laning phase is really good though, especially if you're playing with Leona or Taric or Sona. It's very easy to just pick up an early advantage and stomp the enemy ad/support if you play super aggresive straight from the start. The only thing you probably won't be able to just force down and zone out of cs is Soraka supports. The +armor buff on her heal makes it so hard to actually kill her AD and if you go on her, their carry will just dominate you and she'll heal up after the stun. Personally, I prefer Leona support because once you hit 6, she does so much damage on her own + the 2 stuns can make the other team just terrified.

[Duilliath]

The number one thing an AD carry needs to get right is positioning. Having your position dictated by anything other than both teams is asking to just get splatted.

His mini game is great. Until it comes to actual teamfights, where it's just a huge risk that you can not afford as AD.

[Deleted]

The number one thing an AD carry needs to get right is positioning. Having your position dictated by anything other than both teams is asking to just get splatted.

His mini game is great. Until it comes to actual teamfights, where it's just a huge risk that you can not afford as AD.

You still do lots of damage without catching an axe though. The burst of ult+aa+spinning axe is a lot, and even if you don't catch the axe you might have just almost killed someone.

The good thing about catching the axes is getting your speedbuff refreshed, but still...Caitlin and MF don't use their Q and Ult respectively after having many items, as it will lower their DPS...you don't see anyone complaining that they can't use their skills anymore.

To me, Draven has:
Decent escape with his miniknock'back' and speedboost
Godly laningphase, which means you'll be able to farm up better than the enemy carry and make life hell for underfarmed opponents.

He's definitely my(!) best AD-carry and I wonder if he suffers the same syndrome as Cassiopeia, Ezreal and Urgot, being regarded as UP until some pro picks him up...resulting in cries of OP, followed by a nerf.

[Duilliath]

Which is part of why they are not competitively used.

He has no repositioning skill, but needs to reposition himself for max dps. Same goes to some extend for Caitlyn. Her repositioning skill is clunky, but at least she has one. She needs brush for maximum burst. MF has no repositioning skill, only her weak passive.

Part of Draven's escape is tied to his steroid. His steroid is extremely shortlived unless he can catch his axes. His steroid is weak compared some of the other ADs (just compare with Graves who has a reposition *and* a great steroid). Even MF has a stronger steroid than him.

Draven isn't bad. Far from. But he's nowhere near reliable enough come team fights to make him anything other than a niche pick.

[Solmyr13]

Draven's always been middle of the pack to me; not bad but not good. Other AD champs (going to use Ezreal as an example)can still farm with their ranged skills (Ezreal's Q for instance) even if being pushed out. If draven activates his axes, all you need is any support with a stun/knockback and it's interrupted, leading to a drop in DPS. He has no reliable escape if a jungler comes and you're pushed where as Ezreal have his Arcane Shift. Even in team fights, he brings no utility except for "push" so to speak while champions like Ezreal have the ability to grant bonus atk speed to his allies and remove atk speed from his enemies. Add in something like Frozen Heart and the enemy teams attack speed has just drastically dropped.

To me, Draven's like Shaco: just don't play like an idiot. Take your farm, realize you'll probably farm a bit less than your opponent at the start but if you feed him kills he's going to get even more CS. Pay attention, don't engage in stupid fights and if he overextends get a gank. I'd personally rather have an Ez/Corki/Graves anyday of the week on my team than Draven.

[Migey]

Draven is one of the highest damage ADs when played correctly, second only to Vayne. If done right, his constant steroid and insane damage boost from Spinning Axes makes him hit harder then just about anyone else in the game. However this is very difficult and displacement, CC, or even slows can really fuck him over. He is nontheless a solid AD carry and when played with a lot of skill is certainly a worthy pick.

[Duilliath]

Out of curiosity, how long do you think team fights last?

Trist's 90% speed boost might not be on constantly like Draven's minor boost might be, but it's most definitely up the entire team fight.

Kog'maw, Vayne, Graves and Tristana all do more damage come late game.

This is in part why Graves is still stupidly OP, as all the others have clear draw-backs.

[Isrozzis]

Out of curiosity, how long do you think team fights last?

Trist's 90% speed boost might not be on constantly like Draven's minor boost might be, but it's most definitely up the entire team fight.

Kog'maw, Vayne, Graves and Tristana all do more damage come late game.

This is in part why Graves is still stupidly OP, as all the others have clear draw-backs.

Late, late game where everyone pretty much has a full item build, I think graves does the least damage out of those ads. Kog and Vayne have the %health factor, and Trists AS buff lasts longer and is higher than Graves. Though he can refresh his sooner if he is shooting the whole time. Kog and Trist also out range him by a good portion, meaning they can do damage from a safer distance, and often 2-3 hit a ranged ad before they can even attack you. Vayne is just a late game monster. If they have equal item builds, Vayne will do more damage.

[Deleted]

Late, late game where everyone pretty much has a full item build, I think graves does the least damage out of those ads. Kog and Vayne have the %health factor, and Trists AS buff lasts longer and is higher than Graves. Though he can refresh his sooner if he is shooting the whole time. Kog and Trist also out range him by a good portion, meaning they can do damage from a safer distance, and often 2-3 hit a ranged ad before they can even attack you. Vayne is just a late game monster. If they have equal item builds, Vayne will do more damage.

That's definitely true. Whenever I choose Draven I hope to end the game far before that point, as in the first few teamfights the enemy AD will be underfarmed if you did a good job.

EDIT: Of course this is not a fool-proof strategy, but then again, what is