Superstar T1 Comments on the “Fearless Draft”
Starting from the 2025 season, the Fearless Draft has been widely implemented across major professional League of Legends tournaments. According to information from Riot, this framework will be applied before the MSI 2025 and will not be absent from the Esports World Cup 2025. However, according to T1’s superstar Gumayusi, the Fearless Draft framework has yet to be widely accepted. The explanation from the 2002-born player has garnered attention from many viewers and is primarily based on Riot’s insights.
According to Gumayusi’s remarks on the stream, at least in the LCK, when there is a Fearless Draft, it often leads to a meta that is overly predictable. “Once the meta has been established, only champions that belong to the new meta are selected,” Gumayusi shared.
In reality, the observations from this player are entirely valid. After some lengthy BO5 matches, viewers have noticed the changes, while the BO3 matches still seem to only feature champions that are overly predictable. The top lane largely consists of fighting champions or those that thrive in the late game (Sion, Yorick, Rumble, Gwen, Jayce), while the mid lane frequently revolves around champions like Azir, Ahri, Taliyah, and Viktor. Other lanes also tend to stick to predictable champions, and if the match primarily focuses on two games, viewers have yet to see the effectiveness of the Fearless Draft framework.
In truth, Riot is not responsible for this issue as it is clear that many champions remain strong compared to others. For example, in Gumayusi’s lower lane, priority champions like Jhin, Varus, Miss Fortune, and Ezreal are frequently selected over champions like Draven or Jinx, which appear less often. Even a strong champion like Zeri only made 18 appearances in the draft, significantly lower compared to Ezreal’s 54.
Fearless Draft’s Potential in BO5 Matches
In the BO5 matches at the LCK Cup 2025, the Fearless Draft feature has made many fans excited with the appearance of “unique” picks like Aurelion Sol (who is considered out of the meta) or Viego in the mid lane. However, if it has to go to game 5, it can be too lengthy. And if the match in the BO5 ends after just three games, then there will be little to no changes in the draft.
Thus, the Fearless Draft framework still does not introduce any significant changes unless teams want to experiment. However, in crucial matches, the ability to experiment may vary, and when that happens, every pick may not differ from when Fearless Draft was not applied.
