In ranked play, the draft opens from the Epic rank: each team bans heroes, then players take turns choosing theirs. This is the only phase of the game where you can gain an advantage without touching your hero. This guide gives the principles; draft assistant applies them to the composition you have in front of you.
How does a ranked draft work?
- Bans: both teams ban at the same time. The number of bans depends on the highest rank in the game. Both teams can ban the same hero, which wastes a ban: agreeing in the chat beforehand avoids this duplication.
- The picks: the blue team chooses one hero, the red two, the blue two, the red two, the blue two, then the red the last.
- What matters: a hero chosen first is visible to everyone, a hero chosen last can respond to everything else.
Banning: remove the threat, not your favorite hero
A ban is used to remove the hero who would do the most harm to your team. Three reasons justify a ban:
- The hero is too strong in the current patch. The tier list and the statistics table show heroes who combine high win rates and high ban rates.
- The hero punishes what your team wants to play. If your mid lane only plays immobile mages, an assassin who punishes them deserves a ban.
- The hero is the known specialty of an opponent, when we know it.
A ban "out of fear" of a hero you don't know how to face can be reasonable in ranked, but it is better to learn this duel: the counter page of each hero, for example that of Ling, says who beats him and why.
Picking early or late
The order of the picks gives a simple rule:
- choose early heroes who fit well in almost any composition, or those who risk being taken by the opponent;
- choose late heroes who counter a specific opponent, and positions where a bad duel is costly, like exp lane or mid lane.
A team's first pick is often the strongest hero still available. The last pick is the one with the most information: it's the right time for a counter.
Counter without weakening
A counter is a hero whose kit directly responds to that of an opponent. Some examples of known counter logic:
- heroes who prevent movement, like Khufra or Minsitthar, against very mobile heroes;
- damage proportional to HP or raw, like that of Karrie, against tanks;
- a spell like Purify against heroes whose ultimate immobilizes a target, like Chou or Kaja.
The matchup matrix gives the differences in win rates measured between two heroes, rank by rank, and the hero comparison displays the details of a duel. But a counter is only worth it if you know how to play the hero: a poorly mastered counter loses against a well-played neutral hero.
Build a composition that holds
A winning composition is not five strong heroes: it is five roles that complement each other. Check at least these points before validating:
- a front line capable of absorbing and engaging;
- physical and magical damage: an all-physical team lets the opponent rely entirely on armor;
- control to catch a target or interrupt a diver;
- a jungler who secures objectives;
- a game plan: teamfights, single target attack, or split push.
Synergies matter as much as counters. A tank that groups enemies, like Atlas, works wonders with a mage whose ultimate hits an area. A support that attaches to an ally, like Angela, makes a diver much harder to kill. The team analyzer checks these points on a full roster, and each hero's duos page, like that of Atlas, shows which teammates they win the most with.
During the draft: a few habits
- Announce your position from the selection screen, and respect that of others.
- Don't take a second marksman or third mage because he's your favorite hero.
- If you are last to choose, wait to see the opponent: this is your advantage.
- If your hero is banned, always have a second choice on the same position.
To practice without stakes, the draft simulator plays a complete draft against a bot which relies on the site's measurements.
The most common mistakes
- Ban a hero that no one is playing in the current patch.
- Take a counter as the first pick: the opponent then chooses another hero and your counter no longer counters anything.
- Ignoring the physical and magical balance of the composition.
- Give up the game mentally from the draft: a composition that is less good on paper often wins by playing its objectives better.