Top 10 Most Played Champions in Worlds Finals of All Time

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As Worlds 2024 reaches its climax, let's explore the top 10 most frequently picked champions in previous Worlds finals.

Joint 5th place with 10 Games is a 6 way tie

Aatrox

Aatrox has risen to prominence over the past few years of professional League of Legends. In the last 3 finals, the top-laner has been selected in 9 out of 13 games.

Featuring in 2 world finals at the time of this article, Zeus is responsible for 30% of Aatrox picks. Source: Lolesports.com

Despite his dominating presence in regular season spring splits, Aatrox has been absent from this year's Worlds due to nerfs.

Ezreal

Ezreal has been picked in 6 of the 13 finals, making a grand total of 10 appearances. It should come as no surprise that early-released champions will contribute heavily to this top 10.

Ezreal had a 100% presence in the Season 2 World Championship final. Source: Lolesports.com

Gragas

Gragas was initially known for being a burst assassin played in the mid lane with Deathfire Grasp. However, his role and identity have evolved over time, leading to success on the world stage as a top-laner and jungle.

This item had an active that allowed Gragas and other mages to one-shot squishy targets. It was subsequently removed in patch 5.2 and is now only available in Nexus Blitz.

Graves

Similarly to Gragas, Graves' identity has drastically changed since his first appearance at a world final in season 2 as an AD carry. Although currently known as a farm-heavy jungler, Graves was primarily utilized as a top-laner during the 2021 Worlds finals, featuring in 4 out of 5 games in the series. He was a priority pick for both DK's Khan and EDG's Flandre.

Graves was banned in the only game he wasn't played at the 2021 Worlds. Source: Lolesports.com

Jarvan IV

During the early years of League, Jarvan dominated the highest stage of the international scene. Having picked up 7 out of his 10 showings on the finals stage seasons 1-4, he has only made singular appearances in seasons 7, 9, and 11.

Dandy played Jarvan twice, winning and losing once, in SSW's 3-1 victory over SHR in season 4. Source: Lolesports.com

Ryze

During seasons 4 to 7, Ryze was a dominant pick in professional matches, appearing in 4 consecutive finals. Previously, he was sometimes chosen as a flex pick for either the mid or top lane, allowing teams to prioritize selecting the champion early in the draft.

4. Orianna, 11 Games

Advancing to the top 4, Orianna takes her place with 11 finals appearances. Following her release, Orianna has consistently remained relevant in the meta and is commonly regarded as a staple in the mid-lane. Despite not being played in the past 2 finals, she was commonly banned in the draft.

Orianna is the third most-played champion by Faker, boasting the highest win rate among the three. Source: gol.gg

3. Lulu, 11 Games

Lulu saw her most prominent year in season 5, having a 94% presence prior to the finals. Her main role was as a solo laner, predominantly in the mid-lane, and focused on building full ability power. She saw a resurgence as a support during the Ardent Censer meta in season 7, which favored enchanter supports such as Lulu and Janna.

The meta in Season 7 revolved around teams focusing on scaling and strategizing around AD carries who excel in hyper-scaling. It wasn't exciting. Source: lolesports.com

2. Jhin, 12 Games

During the season Jhin was introduced, he appeared in all 5 games of the World Championship finals, becoming 1 of only 3 champions to achieve this feat.

In season 6, Jhin had two build options: one focusing on critical strike chance and the other on armor penetration, similar to the current Jhin build choices. Jhin was also a highly sought-after choice in the season 11 finals, making an appearance in 4 out of 5 games.

1. Lee Sin, 18 Games

Who else? Lee Sin has gained significant popularity in both professional and casual play. As of now, he holds the second-highest pick rate in the jungle for casual play and has topped this list by some distance.

Source: Porofessor.gg

Despite having only been picked once in this year's main event, he is a comfort pick for some of the junglers left in the tournament. It would not come as a surprise if this champion is picked in the latter stages of the tournament.

Honorable Mentions

Varus, 9 games
Thresh, 9 games
Leona, 8 games
Ashe, 8 games

Random Facts

Nocturne has been selected for the World Finals only 2 times, in Season 1 and last year.
Ryze is the only champion consistently chosen for four consecutive years (seasons 4 - 7).
Varus, Lee Sin, and Jhin are the only champions to appear in every match of a full 5-game series at a World Finals.
Despite being in and around the meta over previous years, Corki has not been picked in a final for 9 years (2 games).
Azir has only featured in 7 World Finals matches, 4 of which were in season 12.
Yasuo and Yone have each played two games.
All 4 of Rek'Sai's appearances happened in the same series (season 5).
Jarvan and Aatrox are the only champions in the list to not feature at this year's Worlds (Aatrox, however, did feature in Worlds play-ins).