After a fast and furious two months, a new LEC champion has been crowned with G2 Esports standing tall above the competition through the 2023 Winter Split. Rising above the rest, Varus also became the most-played champion during the 2023 Winter Playoffs, played eight times across the four series.
However, the Arrow of Retribution wasn’t as impactful as many might have wanted him to be, holding a disappointing 25 percent win rate across the stage, according to competitive League of Legends stats aggregate Oracle’s Elixir.
The only team that made Varus work was the eventual champions G2, who won against KOI and MAD Lions with the pick. Besides those instances, the popular champion failed to produce much for any other team in the tournament. He also had a 2.3 KDA, along with relatively underwhelming early-game stats and damage stats to boot.
Varus has been a staple meta champion choice for many AD carries, even during the regular season. He was the second-most played champion in the stage, but over 23 games played, he only had a 48 percent win rate. His ability to poke out enemies in the early game and his ultimate ability’s area-of-effect was negated by his lack of mobility and playmaking, which has become an even greater priority for LEC superstars.
Zeri, Lucian, and Ezreal have all been superior picks to Varus, since they can traverse a teamfight and zip around to avoid crowd control. Mobility is safety, and the most mechanically gifted players can utilize this speed to its maximum efficiency when dodging and weaving around skirmishes.
G2 was able to make Varus work due to their draft, in which they built a great front line and plenty of peel for Hans Sama, who would use his teammates as distractions and damage sponges while he dealt as much damage from the backline. Many fans hope that Varus will slowly fall to the wayside in the meta for more exciting picks when the upcoming 2023 Spring Split begins next week.
