Why Does Faker Ban Aatrox: Explaining The Solo Queue Ban

For a few weeks now, both on Reddit and on the internet in general, a debate that started over six years ago has been reopened: Why does Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok ban Aatrox in his streams in solo queue.

To give some more context to the situation, Faker is the biggest example in League of Legends of the importance of consistency, both in and out of the game.

Aatrox and his versatility

Aatrox is a champion who is able to get a lot of sustainability both on lane and in fights that leaves the rest of the characters at the height of the asphalt and, in case of doing well, we will even see how they have to lower Aatrox’s health bar two or three times due to excessive healing.

In addition to this the champion is a good blind pick, who loses the lane phase against few champions, there aren't many champions who, on a paper, are strong enough to individually shut Aatrox down. The best champions to counter Aatrox are Yorick, Heimerdinger, Fiora, Kled and Illaoi.

But lately the possibility of taking Aatrox mid (as a midlane champion) has also arisen. First, it's crucial thing to clarify why the majority of melee champions, like Riven, Fiora, and others, aren't particularly potent in mid. They lack reliable strategies to engage an enemy mage and do more damage than they are receiving. A melee champion also needs to return to their minion wave after the deal while enduring a harassment of an opponent.

Aatrox is not in the same situation as most of melee champions. His first hit of Q has an unexpectedly long range, and, if it hits your champion, most likely you will take at least a second hit of Q in addition to the fact that an auto will deal around half your HP. And playing as a mage with limited mobility, you're probably already dead if he hits with that third hit of Q.

Aatrox

With how much damage he deals, Aatrox is very tanky, and thanks to second wind and bone armor, ranged opponents typically cannot poke him hard. He is extremely safe because of his amazing waveclear, which is comparable to that of Orianna or Xerath. His midlane roam potential is quite high because his ult mixed with Youmuu’s Ghostblade effectively transforms him into Sonic.

Faker and his latest story with Aatrox

The three-time world champion is known for the simplicity and serenity he conveys and this is reflected in his streams as well. But lately the debate that was opened 6 years ago is gaining intensity again because the Korean midlaner has been varying over the years between not banning any champion and banning Aatrox.

Some people think that Faker bans Aatrox because he think the the champion is in meta and might affect the game, other people think that this ban may be because Aatrox reminds him of the fateful series against DRX in the world final where Hwang "Kingen" Seong-hoon's Aatrox wreaked havoc.

It was League of Legends Worlds Championship where DRX beat T1 in the fifth game to win the Worlds with 3-2 score. We could finally witness the total dominance of a champion in the whole tournament, or at least in the Main Event: Aatrox, the Sword of Darkness, was the most important champion of the tournament by far, with a 100% presence in the Main Event and 96% in the Play-In.

The harsh reality

The reality is much simpler than the fables and stories that would surpass the imagination of Stephen King that we can find in Reddit threads, and is that the ban of Aatrox is due to the fact that alphabetically is the first champion in League of Legends, nothing more and nothing less.

For some people Faker's simplicity prevails in even the most mundane act in their day to day lives, for others his theories are shattered just like G2 Esports' dreams at Worlds 2018 due to TheShy's Aatrox.