Why is Rek'Sai pick/ban in Korea ATM?

DorkunedAuras·May 31, 2016·2 votes·611 views

Mostly Title.

I've been watching esports, and noticed that suddenly Rek'Sai is meta again. She's more or less pick/ban, and I can't seem to figure out why.

She's had no changes in months. Nothing's become different, so why is she suddenly so amazing?

Google doesn't seem to be helping me either, which is huge.

Can anyone explain exactly what's going on?

Edit: Thanks a lot guys, this makes a lot of sense. I hope riot understands this and doesn't nerf my babe.

4 Comments

Princess EmmaMay 31, 20161 votes

I don't watch E-sports, nor do I care for it, but I would assume it is because of Rek'sai's Tremor Sense and potential map presence, which tends to be more useful in a professional and competitive environment where people actually work together and have a hive mind.

DorkunedAurasMay 31, 20161 votes

before this split, she was picked, but hardly pick/ban status, and suddenly she's super popular and drawing a bunch of bans again.

MeilinIIMay 31, 20161 votes

I can't tell you why it's Rek in particular that came up, but if you understand how meta shifts work it can help. If LCK is currently playing on patch 6.10, the one with the mage/drag changes, then even though Rek'sai wasn't changed, so much changed around her that she may have been indirectly buffed. Let's break it down:

Mages are buffed to shit. This means Junglers and Tanks with more inherent MR will rise above armor tanks (IE, Rammus is not going to be strong, as he's an Armor based Tank.)
Devourer is gone. This changes the meta A LOT. Bloodrazor is a very different item, meaning that cinderhulk may come back into style. (IE, Kindred without Devourer after their nerfs are much less scary, and probably won't be as pick/ban as they were in spring and MSI)
Dragons are very different and teams may like champs that use these new buffs more effectively A combination of these is likely why Rek rose, as she was only slightly below top tier for the entire Spring.

Miror BMay 31, 20161 votes

Reksai was always pretty decent in the meta despite the low pick/bans on her. The reason she's so popular now though has a lot to do with the shifts to the top/jg meta. Carries/split pushers are starting to take over the top-lane tank meta, while kindred/nid/"graves" (if you want to call him a carry) are either being banned or being forced into comps with a lack of an early game. Because of this, Gragas/elise/reksai are back into the secondary tier for jg while things like gnar/trundle/fiora are back into the primary tier for top lane.