Varus
According to statistics from Gol.gg, Varus has a 100% pick and ban rate in professional tournaments. Notably, this champion has been banned 249 times and selected only 10 times, indicating that teams are extremely wary of facing this archer. The frightening aspect of Varus is his lethality playstyle, which makes him strong early on and particularly effective when he has items, providing abundant crowd control in team fights, a necessity for any ADC.
However, Varus is not as dominant in solo queue, holding an acceptable win rate of 49% and is considered a mid-tier ADC. Keep in mind that in solo queue, Varus does not synergize well with support champions, and players do not have the luxury of creating space to poke enemies. Therefore, it is entirely understandable that Varus remains at an average level in solo queue.
Aphelios
It goes without saying how powerful this “200 years” champion is, with stories of Aphelios pulling off 2v3 plays or using his ultimate to wipe out entire enemy teams being quite common. However, you can only achieve this when you truly understand Aphelios’s strengths and weapon forms, and those who excel at this are none other than professional League of Legends players. When safely protected, Aphelios can indeed “carry the world” if given the chance.
The story of “200 years” in solo queue is quite the opposite; he is currently the “weakest” ADC with just a 48.04% win rate. Ordinary players find it difficult to master the power that Aphelios possesses as they must maintain positioning like a typical ADC while also switching weapon forms and using skills appropriately, rather than just attacking like other champions. If you do not truly understand Aphelios, it is best to avoid picking him.
Kalista
While Kalista does not have a complex passive like Aphelios, her weakness lies in how easily she can be punished for mistakes; a single misstep can lead to instant elimination. Therefore, in solo queue, it is challenging for Kalista to unleash her full potential as there are too many damage-dealing champions and threats against her, while her defensive capabilities are quite limited.
However, everything changes completely when Kalista is played by professional gamers, those who play at the highest level in the world. Moreover, the synergy between the ADC and support in professional teams is incredibly strong, allowing them to optimize Kalista’s damage output, enabling her to deal damage as comfortably as possible. Furthermore, due to her unique characteristics, professional teams do not always select high-damage compositions, inadvertently reducing the threat to her.