In the past few weeks, the top League of Legends tournaments worldwide have returned with the summer season, and we can clearly see the changes in the meta with the application of patch 12.10. First, a series of champions that favor long farming, lane dominance, and late-game scaling have made a comeback. Notable among these are Azir and Ahri in the Mid Lane position.
For the Top Lane position, the emergence of Sejuani has been quite surprising, as this champion has traditionally been tied to the Jungle role. For example, in the LCK Summer 2022 tournament, Sejuani in the Top Lane currently has a staggering 73% pick and ban rate, an incredibly high figure. In fact, the last adjustment to Sejuani was a slight nerf to her passive, meaning this champion has not been buffed to become stronger. So, is this the main reason for her dominance in the top lane?
The answer lies in the recent tank update from Riot that made all champions in League of Legends “bulkier.” It’s important to note that Sejuani’s empowered basic attacks deal damage based on 10% of the target’s maximum health, so with the tank update, this champion can deal significantly better damage. Combined with the Grasp of the Undying rune, Sejuani can trade damage very effectively during the laning phase.
Moreover, with the advantage of having a dashing ability, Sejuani can forgo Flash and use Ignite to counter strong healers. Thus, with just the tank update, Sejuani has become an incredibly strong option in the Top Lane, allowing her to lane very comfortably and support ganks effectively.
Additionally, another reason why Sejuani is picked often in tournaments is that this champion can lane well against any opponent and, above all, is not afraid of losing lane. Being a tank champion, Sejuani only needs to build tank items to have a significant impact. Combined with her strong crowd control abilities, she is an extremely dangerous pick in team fights.
Furthermore, Sejuani can punish opponents’ mistakes if they play too casually, rendering enemy carries “useless.” A prime example was in the recent game 3 of WBG vs RNG, where just one overconfident move from TheShy allowed Breath to capitalize on Sejuani’s passive and Grasp of the Undying to take down Mordekaiser. This resulted in WBG losing all their advantages in that area and contributed to SofM and his team’s defeat.
In summary, with her strong laning capability against all matchups, substantial damage, and perfect fit for the current meta, Sejuani is an incredibly important champion in League of Legends tournaments. It will not be surprising if this champion continues to dominate in tournaments until the end of this summer season.