Throughout the course of League of Legends history, the competitive meta has remained fairly moderate with consistent and gradual shake-ups making their way into the scene from time to time. However, with each role becoming more and more diversified throughout the 2018 season, players’ champion pools are widening, and variety is becoming incredibly prominent when it comes to the competitive meta.

As of today, 132 of the 141 champions in the game have been picked this season across all regions. Only nine characters have yet to be played in any competitive game this year, while three have been banned, but still not picked. Not a season has ever gone by where every champion has been picked at least once, but if unique selections continue to be made at this pace, 2018 might just be the year.

Katarina, Shaco, Nautilus, Vi, Wukong, Amumu, Garen, Kayle, and Tryndamere all make up the list of champions who have not seen the light of day this season, while Garen, Kat, and Shaco have all been banned away, but never picked. Tryndamere is an interesting spot, considering the fact that he’s only been picked once in the past five years. Katarina is also intriguing due to her 10 bans but 0 picks.

After some eye-opening changes to the bottom lane in Patch 8.11 that harken back to the Juggernaut Patch of Worlds 2015, professional players have been turning the long-established AD Carry & Support staple into a slew of archetypes. While many of the traditional AD Carry champions have remained present, new breakthroughs such as Mordekaiser, Yasuo, Ornn, and Vladimir have all creeped into the bottom lane, bringing diversity and variety to a lane that has needed it for quite some time.

And now, with China’s LPL beginning earlier today, as well as European and North American play slated to start this weekend, time is up for adjustments. The meta is still trying to figure itself and pros are caught in the crossfire.

Yet, if there’s any major positives to come out of the madness, it’s that professional League is incredibly fun to watch thanks to these changes, and for the first time in the history of the game, we could see every single champion make their way onto the professional stage in a single season.

Diversity is at its peak, and whether it was intended or not, variety and unpredictability are reigning supreme on Patch 8.11.

Photo Credit: Riot Games, League of Legends