As the first major international League of Legends event since Worlds in 2013, IEM Katowice is a time for players in all regions to get a preview of what's being played where and what picks and strategies might start transferring to their own servers. Here we look at the picks and bans from the first day of play.

CONTESTED PICKS.

For the most part, the most contested picks were to be expected. Annie, Elise, Lulu, Renekton, and Thresh were all contested in at least 6 of the 7 games, with Kassadin's nerf shutting down his contest rate to only 5 out of 7 games, with a loss in the one game in which he was picked.

Of these contested champions, Elise, Thresh and Renekton sat at positive winrates: Elise and Thresh both at 100% over 2 and 3 games played, respectively, and Renekton at 75% in his 4 games played. Lulu, interestingly enough, was banned generally targeting midlaners, but in 2 of her 3 plays was put in the toplane. Fnatic and Millennium each ran her there, and each lost with her. However KTB secured Lulu against iG when the Chinese team prioritized Yasuo, and gave the Yordle her only victory.

The really interesting pick here is Annie: she was chosen in 5 out of 7 games (played more times than any other champion except Wukong) and banned in 1, but had a 0% winrate, losing to Thresh, Leona, Morgana, and Zyra.

ROLE-SPECIFIC PICKS.

TOPLANE

Standard picks Dr. Mundo, Renekton, Shyvana, and Trundle accounted for 70% of toplane picks, while Lee Sin (used as a counterpick to Trundle due to his utility and ability to build damage), Lulu, and Olaf also saw play. As mentioned above, toplane Lulu didn't work out too well for either of the European teams in group A, but Lee Sin was more successful. With Coast running toplane Lee Sin in the NALCS, this pick might gain popularity as a counter to Trundle.

JUNGLE

In addition to standard western meta picks, Nocturne was pulled out in the very first game by Fnatic (but not as a counterpick to Pantheon), and Hecarim was played by Millennium later on alongside support Zilean for a movespeed composition; neither champion saw success. Notably, Hecarim was the only champion to be picked in IEM that hasn't seen play a single time in either LCS this split. Kha'zix and Wukong were both extremely popular, together accounting for 65% of jungle picks; and they along with Elise were the only junglers to be played more than a single time.

MIDLANE

Midlane saw the most variety of champion picks, with 8 distinct champions chosen and none played more than three times. As mentioned above, Kassadin did not see a 100% ban/pick rate due to the 4.3 nerfs. More interesting than midlane picks were midlane bans: There were only 14 midlane bans, accounting for just 33% of bans, compared to the roughly 60% of all bans across the two LCS regions directed towards the midlane. Mid was still the most-banned role, but the distribution was much more even than in the western LCS.

ADC

Unsurprisingly, there was little variation in ADCs played. Caitlyn, Sivir, and Lucian each ate a ban and those three champions accounted for 12 out of the 14 picks: Ezreal and Vayne were each picked one time.

SUPPORT

Again picks here were unsurprising. Annie, Leona, and Thresh were the only champions to be played multiple times, Annie without a single victory. The only really noteworthy pick here is that Cloud 9's LemonNation played Zyra support against TPA to great success. Zyra currently hasn't been played in the support role a single time in the LCS (she was played mid once by the Copenhagen Wolves) though she does see play in Korea, and LemonNation used to play Zyra frequently in the 2013 LCS. Perhaps this will herald her return to the botlane in Western competitive play.

ADC/SUPPORT SYNERGY

Nothing too surprising here. Sivir/Thresh and Lucian/Annie were the only lanes to be played multiple times, Sivir/Thresh victorious both times and Lucian/Annie winless.

Overall, there haven't been too many new picks in IEM, though toplane Lee Sin and support Zyra may gain more of a foothold in Western play in weeks to come.