Just want to quickly go over the logic behind the ban/pick phase of the APL Group Stages that are going on right now since I've been seeing a lot of people on Youtube/social mediam/etc not understanding the rationale behind some of these choices. Hopefully this gives everyone some insight when watching the tournament - especially since the English streams are pretty terrible to say the least.

Global bans does NOT take effect in the group stages since all of the matches are BO1. Also keep in mind that Rouie is autobanned since she's a relatively new hero who had a different release date across the different regions (it would be unfair for the regions that got her late).

Before we get started lets get this out of the way:

Why isn't Paine banned/picked often?

The answer is simple, he's really good in ranked/casual but just okay in competitive play. He's a viable pick under most circumstances but isn't someone you want to prioritize in a BO1 setting.

- Too many arctic orbs which limits his early game snowball capabilities

- His ult is one of the most hit/miss things in the game both in terms of engaging and disengaging, in competitive play where everyone is on top of their game, you want to limit RNG as much as possible

- Speaking of RNG, his passive which allows him to backstab opponent is also too random, a lot of times it puts you in a position where you don't want to be in

- His impact is kind of meh if you fall behind

With that said, I think we're going to see Paine a lot once the matches become BO5 and BO7 with Global Bans in effect.

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Priority Ban:

Zip - Pretty self explanatory, most broken support in the game. He does so much on a competitive level that you don't want to deal with his shenanigans. He's basically permabanned in these tournaments.

Alice - She's too strong in the late game, since everyone is using Endless Cycle the games are guaranteed to last until the late game.

Florentino - He's too strong in lane and hard counters the likes of Omen and Maloch who are very good picks otherwise. You have to constantly gank him, and he has huge outplay potential even when behind in gold.

The 4th ban is kind of situational and depends on your understanding of the other team, you can consider banning the below heroes here:

Riktor – One of the strongest picks right now, not only is he extremely strong he’s also very versatile. You can put him in both side lanes (he counters most MMs in lane) or play him support. First picking him gives your team a lot of flexibility because the opponent can't really counter ban.

Keera - One of the strongest heroes in the game, so much damage/mobility into one hero. Even with her S1 nerf she's one of the most annoying heroes in the game.

Omen - One of the most popular heroes in competitive play since forever. He puts so much pressure on your side lanes when played correctly (and pros do play him correctly) and it's understandable if some teams don't want to deal with that.

Blue Team 1st Pick:

Pick ANY of the above if they slipped through the ban phase. Riktor/Omen/Keera (one usually slips through) are very strong first picks because of how dominant they are in their position and their lack of effective counters (assuming Flor is banned). Can also consider the below heroes:

Elandor - Definitely one of those "pick if not banned" heroes, does tons of damage, doesn't need to be babysit by the support, and is very versatile. He's mostly used in the jungle but you can throw him in the Dragon lane and do just fine. You can leave the dragon lane open until the second pick phase, and your enemy won't be able to effectively counter ban because they don't know whether or not you're going with a double ADC comp (which is very viable with Elandor).

Laville - Strongest MM in competitive play alongside Elandor, his ult is just too devastating when it lands, and these pro players land them VERY often. He's rarely first picked since he's not as oppressing as the "must ban" heroes, but he's a decent pick nonetheless. You definitely want one of Laville or Elandor on your team (don't need both).

Capheny - She's getting a bit overshadowed by Laville and Elandor, but she's easily the 3rd most popular marksman in these tournaments. She's rarely first picked or banned since Laville and Elandor are so good, but she's often a good choice for those double ADC comps which are quite popular thus far. MAD Team seems to prefer her over Laville from what I've seen, and they've been killing it so far.

Maloch - Again rarely first picked, but could be considered since he's very versatile and fits into any team comp.

Red Team 1st/2nd Pick:

One of Omen/Riktor/Keera should still be available, those are still good picks. Can also grab one of Elandor/Laville/Maloch here. You want to use these two picks to form your core, and use your third pick to counter pick your enemy's core heroes.

Blue Team 2nd/3rd Pick:

You want to use one of these picks here to go up against one of your opponent's core heroes, for example Lubu into Omen. Yena could be picked here if you let Florentino go through. The other pick you could use as a comfort pick depending on which hero your player is comfortable playing. MAD Team for example really likes Krizzix, so this is where they'll pick him. Some other teams might like Dirak/Raz.

Red Team 3rd Pick:

Similar to the blue team, you can use your third pick to counter any lane dominant heroes picked by the other team. A comfort pick that fits well with your core works here as well if you think you already have an answer for the enemy core.

2nd Ban Phase:

This is where you ban roles that your opponent haven’t picked yet. Dirak/Ignis/Raz are common if opponent hasn’t picked a mage yet, Kriknak/Enzo/etc if they haven’t picked a jungler, Roxie/Qi if they haven’t picked a slayer laner, etc. This is all situational depending on what every team like and dislike based on scrims. This is what makes Riktor/Maloch such good heroes in the first pick phase, because you can play them in so many ways it’s impossible for you opponents to counter ban/pick you.

2nd Pick phase:

Pick what’s left that’s best suited for your team comp/against enemy team comp, all situational here.

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Keep in mind this is just for the group stages where matches are BO1 (best out of 1). B/P phase is a COMPLETELY different story once global bans takes effect where each team is only allowed to use a hero once.