Draven isn't hard to beat. He's hard to beat twice, because the first kill buys a lead you spend the rest of the game underneath.
The Draven problem is compounding interest. He wins one trade, takes one kill, buys an item you don't have, and now the lane isn't a lane. That's real, and the way out of it isn't out-trading him at level 2. It's understanding that his damage requires him to walk to a specific spot, over and over, all game.
Check out our top Draven counters below for more information on how to beat him!
Counter Guide
How to Beat Draven
Draven isn't hard to beat. He's hard to beat twice, because the first kill buys a lead you spend the rest of the game underneath.
The Draven problem is compounding interest. He wins one trade, takes one kill, buys an item nobody else has yet, and the lane stops being a lane. He's a champion our solo queue tier list will never rate the way the person on the receiving end does, and the games that go badly go badly fast. The way out isn't out-trading him at level 2. It's understanding that his damage requires him to walk to a specific spot, over and over, all game long.
Ashe- Slows or roots, because his damage is a movement pattern rather than a cooldown
- The range or the wave control to make catching axes cost him last hits
- A way to survive one bad trade, since a single kill is worth more to him than to anyone else
Draven Overview
Strengths: What Makes Him Dangerous
- Spinning Axe [Q] lets him hold two at once, and catching one refreshes Blood Rush [W], so his damage and his move speed feed each other in a loop.
- He earns gold nobody else on the map is earning (League of Draven [Passive] cashes in bonus gold on every champion kill). That's why a small Draven lead turns into a large one so much faster than it should.
- Stand Aside [E] is a disengage and a setup at the same time, depending on which one he needs when he presses it.
- Blood Rush [W] gives attack speed and a big burst of move speed, and every axe he catches hands it straight back to him.
- His ultimate crosses the map twice, and the return trip resets its damage falloff.
Weaknesses: Where You Get In
- Catching axes moves him to a predictable spot. That spot is where every punish in this matchup happens.
- Dropping the axes guts his damage. For the next several seconds he's a 550 range marksman with nothing special about him.
- Slows and roots hurt him more than most. His damage depends on movement, so anything that removes movement removes damage.
- He has no sustain and no shield. A returned all-in kills him and he has one dash-free escape to prevent it.
- His range is 550 with no way to extend it. Every marksman who out-ranges him gets to farm safely by default.
Countering Draven
Based on the strengths and weaknesses above, beating Draven comes down to champions who can accomplish at least one of the following:
- Slow him constantly. A permanent slow is a permanent reduction in axe uptime, which is a permanent reduction in his damage.
- Punish the catch spot. Watch where the axe is going to land (he has to be there), and ignore where he's standing right now.
- Deny the level 2 all-in. Most of his leads are built in the first three minutes, and playing the first wave carefully removes the whole plan.
- Out-range him rather than out-trading him. 550 is short and he has nothing that extends it, so distance is a permanent advantage.
If you're already locked into the matchup without any of those tools, these strategies still work:
Playing a Bad Draven Matchup
Hold your escape for Stand Aside [E] rather than for the all-in. The knock aside is what sets up the trade he wants, and denying it costs him the entire sequence.
Freeze the wave near your tower, even if it feels a bit passive. He needs to walk forward to catch axes and to last hit, and a wave that sits behind your turret makes those two things incompatible.
Buy an early Cloth Armor and a health potion rather than a damage component if the level 2 went badly. His damage is entirely physical and the numbers are tighter than they feel.
Ask your support to trade with him during his catch rather than during his attacks. Every axe he drops to avoid a poke is a large chunk of damage he doesn't have for the next exchange.
Best Draven Counters
Three answers, and all three attack the same thing from different angles: the fact that Draven has to be in a particular place at a particular time.
Ashe Takes Away His Footwork
Frost Shot [Passive] slows on every single basic attack (no cooldown attached), and that's the most direct possible answer to a champion whose damage is a movement pattern. Draven catching axes under a permanent slow is Draven catching fewer axes.
Volley [W] applies that slow across a cone at 1200 units, well outside his 550 range, so she doesn't have to be in the trade to shut the loop down. Enchanted Crystal Arrow [R] then means the one all-in he does commit to ends with him stunned in the middle of your lane.
Sivir Spell Shields the Engage
Spell Shield [E] blocks the next enemy ability and heals her when it lands, and the ability Draven needs is Stand Aside [E]. Blocking it removes the knock aside and the slow together, which turns his all-in into two people standing next to each other with no setup.
Ricochet [W] and Boomerang Blade [Q] let her shove the wave faster than he can farm it, which forces him to catch axes under his own tower rather than in open lane. On The Hunt [R] then gives her whole team the move speed to arrive on him, and somehow he still has no dash to answer that.
Ziggs Denies Him the Space
Hexplosive Minefield [E] covers the exact ground Draven needs to walk over to catch a returning axe. He can take the mines and keep the damage, or he can drop the axe and lose it, and both outcomes are wins for the lane.
Bouncing Bomb [Q] out-ranges him at 850 units and clears the wave he wants to farm, and Satchel Charge [W] answers the all-in by removing him from range at the moment he commits. His movement speed advantage doesn't help against a champion who never needed to be close.
Itemizing Against Draven
Draven is pure physical damage delivered by basic attacks, and there's no sustain anywhere in his kit to work around:
Immortal Shieldbow is the carry answer, because the shield triggers on exactly the burst window a Spinning Axe [Q] combo creates. Plated Steelcaps and Randuin's Omen both cut that burst directly, and Randuin's also slows him afterward (the last thing his axe loop wants). Frozen Heart handles the attack speed Blood Rush [W] hands him.
Where Draven Actually Sits Right Now
Counter picks age with the patch, so check the current numbers before you trust a matchup:
- League of Legends Solo Queue Tier List, updated every patch
- Tier List Changelog, for what moved and why
- How to Beat or Counter Series, for every other matchup guide
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