Welcome to the League of Draven.

I'm Granmuhh and for quite some time now (6 years) this game has been my life. I've logged over 10k hours on here and a lot of those have been on Draven.

One thing I want to make very clear before we begin is that I am NOT good at this game. To be honest, I believe, unless you are D1+ you really do not understand how the game is meant to be played. I understand many concepts of this game but if you're looking for high level game theory and strategy I would look somewhere else.

However.
If you want to learn how to have fun and play Draven, you've come to the right place.
I will teach you the power of Zen mind/Buddha mind gaming.


Let's begin.

I could go on and on about every ability in detail, but let's be honest, a Youtube video will do a much better job of that. I only want to give you information on Draven that is unique and not commonly known.

When I was learning how to play this champ, I did extensive research and to my surprise there are not many good guides out there. Guides that really dive deep into the details of Draven, regarding mechanics and macro, are even more difficult to find or discover.

So, with that being said let's dive into the important details...


How does Draven work?

Draven throws axes.

When Draven throws an axe, it can be caught after it hits the target.

In order to catch the falling axe, you must walk inside of a designated area that will appear on your screen.

I call these designated areas "Moons" because they kind of look like full moons. So for the rest of the guide, when I use the term "Moon" or "Moons", I'm talking about the emblem or area where your axe will land after hitting a target. These Moons will be very visible on your screen and I highly suggest you go into the practice tool to see what they look like.

Think of Draven as an axe juggler. He throws. He catches. He throws. He catches. Over and over and over.

Draven can only hold 2 axes in his hands. Howevever, it is possible to be "using" more than 2 axes during combat. With the help of attack speed and Draven's (W), you can use 3 axes at once. Don't stress on this though, just worry about getting comfortable juggling 1 then 2. As you master the champion, you will be able to experiment with 3.

How do you juggle axes with Draven?

This is a great question and it is part of the reason why Draven is such a skill expressive champion.

First, you need to know where the axes will land in order to catch them. Read this section carefully.

When you throw an axe there are 2 possibilities:

1) If you are standing still, the moon will appear at your feet to the right, to the left, or dead center/on top of your head (you don't have to move at all to catch it when the moon is on top of your head, of course). THIS IS RANDOM!

2) If you are moving, the moon will appear a few steps in front of the direction that Draven is facing RIGHT BEFORE the axe lands on the target. I repeat... the moon will land in the direction that Draven is facing RIGHT BEFORE it hits a target.

Let's look at some examples,

ex) Draven is standing still and throws a single axe at a minion. The moon appears at his feet to the left. (random because he is standing still)

ex) Draven is standing still and throws a single axe at a minion. The moon appears at his feet to the right. (random because he is standing still)

ex) Draven is standing still and throws a single axe at a minion. The moon appears on top of his head. He does not need to move at all to catch it. (random because he is standing still)

ex) Draven is moving and throws an axe. Right before the axe hits the target, Draven turns 180 degrees. The moon will go backward in the direction of the 180 degree turn.

ex) Draven is moving and throws an axe. Right before the axe hits the target, Draven continues straight at the target. The moon will go forward in the direction of the target.

Please believe me, you NEED to go into the practice tool and see this for yourself. It does not matter how many examples I give you. If you do not do this yourself you will not understand.


How should I practice juggling?

Use these practice drills to understand. You will get frustrated. You may even want to give up. Do not stop practicing, you WILL get better. When I first started learning this champion, I felt like I had no control. Now I feel like the axes are attached to me like boomerangs. I can even close my eyes and juggling around a standing target for over a minute. Again, do not give up.



For each drill: Go to practice tool, go bot, spawn dummies, turn off minions. Don't forget to turn on unlimited HP regen, Mana regen, and Cooldown reduction.

Drill #1
(Beginner)

Spawn 1 dummy. 1 axe. Throw and catch around dummy clockwise. Then counter clockwise. Then back and forth.

Drill #2
(Beginner)

Spawn 1 dummy. 2 axes. Throw and catch around dummy clockwise. Then counter clockwise. Then back and forth.

Drill #3
(Intermediate)

Spawn 1 dummy. 2 axes. Throw and catch around the dummy WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED using the sound ALONE to help guide you. Then no sound. 30 seconds. Then 1 minute.

Drill #4

(Intermediate)

Spawn 4 dummies. 2 axes. Throw and catch while weaving in and out of the dummies in a figure 8 motion. Then backwards

Drill #5

(Hard)
S is for stop as in your character immediately stops moving.

Spawn 4 dummies. 2 axes. Throw and catch in a straight line. Press S-W on every moon (speed boost on every catch). For this the cadence is: aa-move-sw-aa-move-sw-aa.
Do this all the way through the line of dummies. Forward and backward.

Drill #6

(Expert)

Same as Drill 4 but after throwing your first axes on your first dummy, click Q again to add another axe. With this, you are juggling 3 axes and hitting speed bost on every moon. This is harder than you think. When I first tried doing this, I was like "There is no way people actually do this many actions per minute on draven, this is impossible."

My response to that now is, "Oh yes we do and oh yes it is possible (;"

Drill #7

(Expert) **My personal guarantee to reach Platinum**

Go Draven, go botlane. With no items and no abilities except for Q leveled once... get 100 CS by 10 minutes.

Yep, that's it. Accomplish this and I guarantee you have the hands to reach Platinum. This will teach you mechanics and show you how waves work.

Once you get good with juggling, now you're ready to hop into a game and start practicing for real. Most enemy ADC's are terrified of you (they should be), and will play what they think is passively. I'm here to tell you the only way the enemy is safe is if they sit under tower. If you walk up to the wave in front on me you are in danger. Playing mind games and tricks are crucial to being successful and snowballing on Draven.

The following are mind games and tricks that I use on a regular basis.


1) Need for Speed

Farming the wave. Look at your minion wave. You should be able to tell when the enemy ADC will walk up to last hit creeps. This is an easy W-aa-aa. (you can add 'S' key in there for more axe control if you don't want to chase a moon further than necessary.)

They walk up. I press W. They eat 2 axes. Now they're health bar is at 50%, they need to make a choice. Either press B and lose lane because I'm freezing on you, or stay and try to farm and not die. Either way, I'm probably going to kill you.

Cannon coming up? They want that badly. Time it so they eat 2 axes for trying to secure it.

2) Double Moon Rundown

Farm the wave. Throw axe at minion then immediately press S. Then walk to catch. This gives your enemy the perception that you are not wanting to engage. After 2 or 3 of those... throw an axe at a minion, press S, then immediatedly press W before catching the moon. This will reset your W, so you can use it again after catching and run them down. Trust me, doing this trick works almost everytime and is worth at least 1-2 kills per game.

So again it's: aa-S-W and run toward moon- W AGAIN when it resets- run them down.

3) Sleight of Hand

Casually farm wave. Pretend to be passive. Sometimes I even turn around like I'm not interested. Casually farming. Right as I'm walking on top of a moon, they think I'm about to throw another axe on the wave. BUT INSTEAD, I throw an E right at the enemy. Then immediately W to phase through the wave and run them down.

4) Cash Out

Enemy is 50%. Casually farm the wave. W - E Flash - aa - R

5) 3 Piece

aa - e - aa

6) Bounce Back Hatchet

Casually farm wave. Throw axes at minions and turn 180 degrees so the moons appear behind you. Farm like that for a few seconds so they think you have no interest in engaging. Then as your walking back towards a moon behind you, reach the moon, quickly S-W on top of the moon. This will reset your W. Sprint at the enemy again with your reset W. This is essentially 'Double Moon Rundown' but we are throwing our moons behind us to give your enemy the idea that we are almost scared and don't want to catch axes anywhere near them.


6) Crooked R

Sometimes the enemy will flash or barely be out of range for the return on your R. Easy, Flash and R return to make sharp cuts to secure the kill on your ultimate.

You are looking at lights on a screen. Let anger pass through you. You are a swinging door. You let emotions come and go. Be in the moment, this is all we have. Because you realize that you are an empty cup you are full.


I don't care if you die 80 times. You can EASILY catch up from 1 cash out.

Say your support goes Senna. Perma ganked no help. Do not type a single thing. Look the bigger picture. Perma farm until stacks. Team fight, secure the R on a high gold bounty. Boom you're back in the game.

You can rage, troll, huff and puff. Do as you please. But this will not help you. You are trying to control things that cannot be controlled.

Pain is inevitable but suffering is a choice.



I want to share a classic Zen story:

2 monks walk along a small channel of water.
Both have sworn to a life of celibacy and to never touch a woman again.
They come across a woman trying to cross the channel, but she cannot cross.
1 of the monks gently lifts and carries the woman across the channel.
The other monk is shocked, but does not say anything and they both continue walking.
After a few hours, one monk says, "You have sworn an oath to never touch a woman again and you carried her across the water."
The other monk replies, "And you still carry her."


Things are going to happen in your game. They are just things. Keep playing. Live for the moment. Simply be.

TO THIS DAY I HAVE NOT SEEN A SINGLE WRITTEN GUIDE OF HOW TO PROPERLY USE THE 'S' KEY. I HAVE READ EVERY ARTICLE, WATCHED EVERY VIDEO, STUDIED PSZ AND OTHER DRAVEN 1TRICKS, THIS IS THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE WRITTEN GUIDE ON THE 'S' KEY THAT I KNOW OF


Watching PSZ redefined the way I play Draven. The 'S' key and its usage is an incredible tool that is under utilized by most Draven players. So much so that I think it deserves its own chapter.

What does the 'S' key do?

It makes your champion stop. They stop moving and they stop attacking.

Okay so why should I use it?

It allows you to control where your moons land.

When you attacking while moving your moon will have a greater distance from you than if you were attacking standing still.

Think of this almost like an attack stance that you can switch between. The faster you can switch with fluidity the more control you have.

ex)

I'm chasing an enemy. Running. Throwing axes.
I see that they are running towards their tower.
Just outside tower range, I press S-W-aa

I do this because changing my attack stance here will cause by axes to land very close to my feet, either on the right, the left, or right on top of my head.

This helps me get more axes out without being hit by tower.
And now I can easily catch them at my feet instead of having to run into tower range to catch them.

See what I mean...

There are 2 attack stances.

Running

and

'S' key or stop stance


'S' key is also extremely useful during teamfights. Especially when you're right in the heart of the battle. 'S' key helps you plan your next attack... Say I'm in the fight and I'm running toward a moon. I can go ahead and move my cursor to the next enemy that I want to attack and simply click 'S' to stop when I've reached the moon. It's almost like it allows me to be 1 step ahead. Instead of worrying about clicking directly on the moon itself, I can simply steer Draven in the direction of the moon, then plan my next attack, knowing that all I have to do is press 'S' when I reach the moon.

It's like I get to do more by doing less. It frees up my mental space for other things.

Trust me I know how confusing that sounds but I guarantee any seasoned Draven knows exactly what I'm talking about. You will too if you keep practicing


The more Draven you play the more you will understand how this comes in handy. It's a tool for your arsenal.

Now, a lot of times when I watch PSZ, he press 'S' when landing on a moon a lot but not all the time. Again the skill is choosing when to use 'S'.

Sometimes I'll spend 20 minutes in the practice tool just juggling axes and pressing 'S' on every single moon. Doing all the drills previously mentioned but, again, pressing 'S' on every single moon.

In game, I don't even think about it to be honest. Now I just think about that I want the character to do and it happens. Your champion should become an extension of your own mind.

The items that I have listed are my personal preference.

I rush vamp and zerkers to be comfy ASAP. You need to figure out what works for you.

DO NOT BUY INFINITY EDGE FIRST ITEM!

To be honest, win rate on Collector Draven right now is horrible. But like I said, it's what I feel comfy with.

First back serrated dirk also feels good, but for me vamp feels better.

Skin tierlist

Classic Draven - A

Soul Reaver Draven - B (it looks cool don't get me wrong but the axes feel so small, don't prefer)

Gladiator Draven - S (best skin. feels the best. axes feel light)

Primetime Draven - F (worst skin in the game in my opinion)

Pool Party Draven - A

Beast Hunter Draven - F

Draven Draven - F

Santa Draven - S

Mecha Kingdoms Draven - C

Ruined Draven - F

Debonair Draven - A

Fright Night Draven - B (Chainsaws are cool)

La Ilusión Draven - F

Grand Reckoning Draven - A (I atually really like the Moons on this skin and the sounds are nice. Pearl chroma is a regualr for me)

PSZ - great player, good aggro mentality, calm, defined Draven mechanics using the 's' key

Pipeyyy - best draven world and it's not even close in my opinion. he was born to throw axes.

Vincent - excellent juggling, very very good player, fun to watch on the Chinese server.

I hope you all enjoyed this guide. Never forget that you can accomplish anything that you put your mind to. Practice and discipline are key.

I might stream or make youtube videos eventually. Who knows.

ALWAYS REMEMBER:

You are perfect and whole just the way you are! We are all in this together.

Much love!
Cya!

-Granmuhh