Live Arena – Picking your Draft

Since the release of Live Arena, players of all levels have dived into the content to experience what the hype is all about.

Live arena is a very exciting prospect, as it’s so different to how we’re used to handling the arena due to knowing how the enemies AI will work, and such winning requires skill, strategy and of course, the right team composition.

In this article we’re going to take a closer look at how to manage the drafting phase of the battles, as this is where fights are won and lost!

Before we get into the ‘Best Champions’ individually, it’s worth noting that unless you are at the very pinnacle of endgame, more often than not the composition is what’s limiting you, rather than lacking 1 specific champion, while they do make a massive difference, they are not the be all and end all.

Early Picks:

The first picks you’ll get will be either 1 or 2 Champions, depending on whether you are selected to choose first or not.

The first things you want to pick is a Support and/or a Control Champion, these need to be able to shine in both offensive and defensive situations because you can’t predict at this point whether your opponents will be playing offensively or defensively, they need to be flexible and diverse, this is where you’ll often see Champions such as Warlord, Yumeko, Mighty Ukko being submitted into teams, as well as revivers, with the notable picks here being Duchess Lilitu, Marichka, Siphi, as well as many other options.

Ideally, you want to end up with Two Revivers, and one Flexi spot in your team, whether a lockout/control Champion or a protection champion such as Nekhret the Great and Ultimate Deathknight.

Picking these 3 spots before adding any damage will allow you to pick damage based on what your opponents have picked, whether that be prioritizing a single target or AOE Damage.

Picking your Damage:

When it comes to picking your damage options, at this point you’ve got an insight into what your opponents are going to be facing you with, whether that’s a high-speed team, or a defensive team that will thrive on you going before them.

This is where you need to consider the damage options that you can run, and counter that, for example, if your opponent is running a primarily speed-based team, you may want to use a defensive-based nuker or a nuker that can handle taking a hit which may come in the form of Leorius, or Mortu-Macaab.

Below we’re going to detail some of the best options and the situations in that you’d use them, although for more insight into damage dealing options, check out our article about the best damage dealers for arena in 2023 here.

Harima: Harima plays a massive role in Live Arena and is feared by many, because not only does she provide a huge amount of damage as a defensive-based Champion, but she also nullifies the enemy’s damage potential by reducing all ignore defence by 50%, you could argue that Harima would fill in a flex spot, however, she can be a very viable nuker in the right gear!

Rotos: Rotos retains his place in the meta in Live Arena, with some of the best single target damage due to his A3, and chances to gain an extra turn, all whilst being unable to be 1 shot due to his crazy passive skill. All the more power to you if you are able to pair a Rotos with Siphi without one or the other being banned by your opponents.

Hephraak: Hephraak can be absolutely lethal when facing enemies who are faster than you, especially kitted out in Stoneskin gear with his offensive stats (you don’t even need him to be massively fast for this!) as his passive will trigger his AOE Nuke when one of your allies dies, and considering Hephraak is one of the strongest AOE Nukers in the entire game, enemies should fear this smack!

Mortu-Macaab: Mortu is the kind of option you would consider picking if it’s obvious that your enemies are going to be running a high-speed team, as you can pivot to a very defense based team, allowing your team to take the hits from them and rely on Mortu’s Peril to take them out 1 by 1 with block revive, till inevitably, you win as there’s nobody left!

Turvold: Turvold has seen a massive rise in popularity in Arena in recent months, since the addition of Ultimate Deathknight, because he has absolutely absurd single-target damage that hits twice, meaning the second hit will always go on your original target (whilst the first will be redirected to Ultimate Deathknight) allowing you to tear through the enemy team whilst UDK protects them. Turvold is incredibly strong paired with Nekhret to a) keep him alive, and b) give him more buffs to further enhance his damage output potential.

Taras the Fierce: Taras paired with Marichka is something any player in Raid fears because how strong they are individually is nothing compared to the strength they bring together. Not only does Taras bring incredibly strong Single AND AOE Damage, but he also brings control and damage reduction by reducing the enemies’ attack passively.

Georgid: Georgid is likely the strongest damage-dealing champion for the arena and has caused waves in the meta. Being a Void Legendary, affinity issues are not a problem and he has a built-in Helmsmasher passive that will make any of his abilities ignore 50% of the target’s defence (50% of the time!). He has a Single AoE ability that also has a 30% turn meter reduction that cannot be resisted meaning you do not require accuracy in his build. If he kills an enemy he grants himself Unkillable buff. What makes him absolutely terrifying is his A3 which ignores nearly all forms of protection (excluding passives/reaction). If he kills someone with his A3 he gets an Extra Turn, allowing him to continue the pain. If that wasn’t enough he also has a double hit A1 which has a 30% chance of repeating

Leorius: Firstly he has a single target Decrease Defence on a 60% chance to hit on 2 hits. This will likely mean it lands most of the time. His A2 is an AoE double hit ability however whilst this skill is not on cooldown, Leorius cannot be debuffed with hard crowd control making him extremely potent as your arena nuker. He also brings an AoE Weaken followed by an AoE attack that also places True Fear. Even if you don’t go first, Leorius can take a hit as he will grant himself Unkillable with his passive. What makes him potentially scary to face in Arena is that dealing damage to him only makes him stronger with the potential for a 99% increase in damage multiplier.

How do you pick your teams in Live Arena – Let us know in the comments!