The Fearless Draft system has reshaped the competitive drafting priorities at Worlds 2025, encouraging teams to experiment with new strategies. But for some meta champions, the change has been brutal, none more so than one popular pick still searching for its first win.
The League champion facing that grave misfortune is Jarvan IV, who has lost all nine matches he has played at Worlds 2025. The jungler excels at locking down low-mobility comps, allowing his team to execute their compositions more cleanly and control teamfights.
His armor-shredding utility makes him a dependable teamfight anchor, capable of turning battles around. In reality, the results have told a different story so far internationally. In an interview with Dot Esports, Top Esports head coach Yoon “Homme” Sung-young said the champion’s drafting priority is one of the main reasons behind his bad showing at the tournament.
“Lately, you’ve been seeing a lot of trends where, because other jungle champions got nerfed. A lot of teams are just picking him [Jarvan IV] way too quickly. I think that’s not something you should be doing,” Homme said to Dot Esports after their 2-0 loss against KT Rolster in the Worlds 2025 Swiss Stages.
Another reason is that the jungle champions doing well in the meta are Wukong, Xin Zhao, and Vi. All of them have solid mobility tools to escape from his ultimate, in a way nullifying one of Jarvan IV’s key strengths to duel with the enemy junglers and secure his lead in the early game. He can technically be flexed as a support, raising his priority in drafting.
MSI 2025 painted a similar picture for champions like Kalista and Twisted Fate, who were highly valued for their niche strengths, yet ultimately fell short on stage. Jarvan IV may still find success at Worlds 2025, but unlocking his full potential will require precise drafts and compositions tailored around his engage and early pressure.
The Worlds 2025 Swiss Stage continues tomorrow with teams vying for Knockout qualification.
