Vendetta released on July 31. Ten days later, Kennen was the most registered champion outside China, and 28.7% of tournament decks in the format ran a Vendetta champion. That is a fast start for a new set. It is also, on this format’s record, entirely ordinary.

This report reads 14,611 tournament decklists across 196 events. The earliest tournament deck in the dataset is dated November 28, 2025; the most recent, August 10, 2026. Every list is a real registered deck.

The top deck changes almost every month

Outside the Chinese circuit, the most registered champion of each month, and the share of the field it held:

• December 2025, 94 decks: Viktor, Herald of the Arcane, 17.0%
• January 2026, 110 decks: Annie, Dark Child (Starter), 20.0%
• February 2026, 317 decks: Draven, Glorious Executioner, 21.1%
• March 2026, 289 decks: Draven, Glorious Executioner, 21.8%
• April 2026, 2,800 decks: Draven, Glorious Executioner, 12.7%
• May 2026, 1,230 decks: Irelia, Blade Dancer, 7.7%
• June 2026, 1,760 decks: Diana, Scorn of the Moon, 8.9%
• July 2026, 607 decks: Master Yi, Wuju Bladesman (Starter), 11.5%
• August 2026, 623 decks: Kennen, Heart of the Tempest, 8.5%

Seven different champions have topped the format across these nine months. Only Draven held the position more than one month running, and he held it for three.

Read that list downward and a second pattern appears, one that matters more than any single deck. The most registered champion was 21.8% of the field in March. It is 8.5% now. Those two numbers are the same rank in two very different formats.

When the top deck is one in five, you can build against it by name. When it is one in twelve, you cannot, and a sideboard built for a specific opponent is mostly dead weight.

Draven, and the ban that ended him

Draven topped the format for three straight months and peaked at 21.8% in March. Across July and August he sits at 3.6%. That is the steepest fall in the dataset, and unlike the other movements here, it has a documented cause.

Draven, Vanquisher was banned in standard effective March 31, in a list that also hit Called Shot, Scrapheap, Fight or Flight and three battlefields. The champion, Draven, Glorious Executioner, was untouched. The deck around him was not.

The monthly numbers land on the date: 21.8% in March, 12.7% in April, 7.7% in May. The champion survived the ban and the archetype did not recover.

It is worth noting what this site published about him. The only public Riftbound article here before today, from February 19, was a Draven midrange playtest. It was written at his peak, six weeks before the ban.

Vendetta landed at the same rate on both circuits

Since release, across 18 tournaments and 1,887 decks, 28.7% of registered decks run a Vendetta champion. Split by circuit the figure barely moves: 29.0% in China across 16 events, 28.1% elsewhere across 2 events.

Those two circuits agree on very little else, as the next section shows. Whatever drove the adoption, it was not local.

Two circuits, two formats

Blending every tournament into one ranking would misdescribe the game. Across the full window, rest of world against Chinese circuit:

• Master Yi, Wuju Bladesman (Starter): 6.5% outside China, 15.4% inside
• Irelia, Blade Dancer: 9.4% outside, 10.2% inside
• Draven, Glorious Executioner: 7.3% and second outside, 1.5% and twentieth inside
• Diana, Scorn of the Moon: 3.9% and sixth outside, 9.4% and third inside
• Kai'Sa, Daughter of the Void: 5.1% outside, 4.4% inside

The Chinese circuit concentrates harder: its top three champions hold 35.0% of the field, against 23.2% outside. If you are preparing for a City Challenge, the Chinese column is your metagame. For the Rift Tour or a regional, it is not.

What this does not tell you

August outside China rests on two events and 623 decks. Kennen’s 8.5% is real but early, and one large tournament could move it several points either way. The Chinese August figure rests on sixteen events and is firmer.

None of these numbers are win rates. They count what players registered, not what won. A champion can be widely played and mediocre, and the gap between those two is where a good deck choice lives.

Only the March ban is documented here. Riot published a further ban list on July 17 and Vendetta errata on July 23, and this report does not account for either.

The checkpoint to watch is September. Of the seven champions that have led this format, six lost the lead within a month. That is the base rate Kennen has to beat.

Based on 14,611 tournament decklists across 196 events, November 28, 2025 to August 10, 2026. Figures update as new results are ingested.