Picking or banning Ekko: reading the draft
When Ekko is worth a pick, when it is worth a ban, and what its kit commits your team to.
What the pick commits you to
Locking Ekko commits your team to a fight pattern: delete one target and leave, which makes target selection matter more than the fight. A draft that cannot support that pattern does not improve because you play well.
At 125 attack range Ekko has to walk into damage to deal it, so every trade begins with a decision about whether you can afford the walk.
What the kit brings to a team
Z-Drive Resonance
Every third attack or damaging spell on the same target deals bonus magic damage, and grants Ekko a burst of speed if the target is a champion.
Timewinder
Ekko throws a temporal grenade that expands into a time-distortion field upon hitting an enemy champion, slowing and damaging anyone caught inside. After a delay, the grenade rewinds back to Ekko, dealing damage on its return.
Parallel Convergence
Ekko's basic attacks deal bonus magic damage to low health enemies. He can cast Parallel Convergence to split the timeline, creating an anomaly after a few seconds that slows enemies caught inside. If Ekko enters the anomaly, he gains shielding and stuns enemies by suspending them in time.
Phase Dive
Ekko rolls evasively while charging up his Z-Drive. His next attack deals bonus damage and warps reality, teleporting him to his target.
Chronobreak
Ekko shatters his timeline, becoming untargetable and rewinding to a more favorable point in time. He returns to whenever he was a few seconds ago, and heals for a percentage of the damage received in that duration. Enemies near his arrival zone take massive damage.
Blind-pick risk
Difficulty 8 of 3, melee, assassin. Those three facts decide how safe this is to pick first, and the melee ones are almost always the riskier blind.
Riot's own notes on playing against Ekko
Worth reading even when you are the one playing Ekko: it is the list of what your opponent is being told to do to you.
- Ekko is significantly weaker when his ultimate is down. Watch for the trail he leaves behind to determine if Chronobreak is available.
- Ekko's stun zone takes 3 seconds to arm. Watch for the image he creates on cast and try to guess where the zone was placed.
- The second hit of Timewinder does more damage than the first; try to avoid it.
Who Ekko is
A prodigy from the rough streets of Zaun, Ekko is able to manipulate time to twist any situation to his advantage. He uses his own invention, the Z-Drive, to explore the branching possibilities of reality, crafting the perfect moment to seemingly achieve the impossible the first time, every time. Though Ekko revels in this freedom, when there's a threat to those he cares about, he and the Firelights will do anything to defend them.
Full Ekko page — abilities, stats and every skin →