Hello, Heirs.

This is Epic Seven.

Following our previous announcement on the Indomitable Season's infographic, we would like to present the Valorous Season's infographics. First and foremost, we would like to express our gratitude to all our Heirs for their continued support and enjoyment of World Arena.

This season became a season where meta changes occurred around the mid-season, with the meta Heroes and Heroes who have clear counter abilities against them being active.

Heroes like Lone Crescent Bellona, who can always land critical hits on successful attacks, and Inferno Khawazu who can nullify the opponent's critical resistance through detonation, have come into the spotlight with the emergence of Navy Commander Landy. She boosts the critical resistance of herself and her allies to enhance team composition stability and unleash powerful AoE attacks. Furthermore, Heroes like Last Rider Krau, who has exceptional abilities to respond to AoE attacks and can also unleash powerful AoE attacks himself, and Lionheart Cermia, who specializes in countering enemies' counterattacks and additional attacks, have become even more popular.

In addition, we witnessed intense battles between new and existing Heroes. For example, Ocean Breeze Luluca, who recently joined the meta, challenged Conqueror Lilias using her outstanding ability to counter non-attack skills. Similarly, Lethe neutralized bruiser Heroes with high Defense by inflicting fixed damage.

Now let's examine the changes in the pre-ban, first pick, and pick trends based on the numbers.

1. Hero Pick Rate

1) Pre-Ban

There were changes in the rankings among the Heroes in the 2nd to 5th place during the Valorous Season, with Lua maintaining her position as the top pre-ban Hero. Conqueror Lilias, who ranked second in the previous Indomitable season, has dropped to fourth place, and Belian has also experienced a decline in her pre-ban rate this season, pushing her outside of the top five. The Hero that experienced the largest decrease was Amid, showing a decrease of over 27%.

On the other hand, the pre-ban rates for Angel of Light, Angelica, and Last Rider Krau have greatly increased. Last Rider Krau, in particular, showcased his abilities in the previous season, but his ranking has further improved this season. As the focus on pursuing a stable team composition has increased, a more favorable environment has been created for him, leading to an increase in pre-ban rates.

During the previous pre-season, the combination of Jack O' and Zio, with balance adjustments, became popular in the early stages of the season, leading to a temporary increase in Jack O's pre-ban rate at that time.

The pre-ban rate of Heroes mainly used in fast-paced compositions, including Jack-O, has generally decreased after the mid-season with the introduction of Navy Captain Landy. Pre-ban rate of Ran and Amid reached approximately 10% at the beginning of the season, but later, Ran dropped to 6%, while Amid dropped to 3.3%.

During the middle of the season, the pick rate of Navy Captain Landy, who quickly emerged as a central figure in the metagame after her introduction, along with Lionheart Cermia, notably increased as the season progressed. This is likely because there have been many attempts to progress the draft in the desired direction after excluding the influential Navy Captain Landy. Conversely, if players wanted to use Navy Captain Landy or Conqueror Lilias, Lionheart Cermia would have been a threat, leading to pre-banning her.

The addition of counter Heroes, such as Ocean Breeze Luluca, led to a decline in the pre-ban rate for Conqueror Lilias as the season advanced.

2) First Pick

Conqueror Lilias remained the top pick, as in the previous season, but her win rate has slightly decreased compared to the previous season due to the influence of the emergence of Ocean Breeze Luluca and the increased strength of Lionheart Cermia through balance adjustments.

Navy Captain Landy, who is newly introduced this season, has proven herself to be resilient against fast-paced critical strike-based compositions. Her passive effect made her a valuable choice for players looking for stable draft choices to navigate the game. As a result, she was ranked second in first pick.

The drafting trend of starting with Amid, Apocalypse Ravi, and Specter Tenebria has generally decreased compared to previous seasons. This is because Navy Captain Landy has taken center stage in the meta, making it more difficult for fast-paced compositions to deploy these Heroes as early picks.

During the early stages of the season, the Last Rider Krau consistently maintained the second-ranked position in the first-pick rate. However, starting from the mid-season, his first-pick rate gradually declined as he shared the first-pick position with Navy Captain Landy. Nevertheless, he consistently maintained a high first-pick rate as a knight class alongside Unbound Knight Arowell.

In the case of Zio, he was frequently chosen as the first-pick Hero in the early stages of the season due to his synergy with Jack-O'. However, as the season progressed, his first-pick rate gradually decreased. Since Navy Captain Landy's appearance, Savior Adin has also experienced a continuous decline in the first-pick rate.

3) Pick

Specter Tenebria has dropped to 6th place this season after consistently maintaining a high pick rate in the previous seasons. She was the 2nd most-picked Hero during the Triumph Season and the most-picked Hero during the Indomitable Season.

With the growing influence of Navy Captain Landy, Heroes like Last Rider Krau and Lionheart Cermia, who can counter her, have become popular choices in the meta. The decrease in the pick rate for Specter Tenebria is believed to be due to the shift in the meta, where Heroes with powerful AoE attacks have become more prevalent.

Last Rider Krau, with his passive that grants buffs upon being hit by an AoE attack, proves to be effective against Navy Captain Landy. Moreover, his high versatility as a Knight Hero allows him to protect Navy Captain Landy, resulting in him achieving the second-highest pick rate. In addition, Lionheart Cermia garnered attention for her remarkable effectiveness against Navy Captain Landy and Conqueror Lilias, thanks to the balance adjustments made in the middle of the season. As a result, her pick rate increased by over 20% compared to the previous season.

Ocean Breeze Luluca and Lethe, the newly added Heroes, have firmly established themselves in the meta, entering the top 20 rankings.

From the mid-season onwards, we can observe a decrease in the pick rate of Specter Tenebria, who was previously the highest ranked until the early season.

On the contrary, Lionheart Cermia's pick rate increased by more than 30% compared to the early season, reaching third place in the late season. Unbound Knight Arowell, who showed a slightly weaker performance compared to Last Rider Krau, also recorded a pick rate of 45% and regained her former glory.

Major changes in the meta were observed starting from the middle of the season when Navy Captain Landy made her appearance. The pick rates of Heroes like Politis, Lua, and Belian, who were at the top of the rankings early in the season, have fallen below the top 20. Meanwhile, the pick rates of Knight Heroes and other Heroes such as Mediator Kawerik, Angel of Light Angelica, and Remnant Violet, who are frequently used in stable team compositions, have increased.

Overall, it appears that the trend is dominated by team compositions that have high durability. However, some Heroes have consistently maintained a high pick rate, such as Ran and Peira, even among the high-speed Heroes.

2. Deadline status.

As we conclude the analysis of Hero usage, we would like to share some final thoughts on the Valorous Season.

The Heirs on the Korean server showcased impressive performances this season, as they improved their rankings in both the Legend and Emperor Leagues, compared to the previous season.

The average win rate in the Legends and Emperor League has remained similar to last season.

However, the final League competition has become more intense compared to previous seasons, resulting in higher cut-off points for both Leagues.

1) Legend League

2) Emperor League

3) League Info

The average number of matches in the Legend League has decreased when compared to previous seasons.

The decline in the number of ranked matches played is believed to have been influenced by the participation of high-ranked Heirs in the E7WC 2023 Preliminaries throughout the season. The average win rates for the first-pick player and the second-pick player in the Champion League and above were calculated to be 50.7% and 49.3%, respectively, showing a slight difference.

3. Valorous Season – Overall Analysis

If the key point in the previous Indomitable season was a flexible drafting strategy to contend with fast-paced Heroes, then in this Valorous season it is a stable drafting strategy that effectively restricts the opponent's core Heroes has emerged as a major tactic. However, in order to deploy stable team compositions and effectively counter the opponent's picks, it was necessary to have a diverse range of Heroes equipped with suitable Equipment. As a result, the difficulty of this season may have been perceived differently among the players, depending on the Heroes they were able to utilize.

Therefore, we will continue to monitor to enable our Heirs to deploy their beloved Heroes in specific roles. We will also make efforts to improve in various ways and create an environment where they can devise strategies according to their style, even if the meta changes.

For instance, there are regular balance adjustments and the introduction of new Exclusive Equipment, along with improvements to the Battle Frenzy effect. We are preparing content to unleash the potential of Heroes who have received much love in the past but are currently underutilized, giving them an opportunity for a comeback. We are dedicated to making this content available to you before the year comes to a close. The Match History Beta site, introduced last September, is another service that is part of the same initiative. We aim for it to assist you in conveniently understanding the real-time meta status, and various drafting styles, and in building your gameplay expertise.

Regarding the additional improvement, we introduced a blind policy that restricts the display of the opponent's information during matchmaking to prevent easy exposure of one's drafting strategy. Furthermore, we are also preparing to improve the system to prevent abuse, such as reducing instances where the same opponent is continuously matched. We will continue to make efforts to provide a pleasant gaming environment as much as possible.

We extend our gratitude to all the Heirs who have played the game with enthusiasm and keen interest this season, and we wish you a successful conclusion to the remainder of the year.

The Epic Seven team will always strive to provide the best gaming experience possible for our Heirs.

Thank you.