League of Legends Draven Guide: Best Build, Runes & Combos

Draven is one of the most aggressive and high-reward ADCs in League of Legends. Known for his spinning axes and snowball potential, Draven can completely take over games when played correctly. His damage output is insane from the moment he enters lane, and with proper axe control and positioning, he becomes a terrifying presence in every fight. If you’re looking to dominate bot lane with early kill pressure and carry your team with raw damage, this guide covers everything you need—Draven’s best build, rune setup, core items, and deadly combos to master his unique playstyle.

Draven Abilities Overview in League of Legends

Draven is a high-risk, high-reward marksman who deals massive damage through his spinning axes and aggressive playstyle. His abilities are built around catching axes, maintaining pressure, and turning every fight into an opportunity to snowball. Here’s a full breakdown of his kit:

Passive – League of Draven
Draven gains stacks of Adoration when catching axes or killing minions. When he scores a takedown on an enemy champion, he cashes in the stacks for bonus gold, making early kills extremely rewarding.

Q – Spinning Axe
Draven’s next attack deals bonus physical damage and causes his axe to ricochet off the target. Catching the axe refreshes the effect, allowing him to juggle up to two at once. Proper axe control is key to maximizing his damage.

W – Blood Rush
Grants bonus attack speed and movement speed for a few seconds. Catching an axe resets the cooldown, allowing near-constant uptime when playing aggressively and chaining axes correctly.

E – Stand Aside
Draven throws his axes in a line, dealing physical damage and knocking enemies to the side while briefly slowing them. This is his only form of crowd control and is great for interrupting dashes or escaping danger.

R – Whirling Death
Draven hurls two massive axes across the map in a straight line. The axes deal damage as they pass through enemies and return to him after hitting a target or reaching the edge of the map. It can deal huge finishing damage when timed right.

Draven’s kit rewards fast reflexes, smart positioning, and aggressive laning. Master catching axes while weaving in autos, and you’ll quickly become one of the most feared ADCs on the Rift.

How To Play Draven In League of Legends

Best Summoner Spells for Draven in League of Legends

The best summoner spell setup for Draven is Flash + Heal, giving you both mobility and survivability during aggressive trades and all-ins.
• Flash is essential for repositioning, escaping ganks, or making clutch plays—especially since Draven has no built-in mobility.
• Heal is ideal in the bot lane, providing sustain and a movement speed boost for both you and your support during fights.

In some cases, you can swap Heal for Exhaust if you’re against burst-heavy enemies like Zed or Lucian, or Barrier if you want extra protection during early duels. But for most matchups, Flash + Heal is the safest and most reliable combo for Draven’s all-in playstyle.

Best Runes for Draven in League of Legends

Draven is all about early-game dominance and snowballing hard, so the best rune setup focuses on raw damage, sustain, and lane pressure. Here’s the ideal rune page to maximize his kill potential:

Primary Path: Precision
• Lethal Tempo – Gives bonus attack speed after hitting an enemy, allowing Draven to shred in extended trades and juggle axes more easily.
• Presence of Mind – Restores mana on takedowns, helping you stay aggressive without running dry.
• Bloodline – Grants lifesteal over time, giving you extra sustain and dueling power.
• Coup de Grace – Increases damage to low-health enemies, perfect for securing early kills and cashing in your passive stacks.

Secondary Path: Domination
• Taste of Blood – Gives you extra healing during trades, letting you win extended fights more consistently.
• Treasure Hunter – Boosts your gold gain on takedowns, helping you snowball even faster with items.

Bonus Stats:
• +Attack Speed
• +Adaptive Force
• +Armor (or Magic Resist depending on your lane opponents)

This rune setup gives Draven everything he needs to bully lane, snowball off early kills, and take over the game with raw damage and gold advantage.

Best Build for Draven in League of Legends

Draven’s build is all about maximizing his early-game damage and snowballing hard off his passive. He shines with items that boost his attack damage, crit chance, and lifesteal, letting him dominate fights with just a few items. Here’s the best core build for Draven:

Starting Items:
• Doran’s Blade + Health Potion – Perfect for early sustain and damage in lane.

Core Items:
• Essence Reaver – Gives AD, crit, and mana sustain, helping you spam abilities and dish out massive damage early.
• Infinity Edge – Big power spike when paired with crit; boosts overall damage and lets you shred anyone fast.
• Bloodthirster – Adds lifesteal and a shield for survivability, allowing you to stay aggressive without backing off.

Situational Items:
• Lord Dominik’s Regards – Great against tanky teams stacking armor.
• Mortal Reminder – Pick this if the enemy has strong healing like Soraka or Aatrox.
• Guardian Angel – Gives you a second chance in team fights if you get focused down.
• Maw of Malmortius – Good defensive option against bursty AP champions.

Boots:
• Berserker’s Greaves – Standard pick for attack speed and damage output.
• Plated Steelcaps or Mercury’s Treads – Take one of these if you’re against heavy AD or CC comps.

This build gives Draven all the tools he needs to snowball early and carry late—tons of damage, lifesteal, and survivability to dominate in fights and close out games quickly.

Best Combos to Learn for Draven in League of Legends

Draven’s combos are all about clean axe control, fast reaction time, and constant aggression to maximize his damage in every trade. A standard trade combo is Q → Auto → W → Auto → E → Auto, where you start with Spinning Axe, follow up with Blood Rush for speed, then knock back enemies with Stand Aside and keep attacking. For all-ins post-level 6, extend that combo with R (Whirling Death) to finish off low-health targets. When chasing or kiting, use Q → Auto → W → Auto → W (again) to keep your movement speed up, since catching axes resets Blood Rush. You can also go for a surprise engage with Flash → E → Auto → Q → W → Auto → R to catch enemies off guard and burst them down. Mastering these combos while consistently catching axes will let you dominate lane, snowball early, and carry games with Draven’s unmatched damage output.

Conclusion

Draven is one of the most rewarding ADCs in League of Legends, offering insane damage and snowball potential for players who can master his axe control and aggressive playstyle. With the right build, rune setup, and clean combos, you can dominate bot lane early and carry your team through raw power and gold advantage. Whether you’re bursting down enemies with spinning axes or cashing in huge stacks of Adoration, Draven thrives when played with confidence and precision. Learn to control the lane, time your all-ins, and you’ll quickly become a force the enemy team can’t ignore.