Blue and Red win rates in season 9 and 10 - LoL best side
The graphs shared by RiotMeddler show the Blue and Red side win rates in Ranked Solo/Duo during Season 9 and 10. Official data by Riot.
Blue and red side win rates in S9 and S10
Andrei “Meddler” van Roon, Game Director for League of Legends, shared fresh data about the Blue versus Red win rates on January 17th, 2020.
When making changes to the games, the developers must always keep different factors into consideration, and among them the win rates for the two sides of the map is an essential one.
Andrei points out that there are different trends depending on the queue (Blind Pick, Flex, Solo/Duo, etc.) and the region.
Ranked Solo/Duo queue
In specific, the graphs displayed below show the win rate on each side of the map in Ranked Solo/Duo queue in the following regional servers: North America, Europe West, Korea, and Vietnam.
Historically, blue side has had a slight advantage in ranked on SR, preseason changes however have removed most or all of that edge though, depending on which region you look at. Increased importance of dragons is what we believe has driven this change, given red side has better dragon access than blue.
Blind and Flex queues
Andrei also shared graphs on Blind and Flex queues in North America. Here, the red side has a clear advantage, and performs even better post preseason.
While it’s tempting to assume that’s due to draft champ select favoring blue over red, Flex queue shows the same trend as blind pick, suggesting other factors are significant as well or instead. We’re going to dig into non Solo/Duo win rates by map side a bit more to figure out what’s going on there.
Official vs LOL API data
Furthermore, I have also compared this official data with the one available on websites that gather stats via the League of Legends API.
In the images below (credit to League of Graphs), you can find out the win rate in Ranked Solo/Duo and in Ranked Flex at Platinum and above in the NA (left) and EUW (right) servers
The developers are telling us the truth: so far in season 10, each side of the map has no clear advantage over the other in Ranked Solo/Duo queue. There is not a best side anymore!
Of course, this is only early data, and the values might differ in a six-month period depending on the changes brought to the game and on how the players will react to them.
Blue side advantage and map changes in S10
Historically, the blue side of the map obtained a better win rate in most metas, especially in pub games, where players are more susceptible to the map layout.
Even without considering factors such as Dragon and Baron placements or jungle routes, a simple basic difference like the camera angle has already a noticeable impact on the win rate. We can’t exactly measure it, but we can clearly feel how our vision changes when playing on the blue or red side.
While the map design affects also competitive games, the amount of coordination and communication is drastically different, so pro players can come up with strategies and champion picks/bans that work the best in a specific side of the map.
The matchmaking has a few ways to compensate for the blue side advantage, such as placing a slightly higher MMR team on the red side, but this is not a final solution for the problem.
Over time, a huge number of players noticed the disparity among the two sides, and they voiced their discomfort, asking Riot to solve this issue once and for all.
Finally, the developers dealt with it in Season 10, introducing a massive number of redesigns to the map (and the jungle in particular) in the previous preseason.
If you missed the changes, check out the very informative video below that covers all the adjustments to map, jungle routes, Dragon buffs, Rift Herald, experience obtainable in lane and jungle, jungle camps spawn timers, lane alcoves, and more.
