What is a win rate and how does it relate to LoL champions? This article will discuss what win rates are and why they are important.
Image Credit: Riot Games
Win rate is a statistic commonly used in LoL to define how much a champion (or champions) win games compared to the total amount of games played. In a balanced state, champions should have a win rate as close as 50%. That said, this is just a utopic result and win rates deviate (more or less) from the 50-percent mark.
Back in the first seasons of LoL, there were champions with drastic win rates. Nowadays, the numbers are much closer, signaling a balanced game state: most champions find themselves with a win rate between 45% and 55%. If it’s lower than 48%, we usually consider it a low-win rate champion. If it’s higher than 52%, then it’s a high win rate.
While win rates are an important and meaningful metric to understand whether a champion is performing well or not, a high win rate, for example, doesn’t necessarily mean that the champion is strong.
For example, one-trick-pony players, the so-called OTPs, are known for inflating the win rate of their champions. This is because they generally play more games on that champion more than the average player, and considering they understand the ins and outs of the pick, they tend to find more success with it. This is why it’s also important to check out the pick (and ban) rates on top of the win rates to fully understand whether a champion is in a strong state.
Champions like Rengar and Kha’Zix are often played by OTP junglers. Image Credit: Riot Games
Sample size is key, which is why some champions with high win rates are not always nerfed immediately by the game developers. Once a strong champion is discovered, chances are players will look for ways to counter it. To find out whether the counter strategy or pick works, it needs more matches (so samples) so it will need extra time to see whether it will slowly balance out.
What we will say below is a crucial takeaway to get better at League of Legends. Win rates are a good indication of which champions are performing better in more games but this doesn’t mean it will always work regardless of the situation or team composition. Factors such as itemization, the enemies’ level of skill, as well as your own skill will always influence the outcome. This is why you might see champions at certain Elos work out better than others: some champions are designed to be stronger when played at an optimal level which can also be reached by a few. The inverse also works: certain picks can be stronger at lower Elos because it punishes mistakes more often.
In the end, the meta is shifting every single day and certain champions will end up becoming more or less popular depending on how everything changes. Riot’s balance team also aims to push that shift more often with patch updates, giving players clearer indications of which champions might become stronger or weaker. That said, the best way to find out a champion’s win rate is by playing the game a lot and seeing how it performs across all levels of play.
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