Why is the Blue Side Better in League of Legends?

Ever since Riot Games first debuted League of Legends, players have always gossiped about which half of the map was better off. Who wins more, red or blue? Over the years, favor has generally leaned toward the blue side. League of Legends fans sometimes even joke about how they'll lose once they load into the game and see they're on red half of the map. However, they also make that joke about Yasuo players. So, is the blue side really so much better?

Advantages of the blue side in League of Legends

The biggest advantage to the blue side of the League of Legends map has to do with objectives. Compared to the red team, blue team has easier access to Rift Herald and Baron. You can walk straight through your jungle to the Baron pit while red side has to navigate around the back wall behind the monster. Meanwhile, though, red does have easier access to the dragon pit. However, while both the dragons and Rift Herald/Baron are influential, the latter can do a lot more work toward pushing objectives. Dragons are overall helpful, but Rift and Baron directly contribute towards pushing waves and towers. Their impact on a game is more deliberate. So, given that slight advantage, blue side does have a little more influence on the game.

This isn't just a stat pulled out of the sky, either. Throughout the many years of League of legends gameplay, blue side has had a 50-53% winrate. Meanwhile, red side has sat at roughly 47-50%. It's rare when the winrates are equal and when they aren't, blue side is almost always the one with the better winrate. No wonder it's become sort of a meme that the blue half of the map is better.

Does the blue side make a difference for League of legend players?

Yes and no. There is an honest slight advantage to being on the blue side of the map. However, if League of Legends fans are playing well, that slight advantage should be miniscule compared to all the other factors going on in the game. Even if your side always gets to Rift Herald first, it doesn't mean you'll win it. Baron access won't fix an 0-10 Jinx. A good Rift Herald steal won't save your towards from a Tryndamere. The rest of the game still matters so much more. Whichever side you play on will only really effect a pretty even game.

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Red vs. blue in video games

If you're willing to get a little more psychological for a moment, players probably also look at blue side more positively because of color association. While blue and red have often been used in video games to distinguish between teams, there is a color history of red being evil and blue being good. So, it could be that playing on the blue side calms people down and helps give them confidence, helping feed into that blue side winrate. After all, in League of Legends' sister game, Valorant, blue side also has a higher winrate than red side. That could mean there's also more to the color than just map advantages. However, at the end of the day, that's far more of a theory than any of the other data surrounding this phenomenon.

Either way, praying to get blue side every game isn't what's going to fix your KDA or rank. Instead, you're better off looking at your stats on Tracker Network's League of Legends Stat Tracker and using it to help pick your best roles and champions. It might finally help boost you up to Gold, Plat, or beyond.

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