Ranged vs Melee in top lane: statistics

There have recently been many complaints about the disparity between ranged and melee champions, and how ranged champs have a huge advantage over melees. This is especially important for top lane, which features ranged, mobile melee, and immobile melee champs. I decided to look at some stats (top 15s) to objectively decide whether this is true or not. The champions are divided in 4 categories: ranged, immobile melee (who suffer extra hard against ranged), mobile melee, and 50/50 if I couldn't decide. champion.gg was used for all stats.

First off: win rates

1. (ranged)
2. (melee, mobile)
3. (ranged)
4. (melee, mobile)
5. (melee, immobile)
6. (melee, immobile)
7. (ranged)
8. (ranged)
9. (melee, mobile)
10. (melee, mobile)
11. (melee, immobile)
12. (ranged)
13. (melee, immobile)
14. (melee, mobile)
15. (melee, immobile)

5 ranged, 10 melee, of which 5 mobile and 5 immobile. However, win rate obviously doesn't mean everything (Urgot top is not OP), so we need some more data. Play rate is another important stat: if something has a high play rate it generally also means the champ is strong, especially when he also has a high win rate.

So next one: play rates

1. (melee, mobile)
2. (ranged)
3. (melee, mobile)
4. (melee, immobile)
5. (ranged)
6. (melee, mobile(?))
7. (melee, immobile)
8. (ranged)
9. (melee, mobile)
10. (melee, immobile)
11. (melee, mobile)
12. (melee, mobile)
13. (melee AA, ranged spells. 50/50, immobile)
14. (same as Rumble: melee AA, but ranged spells. 50/50, immobile)
15. (ranged)

That makes 9 melee (6 mobile, if you consider Poppy mobile), 4 ranged, and 2 50/50 (both immobile). A slight shift towards mobile melees, probably mostly because people just like playing mobile champs. However, even win rate + play rate isn't quite enough to really say something. Fortunately, champion.gg also makes a ranking based on all stats combined (therefore purely objectively). It's probably not 100% correct, but it's pretty close.

Final one: statistical ranking

1. (ranged)
2. (50/50, immobile)
3. (melee, mobile)
4. (melee, mobile)
5. (melee, immobile)
6. (melee, immobile)
7. (ranged)
8. (melee, mobile)
9. (ranged)
10. (melee, immobile)
11. (melee, mobile)
12. (ranged)
13. (melee, mobile)
14. (ranged)
15. (melee, immobile)

That makes 5 ranged, 5 mobile melee, 4 immobile melee, and GP who is 50/50.

There are obviously more stats available, but I feel like those 3 (win rate, play rate, statistical ranking) combined should be enough to give somewhat of a correct ranking. Let's add all 3 together:

14 ranged, 12 immobile melee, 16 mobile melee, and 3 50/50.

So even though some people feel like ranged (or mobile) champs currently have a huge advantage in top, based on statistics it seems incredibly balanced. If I made a mistake somewhere, or if you feel like I incorrectly classified a champion, please tell me.