So...Why does Riot let really high pickrate+high winrate champs thrive?

Seenan··1 votes·604 views

So, I saw someone make a calculation in another topic that said something like '~52% winrate is the actual average' but that's kind of ridiculous to see considering it's out of 100%. I'd bet that if dumpstered champs were stronger, the avg winrates would fall back to make 51-50% with the same pickrates.

I'm also very sure that a bunch of the midlane winrates have jumped because of nerfs/reworks to assassins.

However, Viktor, Ahri, Orianna, Vayne, Syndra, Caitlyn, Jhin, Jayce, Poppy, Hecarim, Zac, Vi and so on, all have pickrates succeeding at least 7% in plat to challenger ELO, with the mentioned ADCs pickrates each succeeding 25%...and each of them has a winrate of atleast 52%, excluding Jhin at 51.88% at this current time. All pretty much above average winrates if not close to it.

To recap, that means at least 38% of the high ELO playerbase plays 5 mid champs (I think Syndra would be higher if she wasn't banned 37% of the time), almost all% picks between 4 ADCs (with the mentioned 3 having superior winrates), and top/jgl also linger around 15-22% each respectively, each having at least 52% winrate.

Nearly 1/4 of the champ pool for each, and even less for ADC holds pretty much all the highest winrate to pickrate ratios. But since we don't see a lot of these champs in LCS, it's obviously not a problem in these higher ELO statistics. ADC is the only role we'll see about half or less of the roster since ADC pool is small.

Hell, Janna has a ~15% pickrate with a 55% winrate. What in god's name? Why do we let low skill floor champs have such a strong skill ceiling? Arguably, I'd call only Viktor, Ahri, Syndra, Ori, Vayne (before she got buffs to only need 1-3 shots to kill), champs that have a decent skill floor that not everyone can pick up right away.

tl;dr, high winrate champs with high pickrates should be put more into line, imo.

This is just a rant really, I don't expect much colorful discussion out of this since I figure Riot isn't gonna fix the best soloQ/safe picks of the game.

10 Comments

Astôlfo3 votes

Because they're popular. Not imbalanced.

Escheton1 votes

Because it brings in a slew of new people buying skins for their "new main"

Seenan1 votes

{quoted}

Because it brings in a slew of new people buying skins for their "new main"

Ahri, for instance, is seen as 'balanced' at 9% pick and 54% winrate. A sidepoint of how many people main her probably have a shrine to her in their room. The bias can be real. But she's one the most 'waifu' champions that has created some lust for people, so naturally, they'll spend $40 for all her skins.

Maximum Morde1 votes

To sell skins.

LongHair Fox1 votes

Average winrate for all champions is always 50%. Exactly. Also just because a champ is easy to play does not mean they should be worse. It depends on the meta and what they do. Amumu almost always has a good winrate in lower divisions because what he does is the perfect thing for a soloq champion. However in higher elos people can counter him or play correctly in the early game. Basically what it ends up being is that harder champions generally are more versatile and can do well in more situations.

Seenan1 votes

I didn't expect upvotes cause I'm cursing people's mains, but fact of that bias is that I'm right. Sorry boys, lmao. Enjoy your safe and 'balanced' champs.

Catastrop1 votes

{quoted}

Hell, Janna has a ~15% pickrate with a 55% winrate. What in god's name? Why do we let low skill floor champs have such a strong skill ceiling?

I see no reason for low skill champions to be held back purely because of the fact that they're low skill.

Seenan1 votes

{quoted}

I see no reason for low skill champions to be held back purely because of the fact that they're low skill.

You probably haven't realized that Janna's rates have been like that for a few seasons iirc.

Ulquiorra9951 votes

They don't, really. There will always be FOTM champions - played in Worlds, getting indirectly buffed or just good for current meta - who will maintain 7-10% pickrate with decent winrate. This does not necessarily mean those champions are OP - maybe they are just safe picks and/or easy to pick up. When there are outliers Rito nerf them, but then a new FOTM takes their place and cycle continues.

There are two situations where I agree a champion is a problem however: 1.) if their winrate is way out of the line (something like 55% +) along the lines of old tank Yasuo or 2.) If a supposedly high-skill champion manages to maintain an absurdly high pickrate and winrate: currently Vayne with almost 30% pickrate and 53% winrate and Lee who gets picked 4 times as much as Syndra yet maintains less than 1% difference in winrate.

Seenan1 votes

{quoted}

They don't, really. There will always be FOTM champions - played in Worlds, getting indirectly buffed or just good for current meta - who will maintain 7-10% pickrate with decent winrate. This does not necessarily mean those champions are OP - maybe they are just safe picks and/or easy to pick up. When there are outliers Rito nerf them, but then a new FOTM takes their place and cycle continues.

There are two situations where I agree a champion is a problem however: 1.) if their winrate is way out of the line (something like 55% +) along the lines of old tank Yasuo or 2.) If a supposedly high-skill champion manages to maintain an absurdly high pickrate and winrate: currently Vayne with almost 30% pickrate and 53% winrate and Lee who gets picked 4 times as much as Syndra yet maintains less than 1% difference in winrate.

I keep saying it but no one's listening. 15% pick, 55% Janna and 9% (respectably high for midlane) 54% win Ahri. Near what your standards for 'op' is.

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