Worlds 2026: How First Selection Rewrites Side Advantage and Match Odds

Introduction — Blue Side Doesn't Mean What It Used To

MOBAs are the most complex and advanced forms of Esports, as not only do they involve map manipulation, champion mastery, team coordination and strategy, but also side selection and draft order. 

For years, League of Legends matches had side selection and draft order connected, in a way that Blue Side always got first pick, leaving Red Side with its own advantage of having the ability to respond to the draft.

In 2026, Riot introduced First Selection, separating the side selection from the draft order, severing two advantages that came together before. Now, a team that has First Selection gets to choose whether they want side selection or whether they want selection priority, leaving the opponent with the remaining selection. This leads to a significant change in match analysis.

Riot explained that the system was introduced after its Competitive Operations team analyzed side-win-rate variance and looked for a solution that gave teams more control over which advantage they valued.

First Selection Explained

In simple terms, before the 2026 decision, the choice awarded to a team was called Side Selection, where a team would choose which side of the map to play, as well as who gets first pick automatically. For example, Team A gets awarded Side Selection, if they choose Blue, they directly get first pick, and then Team B gets automatically assigned Red and last pick. And if A chooses Red, they get last pick and Team B gets blue and first pick.

For the new First Selection change, suppose Team A receives First Selection. Team A can choose Blue Side. If it does, Team B gets to decide whether it wants First Pick or Second Pick. Alternatively, Team A can choose First Pick, but Team B then gets to choose whether it wants Blue or Red Side. This ultimately provides significantly more room for variation in lineups and map control, which we will discuss further soon.

Why Side and Pick Order Were Valuable in the First Place

Let’s talk meta. 

Sometimes the meta prioritizes very strong champions that most players would love to get their hands on and secure their win. With the traditional format, whoever picks Blue will instantly get the advantage as it comes with first pick.

On another note, when no specific champions are potent in the ongoing meta, but victory mostly comes from snowballing and how the game or lanes play out, last pick will benefit as it usually benefits counter-picks and lane securing, meaning whoever gets Side selection may prefer picking Red for the advantage of last pick.

Although sides do benefit some champions over others, since the map is not 100% symmetrical, its value is eclipsed by the draft order with most forms of the meta. In other words, historically, how much advantage actually came from Blue Side? And how much advantage came from First Pick?

First Pick vs. Counterpick

There is no value of discussing First Pick and Second Pick without champion-specific examples. That being said, it’s important to note that although First Pick gives a team priority on a champion before the opponent can select anything, Second Pick eventually provides the final selection of the draft.

Let’s take Ornn as an example. Picked early, it can secure a reliable top laner without worrying much about the matchup. The enemy team could preserve its final pick and respond with Fiora, using the information provided with the rest of the draft, securing an advantage. On the other hand, if the first pick was to be Poppy, a champion well known to take on different roles, which might confuse the opponent on how to respond, maybe even consuming draft time or provoking the wrong pick in some cases.

In short, First Pick provides priority, while Second Pick provides information and the opportunity to counterpick. Neither advantage is automatically better, its value depends on the players and their pool of champions.

Team-Specific Preferences

As briefly mentioned in the last section, First Selection’s value highly depends on the team that has it. 

When a specialist or star player is part of a team, that team may value that player’s comfort champion early, while other teams with a more “synergistic” approach to the game, might prefer to secure a full compatible lineup and just play their own game by both countering specialist picks and playing at their own pace.

G2, for example, may value First Pick when Hans Sama’s Draven is available. Draven has been one of his signature champions throughout his career, giving G2 a reason to secure the comfort pick immediately rather than risk losing it later in the draft.

Flexibility, being the counter strategy to a specific champion or player-based draft, is what other teams would be comfortable choosing second pick with. Gragas is one of the best examples to discuss as it could be a flex pick between top or jungle, providing the Second Pick great room to gather information and secure a more favorable draft with the advantage of last pick.

Why Historical Side Win Rates Can Mislead

Historically, Blue Side combined two separate effects: the advantage of the side itself and the advantage of picking first. Because the two always came together, older data does not allow a clear distinction between "side advantage" and "first-pick advantage." Riot specifically identified variance in side win rates as one of the factors behind introducing First Selection. In 2026, those variables can finally occur independently, making direct comparisons with older Blue/Red statistics less straightforward.

First Selection now separates those parameters, and might even show a different type of correlation between the two.

A team can now play Blue while drafting second, creating a combination that wasn't part of the traditional Blue Side package. And sometimes, in some way, we might now actually see more drafts being affected by sides as some champions perform better on blue rather than on red for example. This means directly comparing older Blue Side statistics with 2026 Blue Side statistics can potentially become misleading.

First Selection Across a Series

This is where it gets actually interesting. In best-of-three and best-of-five series, information is extremely valuable with the introduction of First Selection.

A team might prioritize First Pick in Game 1 because it believes it can secure an important champion. If the opponent demonstrates an effective answer, the same team may change its priorities later in the series. Moreover, Fearless Draft adds more depth, as champions picked in an earlier match in a series become unavailable for the following matches in the same series, changing the entire drafting environment.

All this leads to changes in value for the draft from game to game, forcing the bettors to keep a keen eye on the development of the series and adaptations that the competing teams are displaying, in order to make more accurate predictions of the series.

What Bettors Should Track

A better title for this section would be: FIRST SELECTION IS NO LONGER AN ISOLATED STATISTIC.

Although previous series can reveal recognizable patterns in a team draft and First Selection preferences, data is now collected per match, especially in longer series as First Selection has become directly influenced by previous matches. We can no longer rely on “Team A is playing Blue Side” now, we have to know what that choice is based on, which champions were picked in the previous series/match? What are the available options for the opponent? Did one team change its First Selection preference after losing a match?

When following Worlds odds through a platform such as Dexsport, this gives bettors another layer of information to compare with the market: not simply which side a team received, but which advantage it actively chose and why.

And quite an interesting question to close this section and maybe even article with:  Team A had the opportunity to choose its advantage, why did they choose this one?

Conclusion — From Side Advantage to Choice Advantage

First Selection doesn’t change the value of side advantage in League of Legends, but now rather separates between several advantages that were previously bundled together and gives teams more control over what they value, as well as provide a more equal opportunity for both competing teams.

This will make Worlds 2026 slightly harder and more complicated to analyze, but definitely adds more sources of information for bettors, and no doubt a much bigger room for unique gameplay we wouldn’t have seen without this change from Riot Games.

At Worlds 2026, viewers and bettors will shift their primary question from “Who got Blue Side?”, to “They had first selection, why did they choose this?”

FAQ

1. What is First Selection in League of Legends?

First Selection lets a team choose either its map side or whether it wants First or Second Pick. The opponent then chooses the remaining variable.

2. Does Blue Side always have First Pick in 2026?

No. First Selection separates side from draft order, so Blue can now draft second.

3. Which team gets the final champion pick?

The Second Pick team receives the final champion selection and can potentially use it as a counterpick.

4. What is Fearless Draft?

Champions picked earlier in the same series become unavailable in later games, forcing both teams deeper into their champion pools.

5. Why does First Selection matter to bettors?

A team's choice can reveal what it values strategically, whether that's champion priority, counterpick potential or a particular map side.

6. Are historical Blue Side win rates still useful?

Yes, but they require context because older Blue Side results also automatically represented First Pick results, while the 2026 system separates those variables.