In draft, blue side picks first and the sides then alternate in twos: 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1. Your spot in your team's order is set when champ select opens, and you can swap it with a teammate before you lock. First pick should be a blind pick, a champion with few and rare bad matchups; last pick is the one spot where a counter pick is free; the picks in between hover, read what the enemy has shown and keep two options open. The lists: the safest first pick per role and how to counter pick as last pick.
How pick order works in champ select
Draft has two phases: bans, then picks. In the ban phase each of the ten players bans one champion; the wiki's Draft Pick page says enemy bans are revealed after everyone has issued them or at the end of the phase. In the pick phase the Blue team always has the right to pick first, and the sides then alternate: one pick for blue, two for red, two for blue, two for red, two for blue, and red side last-picks one. So blue has picks 1, 4, 5, 8 and 9, red has 2, 3, 6, 7 and 10.
Your spot in your team's order is assigned when champ select opens. The wiki does not say how, and neither do Riot's support pages, so this guide does not either. What the wiki does say: before locking in, players can swap their pick order, and after everyone has picked they can swap champions. Both need the other player to agree.
What the spot changes is information. First pick sees nothing of the enemy team. Last pick sees all five enemy champions. Every spot in between sees some of them, and the whole guide below is about using what you can see.
First pick: play a blind pick
First pick cannot counter anyone, so it should be hard to counter: a champion that is strong on the patch, has few bad matchups, and whose bad matchups are rarely picked. That is what the blind-pick lists measure, from the same tier data as the counter pages: tier S+, S or A in the lane, enough games, and the lowest combined pick rate of its listed counters.
Which role is safest to pick first? The table takes each lane's safest blind pick on patch 26.21 and how often its counters are picked in that lane: the lower, the less a first pick there gives away.
| Lane | Safest blind pick | Tier | Win rate | Games | Its counters are picked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADC |  Jinx | S+ | 54.8% | 848 | 5% of lane picks |
| Jungle |  Bel'Veth | S+ | 60.1% | 153 | 6% of lane picks |
| Support |  Leona | S+ | 55.7% | 569 | 6% of lane picks |
| Top Lane |  Dr. Mundo | S+ | 55.8% | 260 | 7% of lane picks |
| Mid |  Xerath | S+ | 56.9% | 218 | 9% of lane picks |
The lists per role are on the safest first pick per role; top lane, where a blind pick matters most, has its own page: the top lane blind pick list.
Picks two to four: hover, read, keep two options
- Read what the enemy has shown. One enemy champion that only plays one lane tells you a lane; one that plays two tells you less. Wait for the second clue before you answer it.
- Read what your team lacks. A team without a frontline, without engage or with one damage type loses more games than a lane wins. Your pick fills a hole first and counters second.
- Hover two champions in your head. A safe pick for if your opponent stays hidden, and a counter for if they show. Lock the one the last few seconds call for.
Last pick: counter pick, if you can play it
Last pick is the one spot where a counter is free: the lane opponent is known and cannot answer you. Open their page among the counter pages, see which champions they do worst against, and take the one that is in your pool and fits your team. If the answer is not in your pool, take your main: a counter you have barely played is not a counter. The guide on how to counter pick as last pick has the six things that decide a matchup and the numbers behind the experience rule.
Role swaps: when to say yes
- Only if your pool in the other role is as deep. A swap that puts you on a role with one champion you half know loses more than the draft gains. LazyElo asks for at least 10 champions per lane in your pool for a reason: after bans and picks there has to be something left to suggest.
- Only before picks start. A swap agreed during the pick phase leaves one of you picking blind for a role you did not plan.
- Say what you offer. “Can jungle, Viego or Amumu, your call” gets a yes more often than “swap?”.
This is the champ-select meaning of a role swap. The other meaning, a pro player moving to a new role for a season, is a different question.
Flex picks: hide your role until the last moment
A flex pick is a champion played in two lanes, so the enemy cannot tell from your hover which lane you are. In the games behind this site, these champions have at least 100 ranked games in two or more lanes on patch 26.21; the most played first. (This is about flexible champions, not the Flex queue.)
| Champion | Lanes (tier, games) |
|---|---|
 Lux | Support (B, 961) and Mid (S, 277) |
 Yone | Mid (C, 661) and Top Lane (A, 520) |
 Yasuo | Mid (S, 663), Top Lane (C, 171) and ADC (A, 137) |
 Darius | Top Lane (A, 567) and Jungle (A, 129) |
 Akali | Mid (B, 525) and Top Lane (B, 148) |
 Teemo | Top Lane (A, 474) and Jungle (C, 103) |
 Veigar | Mid (A, 411) and ADC (S, 133) |
 Ekko | Mid (A, 299) and Jungle (C, 244) |
 Cho'Gath | Jungle (S, 295) and Top Lane (C, 215) |
 Jax | Top Lane (B, 316) and Jungle (A, 176) |
Each champion links to its counter page, with the matchups per lane. A flex pick is only a flex pick if you play it in both lanes; otherwise it is a hover.
Bans and pick order
Your spot also changes what to ban. As first pick, protect your blind pick: ban the counter you meet most, so the enemy's answer is a worse one. As last pick, you can answer a pick instead of banning it, so spend the ban on the champion that is a hard matchup for most of your pool. The ban guide has that table per lane: what to ban with your pick order.
In champ select, with your own pool
LazyElo reads your assigned lane from the client and scores the champions in your pool against the draft as it happens. While your lane opponent is unknown it marks each one as a safe blind pick or as risky; once the enemy locks it re-scores on the matchup, your own record and what your team still needs, and puts the best pick first with the reasons. The free plan shows your best 3 picks. The feature: the app shows your safest pick first. It never picks or locks for you.
The numbers on this page: 5,462 ranked games on patch 26.21. Games shared anonymously by LazyElo apps, recounted every hour. The mechanics come from the wiki's Draft Pick page; check the client if Riot changes the sequence.
Questions and answers
Who should be the first pick in LoL?
Whoever has a safe blind pick ready: a champion with few bad matchups, so the enemy's answer costs little. By our data the lanes whose best blind picks meet their counters least often are the safest to open with; the table under First pick shows which this patch. The old habit of sending the support first is fine when the support has a safe pick, and bad when it does not.
Does blue or red side pick first?
Blue side. The wiki's Draft Pick page: the Blue team always has the right to pick first, and the sides then alternate in twos, with red side taking the last pick.
Why am I always first pick?
The client assigns each player's spot in the team's pick order when champ select opens; neither Riot's support pages nor the wiki's Draft Pick page say how. You can swap spots with a teammate before you lock in, so if you have a counter pick in mind and your first-pick teammate has a blind pick ready, ask.
Is last pick an advantage?
For the lane, yes: last pick sees every enemy champion and can answer the lane opponent, which no other spot can. It is only an advantage if the answer is in your pool. A counter you have barely played gives the edge back; the counter-pick guide has the numbers behind that.
Should supports pick first?
Only when the support has a safe blind pick. Bot lane is two against two, so the ADC and support who pick early do better with safe picks and let the later pick of the two do the countering. If your support's pool is all counter picks, swap with a teammate who has a blind pick.