Clairvoyance Blog

Article by Boom Bear, Design by Nancymon





Your XP bar creeps towards level 3. The enemy minion wave is starting to thin, and you’ve been able to bully their Ahri in lane. You last-hit one more minion. Level up. It’s time.

You flash forward and execute your full combo, weaving in autos because you’d obviously never forget to do that. You drop ignite (which is bound to "D," like a civilized human) and get off one last auto just before Ahri flashes back behind her tower into the fog of war. You wait.

And then you hear it:

First Blood

No matter how it goes down, first blood is a big deal. It gets both you and your team off on the right foot, and can be a delightful opportunity to explore the finer points of coordinated mastery emote and dance spamming. But how big of a deal is first blood? Which champions get it the most? Who gets the most out of it? The answers lie below.

First Blood Rate



First Blood Rate by Champion

RANK CHAMPION FIRST BLOOD RATE 1 Talon 24.9% 2 Pantheon 20.2% 3 Katarina 19.8% 4 Evelynn 19.5% 5 LeBlanc 18.6% 6 Lee Sin 17.9% 7 Tryndamere 17.6% 8 Nidalee 17.5% 9 Fiora 17.4% 10 Quinn 17.0% 11 Kha'Zix 16.7% 12 Kindred 16.1% 13 Xin Zhao 16.0% 14 Elise 16.0% 15 Aatrox 15.6% 16 Kled 15.5% 17 Rengar 15.4% 18 Olaf 15.2% 19 Darius 15.2% 20 Kalista 15.1% 21 Warwick 14.9% 22 Renekton 14.8% 23 Yasuo 14.7% 24 Master Yi 14.6% 25 Shaco 14.5% 26 Wukong 14.5% 27 Mordekaiser 14.5% 28 Graves 13.9% 29 Jax 13.9% 30 Camille 13.7% 31 Twitch 13.7% 32 Fizz 13.5% 33 Teemo 13.5% 34 Jayce 13.0% 35 Udyr 12.8% 36 Trundle 12.7% 37 Irelia 12.2% 38 Riven 12.0% 39 Draven 11.9% 40 Jarvan IV 11.8% 41 Volibear 11.8% 42 Taliyah 11.7% 43 Anivia 11.4% 44 Yorick 11.3% 45 Zed 11.2% 46 Urgot 11.1% 47 Vi 11.1% 48 Cassiopeia 10.9% 49 Rek'Sai 10.9% 50 Jhin 10.8% 51 Ekko 10.6% 52 Nocturne 10.6% 53 Garen 10.5% 54 Fiddlesticks 10.5% 55 Poppy 10.4% 56 Ezreal 10.4% 57 Aurelion Sol 10.3% 58 Annie 10.1% 59 Hecarim 10.0% 60 Ryze 9.9% 61 Dr. Mundo 9.8% 62 Akali 9.8% 63 Karthus 9.8% 64 Kennen 9.6% 65 Lucian 9.4% 66 Rumble 9.4% 67 Gragas 9.2% 68 Ahri 9.0% 69 Singed 8.9% 70 Cho'Gath 8.8% 71 Tristana 8.7% 72 Ziggs 8.7% 73 Sion 8.6% 74 Gangplank 8.4% 75 Syndra 8.4% 76 Lux 8.3% 77 Illaoi 8.3% 78 Caitlyn 8.2% 79 Xerath 8.1% 80 Vladimir 8.1% 81 Varus 8.1% 82 Brand 8.0% 83 Kassadin 7.9% 84 Vayne 7.9% 85 Shen 7.8% 86 Tahm Kench 7.8% 87 Orianna 7.8% 88 Kayle 7.7% 89 Skarner 7.6% 90 Kog'Maw 7.6% 91 Jinx 7.6% 92 Zac 7.5% 93 Gnar 7.5% 94 Viktor 7.5% 95 Ashe 7.4% 96 Swain 7.4% 97 Lissandra 7.4% 98 Corki 7.2% 99 Malzahar 7.1% 100 Twisted Fate 7.1% 101 Maokai 7.1% 102 Shyvana 7.0% 103 Azir 6.9% 104 Vel'Koz 6.9% 105 Rammus 6.8% 106 Diana 6.8% 107 Sivir 6.7% 108 Miss Fortune 6.6% 109 Nunu 6.4% 110 Sejuani 6.2% 111 Malphite 6.2% 112 Ivern 6.1% 113 Lulu 6.0% 114 Nautilus 5.9% 115 Amumu 5.9% 116 Nasus 5.5% 117 Morgana 5.5% 118 Heimerdinger 5.4% 119 Thresh 5.3% 120 Galio 5.3% 121 Blitzcrank 5.1% 122 Karma 5.0% 123 Veigar 5.0% 124 Leona 4.9% 125 Bard 4.9% 126 Sona 4.6% 127 Zyra 4.6% 128 Zilean 4.5% 129 Nami 3.3% 130 Taric 3.2% 131 Alistar 2.8% 132 Braum 2.5% 133 Soraka 2.3% 134 Janna 1.7%

First blood doesn’t just plop down on your doorstep. It requires skill (theoretically), timing (sometimes), and the ability to dish out some serious damage. Which champions, then, are most likely to bag first blood? We looked at all ranked games on Summoner’s Rift over the course of patch 7.3 (I see you, lethality) to see who stood atop the first blood game. We calculated First Blood Rate as the percentage of games that a champion appeared in where they secured first blood.

Parkour enthusiast and lethality apologist Talon reigns supreme as king of first blood, notching the first takedown of the match in a whopping 25 percent of the ranked games he plays in. Fellow assassins Pantheon, Katarina, and LeBlanc also ride high on the chart.

First blood isn’t just for lane bullies, though. A host of early game junglers such as Lee Sin (17.8 percent), Kha’Zix (16.7 percent), and Elise (16.0 percent) also fall in the top 15, proving once and for all that just because you can’t farm creeps doesn’t mean you can’t farm champions. No matter AP or AD, lane or jungle, there’s no substitute for good ol’ fashioned early game burst when it comes to first blood.

What’s that, you say? “But what about champs like Zed, Annie, and Kassadin which blow me up with frightening consistency even though I should definitely be expecting it?” Glad you asked, summoner! Even though they have some serious all-in potential, Zed (38th, 11.9 percent), Annie (63rd, 9.3 percent), and Kassadin (76th, 8.6 percent) still have some room for improvement in their first blood stylings, likely due to how critical their ultimates are to deleting folks. And, if you think about it, Pantheon can’t just wait around until level 6 to spear you to death. He’s got things to bake.

Although our ult-gated buddies may not have the most potent first blood potential, they’re working with an embarrassment of riches compared to the bottom of the list. Janna, in all of her tornado-slinging, glacially slow auto-attack glory “secures” first blood in only 1.7 percent of the games she plays. The picture isn’t that much prettier for the rest of the support squad, with traditional supports rounding out the entirety of the bottom ten. Even bot lane terror Blitzcrank (aka Mr Steal Yo Kill) only pulls in first blood 1 out of every 20 games. For all of you playing support purely for the glory, I urge you to reconsider.

The First Blood Bonus™



First Blood Bonus by Champion

RANK CHAMPION FBB First Blood Bonus WR fb Win rate when Champion gets First Blood 1 Rengar 14.4% 63.4% 2 Kindred 14.3% 61.0% 3 Draven 14.0% 64.4% 4 Kalista 13.8% 59.7% 5 Karthus 13.6% 64.4% 6 Aurelion Sol 13.6% 65.8% 7 Jinx 13.3% 63.7% 8 Tristana 12.7% 59.3% 9 Sivir 12.5% 60.5% 10 Akali 12.5% 62.1% 11 Evelynn 12.3% 60.1% 12 Nidalee 12.3% 58.9% 13 Miss Fortune 12.2% 62.2% 14 Graves 12.2% 61.9% 15 Hecarim 12.0% 60.2% 16 Ryze 11.9% 56.0% 17 Ezreal 11.9% 58.6% 18 Lucian 11.9% 57.9% 19 Shyvana 11.8% 60.1% 20 Skarner 11.8% 62.0% 21 Katarina 11.8% 59.3% 22 Rek'Sai 11.8% 57.6% 23 Irelia 11.7% 60.6% 24 Singed 11.7% 61.0% 25 Kha'Zix 11.7% 61.7% 26 Twitch 11.7% 63.1% 27 Wukong 11.6% 61.0% 28 Caitlyn 11.6% 59.9% 29 Tryndamere 11.6% 60.3% 30 Heimerdinger 11.6% 58.4% 31 Mordekaiser 11.6% 59.6% 32 Swain 11.5% 63.5% 33 Kassadin 11.5% 59.2% 34 Aatrox 11.4% 56.5% 35 Master Yi 11.4% 57.4% 36 Jax 11.3% 60.1% 37 Vladimir 11.3% 58.2% 38 Riven 11.3% 59.6% 39 Taliyah 11.2% 58.5% 40 Vi 11.2% 60.4% 41 Camille 11.1% 58.8% 42 Nunu 11.1% 56.1% 43 Syndra 11.1% 59.0% 44 Fiora 11.1% 59.4% 45 Kayle 11.0% 62.6% 46 Shaco 11.0% 63.7% 47 Jayce 10.9% 61.3% 48 Yasuo 10.9% 56.5% 49 Annie 10.9% 61.7% 50 Janna 10.9% 63.7% 51 Vayne 10.8% 58.3% 52 Corki 10.8% 61.9% 53 Olaf 10.8% 57.2% 54 Nasus 10.8% 60.1% 55 Kled 10.8% 61.5% 56 Rammus 10.8% 60.5% 57 Cassiopeia 10.8% 57.7% 58 Orianna 10.8% 59.0% 59 Darius 10.8% 59.2% 60 Varus 10.8% 59.8% 61 Talon 10.7% 62.6% 62 Urgot 10.7% 58.3% 63 Fiddlesticks 10.7% 59.0% 64 Nocturne 10.7% 60.1% 65 Lee Sin 10.7% 58.0% 66 Ashe 10.7% 57.2% 67 Azir 10.6% 52.7% 68 Sona 10.6% 63.3% 69 Malphite 10.6% 61.1% 70 Ekko 10.5% 59.1% 71 Renekton 10.4% 59.3% 72 Twisted Fate 10.3% 60.9% 73 Xin Zhao 10.3% 59.4% 74 Rumble 10.3% 59.2% 75 Zed 10.3% 59.7% 76 Jarvan IV 10.3% 60.5% 77 Xerath 10.3% 62.1% 78 Ahri 10.2% 62.1% 79 Udyr 10.2% 55.6% 80 Jhin 10.2% 60.6% 81 Warwick 10.2% 56.6% 82 Zilean 10.2% 61.5% 83 Elise 10.1% 57.5% 84 Fizz 9.9% 57.4% 85 Pantheon 9.8% 60.9% 86 Gangplank 9.8% 57.4% 87 Quinn 9.8% 62.7% 88 Zac 9.8% 58.5% 89 Nami 9.7% 60.6% 90 Kog'Maw 9.7% 61.7% 91 Diana 9.7% 57.0% 92 Viktor 9.5% 56.4% 93 Ziggs 9.5% 61.4% 94 Braum 9.4% 57.7% 95 Tahm Kench 9.4% 56.5% 96 Veigar 9.3% 57.0% 97 Morgana 9.3% 59.1% 98 Anivia 9.3% 61.8% 99 Illaoi 9.3% 57.6% 100 Lux 9.2% 56.2% 101 Vel'Koz 9.2% 59.5% 102 Gragas 9.2% 57.9% 103 Lulu 9.2% 59.7% 104 Brand 9.2% 58.2% 105 Ivern 9.1% 62.8% 106 LeBlanc 9.1% 59.0% 107 Lissandra 9.1% 55.3% 108 Sejuani 9.0% 56.5% 109 Soraka 9.0% 62.1% 110 Nautilus 9.0% 58.1% 111 Dr. Mundo 9.0% 55.8% 112 Poppy 9.0% 55.8% 113 Maokai 8.9% 58.9% 114 Teemo 8.9% 57.0% 115 Malzahar 8.9% 59.0% 116 Zyra 8.8% 59.3% 117 Garen 8.8% 56.8% 118 Karma 8.7% 57.4% 119 Thresh 8.7% 57.0% 120 Kennen 8.7% 55.8% 121 Yorick 8.6% 58.5% 122 Volibear 8.5% 55.2% 123 Amumu 8.3% 55.8% 124 Leona 8.2% 58.8% 125 Cho'Gath 8.2% 53.3% 126 Taric 8.1% 58.0% 127 Trundle 7.9% 55.0% 128 Gnar 7.8% 52.4% 129 Alistar 7.6% 55.3% 130 Bard 7.4% 52.9% 131 Sion 7.3% 58.4% 132 Shen 7.0% 53.2% 133 Blitzcrank 6.9% 59.4% 134 Galio 6.6% 55.3%

Now that we know who’s getting first blood, let’s find out who’s actually doing something with it. One way to think about this would be to compare champion win rates when they get first blood (WR fb ) versus their win rate when they don’t (WR nfb ). This gives us an idea of how much of a win rate boost is associated with a champion scoring first blood. Using the highly technical formula WR fb - WR nfb , we derive the cutting-edge FBB, or First Blood Bonus.

FBB = WR fb - WR nfb

Rengar, everybody’s favorite crusher of marksman dreams, gets the biggest dose of catnip from first blood, going from a 49 percent win rate without first blood to a 63.4 percent win rate with it—a whopping 14.4 percent FBB. That, combined with his healthy 15.4 percent First Blood Rate suggests you might want to steer clear of the kitty in the early game. The going is also good for marksfolk like Draven, Kalista, Jinx, Tristana, and Sivir, who all have between a 12.5 percent and 14 percent boost in win rate associated with the opening takedown. [Note: I’m being uncomfortably deliberate in using the term “associated” here to imply correlation and not causation. Although first blood likely increases your chances of winning, it’s also likely to fall to the better team more often than not. In the current analysis, we don’t attempt to tease apart these elements.]

At the bottom, it’s not all resets and adoration stacks. Tanky supports (Taric, Alistar, Leona) and traditionally full tank solo laners (Trundle, Sion, Shen) reap comparatively small benefits from first blood, likely due to their power scaling expressing itself as “being real good at not dying” rather than “being real good at killing other stuff.” What I’m trying to say is if you’ve gotta feed, feed the tank. It’s also worth mentioning that the solo queue Blitzcrank in your game who is “definitely gonna carry” is one of the least effective at translating first blood into a juicy FBB. Stick to the laugh spam, bud.

“Firsts” on the Rift

With all of this talk of win rates and first blood, it’s starting to look like a pretty scary thing. We know it’s nice to have, but how does first blood stack up to other “firsts” on the Rift in terms of team success?

Across all ranked games in Patch 7.3, the team that secured first blood registered a respectable 59.4 percent win rate. In comparison, grabbing first tower (71.7 percent), dragon (68.3 percent) or Baron (81.5 percent) were all associated with much higher rates of team success—and it makes sense. First blood can be anything from a mechanical outplay or well-timed gank to absent mindedly walking face first into an all too willing to accept tower. First blood favors skilled players and clutch plays, but it’s a pretty noisy signal when it comes to predicting team success.



Win Rate of "Firsts"

WHICH FIRST WIN RATE AVG TIME TAKEN First Blood 59.4% 3min 18sec First Tower 71.7% 12min 45sec First Dragon 68.3% 12min 51sec First Baron 81.5% 29min 47sec

On the other hand, objective-based plays around towers or epic monsters often require far more teamwork, cooperation, and set-up to lock in. Furthermore, first tower, dragon, and particularly Baron tend to happen far later in the game than first blood, after leads have been built and carries have begun to emerge. As such, it’s reasonable to think about them in large part as indicators of previous success in the game (“we’re crushing them, so we can take dragon for free!”) rather than purely predictors of what’s to come. Here’s what this all boils down to: even though first blood is powerful, it isn’t do or die. As my parents always said: “wash behind your ears and play the objectives.”

Gather ‘round and take a knee, summoners. Let’s talk about what we’ve learned. First, life isn’t fair and first blood isn’t for everyone (unless you’re Talon). Second, champions vary drastically in how well they capitalize on first blood. If you must feed, locate the nearest tank. Third, first blood isn’t everything. It stings to give it up, but bagging objectives is correlated with a much higher chance of team success. Run your face into Baron, tell ‘em boom bear sent ya. Finally, if you give up first blood to that Blitzcrank spamming his mastery emote—sleep well. He’s not gonna do squat with it.