Side selection between two games: how to decide
In a series, the team that lost the previous game chooses its side for the next one. The rule fits in a single sentence.
You always take your preferred side, except in fearless.
It is simpler than you would imagine: there is no calculation to make before each game. There is a preference, and two situations that make it give way.
| Situation | What you take |
|---|---|
| General case | The preferred side |
| Series in fearless | Blue side, as the open picks dwindle |
| You want to pickaway | Blue side |
The general case: your preferred side
A team's preferred side can be read in what each side gives — blue side and red side do not open up the same possibilities.
Four dimensions separate them: the tempo, the information, the objective being aimed at and the breadth of the champion pool. The dedicated page details what each one gives and what the advantage depends on — essentially, the profile of the players and the level of teamplay.
A team that knows its profile knows its side. The choice between two games is therefore not a decision to be taken again from scratch: it is the application of an already established preference.
First special case: fearless
In fearless, the picks from the previous games of a BO are forbidden for the following games of the same BO. Each game therefore consumes ten champions, definitively.
The consequence is mechanical: the champion pool shrinks naturally. Game after game, fewer and fewer open picks are left.
And that is where the preference tips over:
In fearless, generally, the fewer open picks there are, the more you are going to prefer blue side.
The logic joins up with that of the narrow champion pool. When the options become scarce, it is no longer about reacting but about securing: the first pick of the draft guarantees access to the best of what is left, where the last pick no longer offers much to counter.
The hedge "generally" is to be taken seriously: it is a tendency that grows stronger over the course of the series, not a clean switch at one precise game.
Note that the preference does not change in nature: it tips over because the constraint has changed. A team that preferred red side for its adaptive pool sees precisely that asset melt away as fearless removes champions. In game 1 its pool is adaptive; three games later, it is not really adaptive any more.
Second special case: the pickaway
A pickaway consists of taking a champion in order to remove it from the opposing team. You do not take it to play it to the best of its potential — you take it so that it is not on the other side.
When do you resort to it? In the case where you do not want to change the 3 bans. A ban and a pickaway both remove a champion from the opponent, but the pickaway does not cost a ban: it lets you keep the three bans planned for what they were meant to target.
Two clarifications matter:
- You can pickaway from both sides. The pickaway does not impose blue side.
- On blue side, the pickaway lets you be sure of having the champion. That is the difference: from both sides it is possible, from one only it is certain.
It is that certainty that motivates the choice of side when the pickaway is part of the plan. On red side, you can attempt the pickaway and have it taken from you; on blue side, the first pick of the draft closes the question.
What does not enter into the decision
Nothing in the above makes the choice of side depend on the result of the previous game, on the composition the opponent has just played, or on your own current form. The preference holds, and only fearless and the pickaway shift it.
FAQ
Who chooses their side between two games?
The team that lost the previous game. The decision rule described here applies to that choice.
Do you sometimes have to take the side you do not like?
Two cases only: fearless, where the shrinking of the pool pushes towards blue side, and the intention to do a pickaway, which also pushes towards blue side.
What is fearless?
A format where the picks from the previous games of a BO are forbidden for the following games of the same BO. The pool of available champions therefore shrinks with each game.
Why prefer blue side in fearless?
Because the fewer open picks are left, the more important it becomes to secure what you want to play rather than to react. It is the same logic as a narrow champion pool.
What is a pickaway?
Taking a champion in order to remove it from the opposing team. It lets you deprive the opponent of a champion without spending a ban — useful when you do not want to touch your three bans.
Can you pickaway on red side?
Yes, the pickaway is possible from both sides. But only blue side, with the first pick of the draft, lets you be sure of getting the champion you are aiming for.
Going further
- Blue side vs red side — what each side gives, and what the advantage depends on.
- The first pick — what is at stake on the pick blue side secures.
- The two ban phases — the other way of removing a champion from the opponent.
- How a draft unfolds from A to Z — the complete step by step.
- The draft glossary — all the vocabulary, by family.
- All our draft guides — the pillar page of the cluster.
Replay your series. Take a BO3 draft again from both sides on uDrafter — it is free and no account is needed.