Betting on League of Legends First Blood

There are a number of markets to bet on in League of Legends, we breakdown betting on First Blood (FB) and discuss 'What is First Blood'. Read on to find out more.

What is First Blood in League of Legends?

First Blood, abbreviated ‘FB’, refers to a team in League of Legends (LoL) achieving the first kill on an enemy player in a game. It typically occurs within the first 5 - 10 minutes of a match starting and awards the player that secures FB 400 Gold and an additional 200 Gold split evenly between players that assist.

Read: The history of League of Legends

Achieving the First Blood on an opponent is crucial due to the influence it has on the early stages of the game. The gold awarded for FB can tip the balance in favour of the team that secured it, giving the player the additional resources to purchase items that make their characters, ‘Champions’ as it is referred to in LoL, more powerful. When live betting on League of Legends, First Blood can be used as an indicator as to whether or not a team is likely to perform well for the rest of the match.

Betting on First Blood - Team to draw First Blood

There are a number of factors that go into determining whether a team is more or less likely to get First Blood such as team composition, starting side on the map, jungle strategy and opponent skill level.

Taking team composition as an example, two LCS teams may have differing philosophies on how to approach the game from a strategic stand-point, and this can result in two contrasting team compositions being drafted in champion select.

Depending on the champions picked, a team can increase their chances to secure First Blood in a match.

One team may favour having an aggressive team composition that relies on getting kills on the opponent and will be expected to play in a way to prioritize securing FB, whereas the opponent team may want to play more passively and will draft champions that focus more on killing Dragons, Heralds, Barons and Turrets instead of the enemy. The team in the first scenario should be favoured when betting on First Blood due to the aggressive nature of the team composition and the odds will be reflective of this.

The team with the highest First Blood percentage during the LCS Spring 2020 Regular season was Team SoloMid (TSM). Despite having a mixed 9 - 9 match record, they managed to achieve FB in 83% of the matches they played. The team compositions they drafted throughout the Regular season supported the idea that they intentionally created strategies to secure FB with champions like Nautilus, Jarvan and Rakan as three of the most picked champions by the team.

Resources to inform your League of Legends betting

For those that are looking for more information on League of Legends betting, the esports blog has a variety of articles to help inform your bet such as:

Bettors can access the official statistics of teams playing in the LCS, LEC and more on the official lolesports website. Other useful websites that have analytical tools for League of Legends include Games of Legend (GoL) and Oracleelixir.

How to bet on First Blood

Pinnacle offers a number of markets for League of Legends which includes Over/Under Total kills, the Money Line which is the outcome of the match, and unique markets like 1st team to secure First Blood.

If you would like additional information on the LCS & LEC, check out our weekly League of Legends predictions article where we analyse teams, news and performance.