League of Legends Data Alert: Lowest WPA Items by Purchase Slot — Buy The Collector Early or Skip It
August 9, 2026 | Esports Centric
New data from analytics provider Coachless (@CoachlessGG) has revealed which items are currently hurting win probability the most depending on when players buy them.
The study analyzed over 50,000 purchases per item across all regions in patches 26.14–26.15 and ranked the worst-performing items by purchase slot:
- 1st item: –0.52 WPA (53k buys)
- 2nd item: –1.06 WPA (147k buys)
- 3rd item: –1.03 WPA (157k buys)
- 4th+ items: –1.47 WPA (76k buys)
The biggest takeaway targets The Collector. According to the numbers, players should either rush it early in their build or avoid it completely. Buying the lethality/crit execute item later in the game is strongly correlated with a drop in win probability.
What is WPA?
Win Probability Added (WPA) measures how much an item purchase shifts a team’s chance of winning at that specific moment. Strongly negative values suggest the item is often inefficient or poorly timed relative to the current meta and gold curve.
This insight is especially relevant for AD carries, assassins, and other crit/lethality users who frequently look at The Collector. Early access to its execute passive and stats can help snowball games, while a delayed purchase frequently underperforms.
Esports Centric will keep tracking high-level itemization trends and patch data as the season continues. Stay locked in for more data-driven breakdowns across League of Legends and other competitive titles.
Source: CoachlessGG data visualization & analysis
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