League of Legends
League of Legends
Team SoloMid breaks Cloud9’s winning streak in 2020 LCS Spring Split
William Davis
Team SoloMid ruined Cloud9’s perfect record in the 2020 LCS Spring Split. Week 7 in the LCS started with a major upset as TSM handed Cloud9 its first defeat of the season, doing so in convincing fashion. Both teams came into the match in very different states. On one side, Cloud9 was an unstoppable force in the LCS that was seemingly positioned to complete a perfect season. On the other …
League of Legends
G2 Wunder debuts top lane Janna in LEC victory over Fnatic
William Davis
Soraka and Sona got nerfed, so G2 Esports played the next best thing: Janna in the top lane. In a match against Fnatic, G2 showed the next support flex that could take over the top lane, Janna. The pick was piloted by Martin “Wunder” Hansen. Janna in the top lane works like other supports in the top lane. Janna can harass her opponents in through the laning phase and brings utility …
League of Legends
CLG Wiggily says Team Liquid was “caught off guard, big time”
Olivia Richman
Counter Logic Gaming had a good day. They defeated Team Liquid, bringing their record to 3-10. Yes, they’re still in last, but that’s not what matters, as Raymond “Wiggily” Griffin told WIN.gg after the victory. New midlaner Eugene “Pobelter” Park became Player of the Game, thanks to breaking the Spring Split record of highest kills. He went 11-1-0 in the match against Liquid, including a triple kill that left the …
League of Legends
100T Meteos says “Focusing only on Worlds is really, really wack”
Olivia Richman
A close back and forth battle between 100 Thieves and Dignitas finally resulted in 100T breaking the tie for sixth place in the LCS. For William “Meteos” Hartman, this was a possible turning point for his team, who he feels is continuing to improve each week. Meteos sat down with WIN.gg to talk about their victory and why the Spring Split always matters no matter the format. How are you …
League of Legends
Riot launches client cleanup campaign to fix LoL’s buggy client
William Davis
Riot Games has launched a six-month campaign to clean up and fix the notoriously dated League of Legends client. Despite being one of the biggest video games in the world, LoL’s actual computer application is a blast from the past in all the worst ways. The client is known for having uncontrollable lag, bugs, and various other issues. After years of complaints Riot is beginning a full campaign to fix …
League of Legends
Valorant lead dev talks agents and maps, system requirements revealed
Olivia Richman
Valorant lead game designer Trevor “Classick” Romleski answered fan questions about the new title in an AMA session on Discord earlier this week. Fans gathered to ask him about the game’s agents, weapons, gameplay, and everything in between. Inspired by Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s realistic take on weaponry, Valorant will have a variety of guns, all with different recoil and accuracy. Like CSGO, player movement impacts accuracy, but one weapon, the …
League of Legends
LoL patch 10.5 targets support items, adds value to turrets
William Davis
It’s time for League of Legends patch 10.5! Patch 10.5 is now live and it brings key changes for the top laners. Riot Games said that it was committed to making the top lane experience better so the players feel like they have an impact on the game. The changes keep coming and Riot additionally addresses those pesky enchanting supports that keep flexing to the top lane. Patch 10.5 marks …
League of Legends
Counter Logic Gaming drops Crown after poor performance
Olivia Richman
After a difficult start to the LCS Spring Split, Counter Logic Gaming have announced that Lee “Crown” Min-ho is now a free agent. Counter Logic Gaming spent the first six weeks of the season in last place, with an unfortunate 2-10 record. The poor showing put pressure on the players, who began to underperform even more as they struggled to prove themselves. One of the biggest disappointments, though, was Crown. Despite …
Riot reveals key details on TFT: Galaxies’ new gameplay, Pass+
William Davis
League of Legends
The release of Teamfight Tactics: Galaxies is fast approaching and Riot Games has shared new information about the set. TFT: Galaxies is the next update for the autobattler. The new, space-themed set will include new traits and characters. On top of that, Riot is improving the rewards, gameplay, and even the Little Legends system. The developers took everything they learned from the first two sets, to improve TFT: Galaxies. According …
Doublelift benched from LCS by Team Liquid due to motivation
William Davis
League of Legends
Team Liquid’s Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng is benched due to motivation problems, the bottom laner confirmed the situation through Twitter. Liquid has decided to bench Doublelift for the foreseeable future. Co-CEO Steve Arhancet said on Twitter that the team is evaluating the situation week to week, but for now Edward “Tactical” Ra is the starter. Liquid signed Richard “Rikara” Oh as the new bottom laner for Team Liquid Academy, so Tactical …
League of Legends says final farewell to its community boards
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
League of Legends players have just a few more days to use the game’s official boards before they close on March 9. The boards are a platform where League of Legends players and fans could voice their opinions on various elements of the game, similar to a Reddit forum. The boards were also used by Riot to share updates and game changes with players. But after a decade of service, …
LCK Spring Split indefinitely delayed after spike in coronavirus cases
William Davis
League of Legends
The 2020 LCK Spring Split will be indefinitely postponed starting March 6. The LCK is the latest victim of the coronavirus. The delay includes all LCK matches, Challengers Korea matches, as well as the additional content created for the Korean broadcast. The decision was made after a spike in the number of coronavirus cases in South Korea. Riot Games took preemptive measures at the start of the season. All LCK …
Project A renamed Valorant, gameplay and characters revealed
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Details on Riot Games’ hotly anticipated FPS game Project A have been revealed. According to a press release, Project A has been renamed Valorant. The game is a competitive, five-on-five, character-based FPS for PC that will launch in the summer of 2020. It will be free-to-play, like Riot’s ever-popular League of Legends. According to Riot, Valorant will allow players to enjoy “precise skill, high stakes, lethal gameplay, and clutch moments that reward …
Team SoloMid on LCS losing streak after loss to Counter Logic Gaming
William Davis
League of Legends
Counter Logic Gaming got some revenge against Team SoloMid and secured a win in the 2020 LCS Spring Season. Just when everything seemed lost, CLG got a victory over its eternal rival in the sixth week of LCS action. When the teams clashed in Week 2, TSM had the upper hand and CLG walked away with wounded pride. This time around, CLG hit back and stayed afloat in one of the …
Project A leaked images reveal first first character, abilities
William Davis
League of Legends
An anonymous source has leaked what appears to be images of Riot Games’ Project A, the developer’s first shooter title. In early February, Riot hosted a closed alpha in its office in Dublin, Ireland. A small group of players had a chance to get their hands on Project A and the feedback was positive. Former professional Counter-Strike player Henry “HenryG” Greer said that Project A is the best game since …
Team Liquid beats Team SoloMid without Doublelift in 2020 LCS Spring
William Davis
League of Legends
Team Liquid picked up a critical win over Team SoloMid in the 2020 LCS Spring season. Liquid started the second half of the season with a massive victory and is ready to fight for a spot in the playoffs. Liquid came into Week 6 without its bottom lane star, with Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng missing the action due to a serious case of laryngitis. The team started Academy player Edward “Tactical” …
Doublelift to miss Liquid’s LCS match with Team SoloMid due to illness
William Davis
League of Legends
Team Liquid is facing another roadblock in the LCS. The team will play Week 6 in the 2020 LCS Spring Split without star player Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng. It will instead start academy player Edward “Tactical” Ra. The bottom laner is currently recovering from laryngitis and cannot use his voice, forcing him out of Liquid’s upcoming showdown with Team SoloMid. Tactical trained with the LCS roster over the past few days and the …
2020 LPL Spring Split to resume in March amid coronavirus fears
William Davis
League of Legends
The 2020 LPL Spring season is back after a six-week hiatus, and the action will resume on March 9. On January 26, the LPL decided to postpone the activities due to the coronavirus outbreak in China. As the situation worsened in the country, fans started to wonder if the competition would take place at all. There were conversations about the Chinese teams missing the Mid-Season Invitational and possible repercussions in …
G2 Esports takes easy win over SK Gaming, but fans should be scared
William Davis
League of Legends
G2 Esports picked up a victory over SK Gaming in the 2020 LEC Spring Season to keep its spot in the three-way tie for first place with Origen and Fnatic. G2 took SK apart in a 25-minute map that bordered on being unpleasant to watch. G2 opted for an experimental composition with Taliyah in the bottom lane. SK tried to adapt as best as they could and ended up with …
TFT: Galaxies will add Star Guardians, keep Blademasters and Sorcerers
William Davis
League of Legends
Riot Games has revealed new information about set 3, Teamfight Tactics: Galaxies. TFT: Galaxies is taking the game to new heights. The third set is coming out next month and Riot gave fans a sneak peak at the new traits that are coming to the game. Mecha fans and Star Guardians enthusiasts will be quite pleased with what’s to come. Longtime League of Legends fans all know and love the …
League of Legends
is among the most popular widely-played video games in the world. It has been a consistent trendsetter in the gaming industry, whether as a model for other free-to-play titles looking to monetize their players or as a guiding light for how professional esports can be both successful and sustainable.
It hasn’t always been so though. League of Legends was released in 2009 as an uncertain new project, a game with large aspirations but little proven. In the years since, it has developed into the dominant title that it is today, and one of the biggest games on the planet.
League of Legends drives success of MOBA genre
League of Legends stands out in part because it may arguably be the very first original game released to truly fit into what we now understand to be the increasingly
popular MOBA genre. Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas are a very particular type of game genre that carry out competition between two opposing teams of players on a map. These games test a mix of competition, tactics, and quick reactions, a potent combination that has proven equal parts popular and durable over the years.
While League of Legends was certainly among the first full releases to focus on the genre and its new ideas, it wasn’t actually the origin point for any of it. That distinction belongs to
Blizzard release WarCraft 3,
and more specifically a modified game mode titled
Defense of the Ancients.
WarCraft 3 was a real-time strategy game that featured prominent hero units who could gain in power as they accrued experience points to level up their abilities, and gold to purchase powerful items. Defense of the Ancients was a
user-made game mode
which emphasized these heroes by giving each player control over one such character and teaming them up against an opposing squad of players. It was a dynamite success, inspiring myriad clones and, eventually, an entire genre of games.
But while League of Legends wasn’t the first to bring about these concepts, it was certainly
effective in executing on them. Early developers at publisher Riot Games had a clear idea of what they wanted to accomplish with the creation of League of Legends, and it would be hard to argue against their success given the runaway popularity achieved by their iteration on the MOBA formula.
LoL incorporates esports sustainably
Just as impressive as the long-term success of League of Legends as a game is the continued success of the title’s esports scene. While esports has known multiple peaks and valleys over the years, Riot Games has consistently managed to maintain the prominence of LoL esports. This has been accomplished through an emphasis on
regular regional play
and
sustainability.
Most esports and competitive games at the time used a circuits system, scattering major tournaments for the best teams across the year. Instead, Riot divided the world into separate playing regions. Each region has its own
competitive league
in which the best professional teams play weekly. The best teams in each league are then brought together for an
annual World Championship event
at the end of the competitive year. This allowed for domestic fan followings to develop across such regions as
Korea,
China,
Europe, and
North
and
South America. Fans would closely follow the teams in their region, and from that familiarity would feel invested in cheering them on when they clashed with teams from other regions at the game’s biggest international event.
This basic blueprint has continued to prove successful for Riot Games over the years, though it has expanded and been modified with time. In response to the success of the World Championship, Riot introduced a second international tournament in 2015, the prestigious
Mid-Season Invitational. In 2025,
First Stand
was added to bring LoL esports to three international events per year. Once again the scene was enhanced and this indirectly expanded the opportunities for
League of Legends esports betting. In the meantime, the regional leagues have spread out to include
more regions and lower levels, solidifying their identity.
The basic formula remains the same, however.
Encourage fan support on a domestic level, and then carry that support and interest over to
the global stage. It’s a formula that continues to power League of Legends esports, and looks set to enable it for many years yet to come.
At Win.gg, our coverage of LoL esports spans from the broader competitive updates and their impact on the scene to in-depth high-profile match previews with team analysis, head-to-head analysis,
LoL betting odds
sense-makers and predictions. All of these based on the insights of our experienced esports journalists.
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