League of Legends
League of Legends
Major Soraka nerf coming to League of Legends in near future
Olivia Richman
Pros and casual players alike have seen the rise of Soraka in League of Legends over the past few weeks. Riot senior champion designer August Browning announced that Soraka will be seeing a pretty big nerf in an upcoming patch when his followers asked about the popular champion on Twitch. “It’s just overpowered. That’s what I think about it,” he explained. “It’s not like it’s not cool. But Soraka top …
League of Legends
Everything you need to master top lane Soraka in League
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Every so often, champions designed for completely different roles show up strong in the meta as an unconventional pick. Such is the case with Soraka, a support that recently spiked in popularity on the top lane, even in pro play. With healing abilities and high poke, Soraka’s solo lane potential is high. Though squishy, she excels in sustain. Her range and crowd control make for easy poke and her global …
News
Team SoloMid gets first LCS win of 2020 by beating Evil Geniuses
William Davis
Team SoloMid got its first win of the season, courtesy of a victory over Evil Geniuses in week two of the 2020 LCS Spring Split. Things are looking up for TSM, as the team recovered a bit after an underwhelming debut in week one. TSM and Evil Geniuses fought for 38 minutes in one of the most action-packed games of the season so far. The teams went for standard compositions, with …
League of Legends
Riot promises improvements to Clash, top lane impact soon
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Riot Games teased improvements to Clash, an increase in the impact of top laners, and minor adjustments to Teamfight Tactics. The League of Legends publisher spelled out some of its future plans for the game in the latest Dev Corner. Top laners of higher skill levels have been complaining about how little they can do to carry a game, and Riot is looking to address that problem as soon as …
League of Legends
Froggen on Orianna ult whiffs: “Some ults you hit, some you miss”
Olivia Richman
After defeating top North American organization Team Liquid, Dignitas is now 3-0 in the 2020 LCS Spring Split. Once considered underdogs, the roster full of veterans has become the team to watch. WIN.gg sat down with Henrik “Froggen” Hansen to talk about Dignitas’ victory, his team’s strengths, and what Dignitas’ logo even is. How do you feel about being Player of the Week? Froggen: It feels pretty good. I’m really happy about it. …
League of Legends
Team Liquid’s CoreJJ: “If we beat FlyQuest, we can win LCS again”
Olivia Richman
Team Liquid has not been at the top of their game. Support Yong-In “CoreJJ” Jo wasn’t too happy after his team lost to Dignitas to start their second week in the 2020 LCS Spring Split. The game was close though, and CoreJJ told WIN.gg that his team is not about to roll over just yet. Not with their eyes already on their match with FlyQuest tomorrow. How are you feeling …
League of Legends
Cloud9 runs over Immortals, remains undefeated in 2020 LCS Spring
William Davis
Cloud9 started week two of the 2020 LCS Spring season with a massive victory over Immortals. Cloud9 remains undefeated in the LCS after taking down Immortals on Saturday. The team came into the series as the clear favorite over an Immortals that is still struggling to find its identity as a team. In the pick and bans, both teams focused on top lane champions, particularly the newly popularized Soraka. With …
League of Legends
Dignitas scores big upset win over Team Liquid, takes 1st in LCS
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Dignitas took a chance against reigning LCS champions Team Liquid during the second week of the 2020 LCS Spring Split. It paid off, as the team pushed its record to 3-0 with a win to start its weekend. Dignitas’ Henrik “Froggen” Hansen picked Orianna and whiffed multiple ultimates. That proved to be of no concern as Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen couldn’t carry the game for Liquid as Ryze. Both teams drafted strong compositions, …
G2 Esports picks Soraka top to destroy Team Vitality in LEC
William Davis
League of Legends
G2 Esports continues undefeated in the 2020 LEC Spring Split after a dominant victory over Team Vitality. It’s week two in the LEC and G2 is already taking over the standings with three clean victories and no defeats. The most recent victim of G2’s power was Vitality, which now stands in last place with three defeats. History is repeating itself with G2 at the top of the rankings, taking the …
Here’s how MMR and LP work to affect your League of Legends rank
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
Which rank a League of Legends player is placed in depends on two different ranking systems. Players are familiar with League Points, but there’s also a hidden Match Making Rate, more popularly known as MMR. MMR is something that used to be a lot more accessible to players in League’s earlier seasons, however the situation changed since the introduction of LP. Not even third party websites can give accurate information …
Team Liquid’s League of Legends squad has a lot to say in AMA
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Team Liquid’s League of Legends team took a break from scrimming to take part in an extensive AMA on Discord. Eon-young “Impact” Jeong, Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen, Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng, and Yongin “CoreJJ” Jo joined substitute jungler Shern “Shernfire” Tai to answer questions about the LCS, League of Legends, and each other. Fans also got to learn that Doublelift’s favorite Pokemon is Psyduck. Do with that information what you will. Fans …
Riot turns fans away from LCK Spring Split amid coronavirus fears
William Davis
League of Legends
The 2020 LCK Spring season will proceed as scheduled, but with a major change sure to displease Korean fans. Earlier this week, Riot Games Korea issued a statement saying that it was considering delaying the start of the LCK due to the coronavirus outbreak. The statement was made just days after the LPL confirmed that the tournament was postponed indefinitely. While there are only a handful of cases confirmed in …
58.1% players in NA would rather win LCS than advance at Worlds
William Davis
League of Legends
58% of the North American professional players say they would rather win the LCS than make it out of the group stage at the League of Legends World Championship. Riot Games conducted a survey where 86 pro players had the chance to answer the most important questions. For example, which role is the most impactful in the game? According to 43% of the players, mid lane is the most impactful …
Riot lowers the price for this season’s LCS and LEC Pro View
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
For fans interested in more details of LCS and LEC games alike, League of Legends Pro View is available again this season. The 2020 Pro View has a reduced price and some new features. Pro View is Riot’s broadcast feature that allows subscribed users to see professional games from a different point of view. Unlike the standard spectator mode the games are streamed from, this upgrade gives fans the opportunity …
AnDa and 5fire join EG Academy amid struggles to secure visas
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
With Evil Geniuses struggling to secure visas for Kadircan “Kadir” Mumcuoğlu and Ahmad “Giyuu” Charif, veteran League of Legends player Andy “AnDa” Hoang and rookie Aidan “5fire” Reckamp have joined Evil Geniuses Academy. AnDa is joining EG Academy as the new jungler, the organization announced on Twitter. This comes as a result of visa issues that are keeping Kadir, a European resident, out of North American competitive play. 5fire will …
LCK Spring Split may be delayed alongside LPL due to coronavirus
William Davis
News
The LPL has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus outbreak in China. The coronavirus is a highly infectious and potentially deadly virus that affects the respiratory system. The epidemic started in the Wuhan region and has spread throughout China. There are confirmed cases of the coronavirus in countries including Japan, South Korea, Canada, and the United States. The situation in China is worsening every day. The World Health Organization …
PapaSmithy announces 100 Thieves Next, criticizes amateur scene
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
100 Thieves has announced 100 Thieves Next, the organization’s new League of Legends amateur program. Calling it the third pillar of its League structure, 100T’s general manager Christopher “PapaSmithy” Smith announced 100X, an amateur team formed for the development of young talent in North America. The region has been in a negative spotlight when it comes to nourishing domestic talent, and 100T says it’s taking the first step to fix it. …
The most important changes coming to League with patch 10.3
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
It’s almost time for the third patch of Season 10 to go live. There are many nerfs, buffs, as well as changes to jungle experience coming. Riot Games is looking to continue making sure that no champions are overpowered at any level of skill so no one will feel unbalanced, whether for an Iron player or a pro. With that in mind, over 15 champions are getting balance updates early …
Riot Games shuts down Doublelift’s stream during Academy game
William Davis
League of Legends
Team Liquid’s bottom laner Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng was forced by Riot Games to interrupt his stream. On January 24, Doublelift posted on Twitter that he was going live on his Twitch channel. Immediately, many thousands of fans joined the stream and enjoyed while Doublelift played his first solo queue game of the day. 30 minutes later, Doublelift turned off his stream and used his Twitter to explain that Riot made …
The creator of Team Liquid’s new mascot Blue speaks out
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Team Liquid stole the spotlight at the LCS Spring Split’s opening weekend with the reveal of their new mascot, Blue. A white horse sporting a Team Liquid jacket and blue mane, Blue is the organization’s logo personified. The mascot exists to cheer on Team Liquid and be cute, according Team Liquid’s senior graphic designer Stacey Yamada. Yamada is the creative mind behind the mascot. She led a team in creating …
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.
