League of Legends
League of Legends
Here are the 2020 League of Legends watch missions and rewards
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
The first 2020 League of Legends esports watch mission is live and Riot Games announced what players will need to do to earn their rewards for the spring season. Similar to last season, players will be able to win prizes if they watch games from top regional leagues such as the LCS and LEC through the official LoL website. Depending on the number of games watched, different rewards will be …
League of Legends
Syndra, Lux, and Sett banned for start of 2020 LEC Spring Split
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Riot Games had decided to disable Sett, Lux, and Syndra from the LEC until further notice. Riot’s league operations lead for Europe esports, Maximilian Peter Schmidt, shared the news on Twitter, stating that the three champions will not be allowed in the first competitive week of the 2020 LEC Spring Split and possibly beyond. Lux and Syndra are being disabled due to bugs that can significantly change the outcome of a game, while Riot …
League of Legends
Former Fnatic and TSM player YellOwStaR comes out of retirement
William Davis
Former Team SoloMid support Bora “YellOwStaR” Kim is back on the rift as a player for LDLC OL. YellOwStaR retired from professional play back in 2016, and at the time the former player joined Paris Saint-Germain as a manager. In 2017, YellOwStaR signed with LDLC as head coach role that he occupied until his transition to the support role earlier this week. YellOwStaR, who is a French resident, has played …
League of Legends
Griffin adds Ucal to its mid lane for 2020 LCK Spring Split
William Davis
Griffin has announced former Afreeca Freecs mid laner Son “Ucal” Woo-hyeon as the new member of its 2020 roster. After months of controversy and scandal, Griffin is ready to start 2020 with a clean slate. The organization underwent some serious changes that includes new players. Ucal is the most recent addition to the lineup, and the mid laner will share playing time with Shin “Rather” Hyeong-seop and Yoo “Naehyun” Nae-hyun. …
League of Legends
P1noy joins G2 as substitute ADC for the 2020 LEC Spring Split
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Kristoffer “P1noy” Pedersen has joined G2 Esports as a substitute bot laner for the 2020 LEC Spring Split. The strongest European League of Legends team and the 2019 World Championship runner-up G2 is strengthening its roster for the upcoming season with the addition of P1noy, a veteran bot laner that hasn’t been competing on the main stage of the European league since 2015 and has spent the latest season competing …
League of Legends
Volcanic Wukong on 99% sale for awarness of Taal Volcano’s danger
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Garena, an organization that runs League of Legends servers in Southeast Asia, is working to increase awareness of the dangers from the Taal Volcano’s activity. With the Philippines facing the activation of Taal Volcano, the game provider decided to decrease the cost of the Volcanic Wukong skin on the PH server to one Riot Point. With the sale of the skin, Garena is spreading news of safety among League players, …
League of Legends
Nike enters into partnership with T1, includes LoL and Dota 2 teams
gabhernandez
T1 Entertainment and Sports, the parent company behind top Korean League of Legends team T1, has announced a new partnership with Nike. Nike and T1 revealed the news via press release, and also discussed plans to open new training facilities at T1’s headquarters in Seoul. The reveal highlighted how T1’s legendary mid laner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok visited Nike’s headquarters in Oregon, got a behind-the-scenes tour of Nike’s Sports Research lab, …
League of Legends
Sneaky officially leaves Cloud9 LoL roster for 2020 LCS Spring Split
Steven Rondina
Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi has been officially removed from the Cloud9 League of Legends roster. The organization announced the news that the longtime AD Carry will not be a part of its roster for the 2020 LCS Spring Split. Sneaky’s future with Cloud9 has been in doubt since the organization signed former Team SoloMid AD Carry Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen. Cloud9 stated that Sneaky will remain with Cloud9 in an ownership amd …
Faker’s stream interrupted by bugs in League of Legends client
William Davis
League of Legends
The faulty League of Legends client doesn’t discriminate between professional players and the casual solo queue enthusiast. T1 mid laner and League of Legends’ internationa star Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok was a victim of a client bug. Faker, who streams frequently on his personal Twitch account, encountered a curious bug on recently. As he jumped into the game, a bug message appeared on the screen. Faker tried multiple times to close …
Riot Games launches Mecha Kingdoms event, shares more 2020 plans
William Davis
League of Legends
The first set of skins of 2020 is now available, so get ready for Mecha Kingdoms. League of Legends is starting the year with a new skin thematic. Mecha Kingdoms was revealed back in 2019 and the set of skins is finally available on the store. Garen, Leona, Draven, Sett, and Jax are the champions getting mecha skins. The Mecha Kingdoms set is the first one of many that will …
Riot Games drops in with League of Legends Season 2020 merch
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
You’re climbing the League of Legends ladder this season, sure. But are you doing it in style? To celebrate the 2020 season, Riot has dropped some League of Legends merch for fans looking to stay stylish in solo queue. All of the clothing items feature the League of Legends logo, a simple one on the front right pocket and an elaborate and ornate Summoner’s Rift design on the back. The …
Riot Games releases Sett, announces more new champions for 2020
William Davis
League of Legends
The Boss has arrived. Sett, the first new champion of 2020, is officially available in League of Legends. Sett was introduced in the PBE server in previous weeks and is now ready to hit live servers. Sett is a juggernaut from the Ionian region who rules the underground fighting pits. This self-made crime boss relies on his fists to get the job done. Sett is intended to be a top …
Invictus Gaming opens the 2020 LPL Spring beating FunPlus Phoenix
William Davis
League of Legends
Invictus Gaming opened the 2020 LPL Spring season with a decisive victory over the current World Champion FunPlus Phoenix. The 2020 LPL Spring is off to an exciting start, and the first series of the year saw Invictus Gaming facing FunPlus Phoenix. Invictus Gaming got its revenge over FunPlus after their encounter in the 2019 World Championship semifinals. Invictus Gaming jumped into the rift with a new bottom lane that …
The 12 regions of Runeterra and their place in League of Legends lore
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
The League of Legends universe is vast and full of lore. There are almost 150 champions and each one has their own backstory that fleshes out the world of Runeterra. Runeterra includes 12 regions, two of which are hidden from the map. From Bilgewater’s port of outlaws, to the prestigious kingdom of Demacia, to the highest peak of Targon where celestial beings reside, League draws from almost every fantasy subgenre …
Explaining the best way to build Jinx in LoL Season 10
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
Jinx is one of the easiest marksmen to pick up and play. Her abilities are simple and straightforward, her attack speed makes farming easy from the first minutes of the game, and she even has some crowd control. Building Jinx isn’t much different from the standard ADC build. However, sticking to the same build over and over again regardless of the direction the game going on is not a good …
LoL community mourns Neeko voice actress, dead at 21
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
League of Legends voice over artist Andrea Arruti has passed away at just 21 years old. Arruti provided the Spanish dubbing for Neeko, the popular “Curious Chameleon” champion known for her mimicry expertise. Arruti perfectly captured the champion’s energetic and innocent tone into Spanish, bringing Neeko’s full personality to an entire audience of League of Legends fans. Arruti was a very accomplished voice actress at the start of her career. …
TFT Set 3 and TFT Mobile are set for March release date
William Davis
League of Legends
Teamfight Tactics Set 3 is on its way!. According to a press release, TFT Set 3 will be available in the live server mid-March. Developer Riot Games hinted that the thematic for TFT Set 3 is “out of this world” and that players can expect their favorites Star Guardians, Odyssey, Pulsefire and Project skins in the new set. TFT Set 2 Rise of the Elements was released on November 6 …
Riot reveals info on Tellstones: King’s Gambit board game
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Riot’s 10th anniversary live stream revealed some cryptic details regarding Riot Game’s venture into virtual card games, fighting games, and an FPS, all set within League of Legend’s lore and featuring their existing champions. While this left many League of Legends fans overwhelmed, it appears that Riot has even more in store for 2020. A Twitter post over the weekend introduced yet another addition to the League of Legends universe: …
Invictus Gaming confirms 2020 roster, JackeyLove is out
William Davis
League of Legends
2018 World Champion Invictus Gaming introduced its roster for the 2020 LPL Spring and one key member is missing from the list. After months of speculations, Invictus Gaming confirmed that bottom laner Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo is no longer part of the organizations. JackeyLove, who first joined the team in 2017, was the most consistent member of Invictus Gaming through 2019. The bottom laner evolved from a shy child to one of …
Royal Never Give Up star Uzi wins 2019 Weibo Person of the Year award
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
League of Legends pro player Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao has been voted the Weibo person of the year, with fans voting for him more than any other Chinese celebrity on the platform. Weibo is a Chinese social media platform equivalent to Twitter. It’s a go-to platform for celebrities, influencers, and brands, especially in the entertainment industry. It’s no different for esports, as most LPL players and teams turn to Weibo to …
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.
League of Legends
Australian color caster EGym joins the LCK English broadcast
By
William Davis
League of Legends
Team Liquid encourages fans to donate blood with special merch
By
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
Quick build guide for Sett, from his best runes to his best items
By
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
