League of Legends
League of Legends
Gen.G starts boot camp in China, will train with Royal Never Give Up
William Davis
The 2020 LCK Spring Split is getting closer and teams are looking to get into peak form for the competition. While some organizations are hitting the beach and doing bonding exercises, Gen.G has decided to pack its bags and boot camp in Shanghai, China. Gen.G revealed on Twitter that the organization was setting up camp in China as part of its offseason preparation. The team also shared that they will …
League of Legends
Excel Esports changes CEO, CCO ahead of LEC 2020 Spring Split
Olivia Richman
Excel Esports has made some big changes ahead of the LEC Spring Split. Fnatic’s former CEO, Wouter Sleijffers, is now bringing his expertise to Excel Esports, taking the CEO spot from co-founder Kieran Holmes-Darby. Holmes-Darby will be moving to the chief gaming officer position. Sleijffers led Fnatic from 2015 to 2019, which saw the team rebrand itself as an international lifestyle organization. Sleijffers called Excel Esports the “most beloved brand …
League of Legends
This is how Dark Harvest impacts the keystones Omnistone grants
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Project: Omnistone is the rune League of Legends players like to look down upon. And that may not be because the rune is underperforming, but rather because it’s difficult to understand. When a player goes into the game with Omnistone equipped, they basically decide to let the game pick which keystone is the best depending on the situation they’re in. Omnistone grants use of different keystones, giving higher priority to …
News
Riot announces 2020 LCS Spring schedule, new league format
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Riot Games has shared the format and schedule of the upcoming 2020 LCS season. The format adds Mondays as gamedays, another week to the playoffs, a new format, and more. The regular season of competitive League of Legends is a bit over two weeks away, and fans of the North American league now have all the details they need for the 2020 LoL Championship Series Spring. The new format introduced …
League of Legends
Sylas’ gameplay may completely change with new Patch 10.1
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Though patch 10.1 is bringing balance updates to a large number of champions, Sylas is in the spotlight. The first patch of the season has a major overhaul ready for the champion. Sylas has been struggling to find his place under the sun. Developed as a mid laner, he’s almost never picked for that role. When he is, players are struggling to get wins. Riot Games recognized this issue and …
League of Legends
Six tips for climbing out of Bronze rank in League of Legends
William Davis
League of Legends Season 10 will officially start on January 10 and players are asking themselves the same question: How can I rank up? This guide includes six tips that will help you improve as a League of Legends player once the ranked season starts. It won’t be easy and nothing is guaranteed, so buckle up and get ready for another season of play. It sounds like a bit of …
League of Legends
A quick guide to playing AP Shaco like a League of Legends pro
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Changes introduced with patch 9.21 made Shaco spike in popularity. The patch didn’t just buff him, it also changed his abilities in a way that opens the jester towards strong new AP builds. Though there have been nerfs to those abilities since, Shaco remains to be a strong pick. With his standard jungle build revolving around attack damage, AP Shaco found a new place to shine. Players recognized the outplay …
League of Legends
Riot announces start of the League of Legends Season 10 in 2020
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
A new 10th season of League of Legends is just a few days away from its start. Riot Games announced the start of the 2020 season through Twitter, getting players excited about a new shot at the ranked ladder and new features that the developer has in store for this year. The season will officially be starting on January 10, two days after the first patch of the year goes …
WWE superstar Cesaro climbs League of Legends’ ranked ladder
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
WWE pro wrestler Cesaro is looking to put the hurt on League of Legends players, but not in the ring. In Summoner’s Rift. Cesaro recently climbed up to Silver 3 in ranked League of Legends, something he proudly announced on Twitter last week. “#TheClimb2020 started out quite well. Let’s hope I can keep the momentum,” Cesaro tweeted. Cesaro went on to note that former Echo Fox owner Rick Fox was …
Afreeca Freecs wins 2019 KeSPA Cup, sets sights on LCK Spring Split
William Davis
League of Legends
Afreeca Freecs is the KeSPA Cup 2019 champion! The team completed its KeSPA Cup run with a decisive, 3-0 victory over Sandbox Gaming in the grand finals. Ahead of the tournament, Afreeca was never discussed as a possible contender for the title. The organization had a quiet off-season compared to other teams in the LCK that made major free agent signings. Afreeca took a different approach by keeping a solid …
LPL gets new schedule for Spring 2020, runs Monday through Sunday
William Davis
League of Legends
The League of Legends Pro League surprised fans with a packed schedule for the 2020 Spring Split. The 2020 LPL spring season will have games Monday through Sunday for ten weeks. The schedule took many fans by surprise, considering that the LPL used to have one day off in the week. While the schedule looks packed, the teams will be playing the same amount of games in the season. Every day …
G2 and Arctic Gaming form a new academy team for the 2020 SLO
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
G2 Esports has formed a new academy team named G2 Arctic for the 2020 Spanish Superliga Orange, the organization announced on January 3. The organization that holds the best European team and the 2019 World Championship runner up will now be nourishing young talent in the SLO, one of the biggest Spanish esports leagues. G2 Arctic will be fighting against nine other teams with a goal of obtaining a spot …
TF Blade might play in the 2020 LCS due to Broxah’s visa delay
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
With the possibility of Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen possibly not being able to perform with Team Liquid at the start of the 2020 LCS Spring Split, Ashkan “TF Blade” Homayouni might be replacing him for the time being. The best team in North America is possibly off to a rough start to the upcoming season, as it’s been recently shared that Broxah’s debut on the LCS stage planned for January could …
Town Faker is a new site for finding local LoL players in your area
William Davis
League of Legends
Have you ever wondered how many League of Legends players live in your city? A redditor has created Town Faker, a website where players can register and find other players in the same country and city. League of Legends is a global community with millions of players logging in every day onto one of the eleven servers. Each server welcomes players from different countries, but the players have no way …
League of Legends players are upset with lack of shorter game modes
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
League of Legends games aren’t short, as is the case with many esports titles, and casual players don’t necessarily like having to queue for long matches all the time. While League used to offer different game modes designed for those who want to jump in for a quick play, both the Crystal Scar and Twisted Treeline, two maps that offered quicker games, are now gone. For players that don’t feel …
Faker talks money, girls, and esports stardom on Radio Star
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
The Unkillable Demon King himself appeared on the January 1 episode of Radio Star. League of Legends star Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok joined Super Junior singer Kim Hee-chul and comedian Ahn Youg Mi on an episode of MBC Entertainment’s popular show, along with musician Kim So Hyun and makeup artist Jung Saem Mool. “This is one of the three leaders bringing Korea to the world, besides Son Heung Min and BTS,” …
New T1 debuts in KeSPA Cup with win, heads to semifinals
William Davis
League of Legends
T1, formerly known as SK Telecom T1, is living up to expectations in the 2019 KeSPA Cup. The team took down tournament favorites Gen.G in a series that went to three games, advancing to the semifinals in the process. The victory comes after a tumultuous off-season which saw T1 deal with multiple high-profile departures. Though many were expecting the new T1 to be weaker than the 2019 iteration of the …
Broxah may not start 2020 LCS with Team Liquid due to visa issue
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
Team Liquid’s League of Legends team might start the 2020 season without thee members, including new starting jungler Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen, head coach Jang “Cain” Nu-ri, and academy jungler Shern “Shernfire” Cherng Tai. With the United States introducing new visa regulations, Liquid is facing issues with three of its members, the organization’s CEO Steve Arhancet shared on Twitter. This could result in the team’s new jungler for the 2020 LCS …
Chovy shares thoughts on DragonX and why he stayed in the LCK
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
In a recent interview with Ashley Kang, DragonX’s new mid laner Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon shared his feelings on the new team, why he decided to stay in the LCK, and his thoughts on the future. Chovy debuted with his new team on the 2019 KeSPA Cup stage, winning two games against Chungam, and has since progressed all the way to the semifinals. But Chovy showed in the interview that the …
These are the best League of Legends skins from 2019
William Davis
League of Legends
Riot Games spent last year producing some of the best cosmetics the community has seen to date, with options ranging from eldritch horrors to magical anime girls. With so many great options, it’s worth taking a look back and ranking the best League of Legends skin lines of 2019. There are a few guidelines to go over first. First, a skin line is defined as three or more skins that …
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.
