League of Legends
News
An overview of every LEC starting roster heading into 2020
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
European teams have their starting rosters ready for the upcoming season of the League of Legends European Championship. Ever since the 2019 World Championship finished, the League scene has been focused on news of its many roster shuffles, free agencies, and new players joining the league, while veterans are moving to other regions. After weeks of rumors, leaks, and announcements, most teams are now ready for the 2020 LEC Spring …
League of Legends
LoL preseason 10 almost had baby dragons, jungle minions
William Davis
The League of Legends preseason 10 patch brought some big changes to Summoner’s Rift, but just as noticeable were the features that never made it past the development stage. Riot Games released a developer update and gave fans a look at what ended up on the cutting room floor just ahead of 2020. One of the earliest ideas the Riot design team experimented with was revamping how First Blood operates …
League of Legends
Royal Never Give Up wins 2019 Demacia Cup tournament
William Davis
Royal Never Give Up is the 2019 Demacia Cup champion. RNG took down Edward Gaming in the Demacia Cup final in a series that finished with 3-1 score. The series was the perfect ending for the competitive year in China, giving fans high-level League of Legends action and a taste of what it is to come in 2020. EDG was living on borrowed time once it reached the finals. No …
League of Legends
RNG and EDG shine at the Demacia Cup, FunPlus Phoenix eliminated
William Davis
The Demacia Cup 2019 is currently underway. Despite starting with 20 teams, only eight remain in the competition with two of the favorites missing out on the Knockout Stage. Invictus Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix were eliminated from the group stage after a disappointing performance. The two world championship-winning organizations were both booted from the event after amassing a 2-2 record, which failed to qualify them for the next stage of …
League of Legends
TFT Mobile is now set to release in the spring of 2020
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
The mobile port for Teamfight Tactics will be released in spring 2020, the game’s lead designer shared on stream. When Riot Games celebrated League of Legends’ 10-year anniversary in October, the developer shared a number of announcements with fans. Players that turn their focus towards the auto battler game mode, Teamfight Tactics, were mostly excited to hear their favorite mode is coming to smaller screens as well. Riot originally announced …
League of Legends
Rogue looks to grow presence in Poland with creation of Ultraliga
Olivia Richman
League of Legends European Championship partner Rogue has announced the creation of Ultraliga, a new competitive brand that will participate in the Polish League of Legends system. Looking to compete in EU Masters, a European League of Legends tournament for teams from all over the European continent, Rogue is one of many esports organizations wanting to have a bigger presence in Europe and to establish a deeper connection to a …
League of Legends
Riot Games Korea announces cvMax charges as DragonX coach debuts
Olivia Richman
After some Griffin players accused their former coach Kim “cvMax” Dae-ho of wrongdoing, Riot Games Korea has decided to officially announce its investigation into the claims just as the coach debuts with his new team. An official statement from Riot Games states that they have commissioned an investigation to in order to “clarify the facts.” They went on to explain that this was part of their plan to “establish a complaint window” …
League of Legends
Doublelift and N0tail argue skill in League of Legends vs Dota 2
Steven Rondina
Which game is better and more challenging, League of Legends or Dota 2? The debate has raged among fans of these games for almost a decade now. Some prefer League’s more fluid gameplay experience and its relatively straightforward roles, while others enjoy Dota 2’s greater flexibility and diversity. MOBA fans are being treated to some light-hearted jabs on the matter at the professional level just before Christmas, with two-time The …
Uzi injuries may force retirement as RNG battles at Demacia Cup
William Davis
League of Legends
The future of Royal Never Give Up and its biggest star AD carry Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao is uncertain, as according to different sources the player might not be able to play in 2020. Uzi might miss the LPL 2020 Spring Split and possibly the rest of the year. According to former RNG jungler Liu “Mlxg” Shi-Yu, the results of Uzi’s last medical examination are not as hopeful as the team …
KeSPA Cup 2019 gets English broadcast after community backlash
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
KeSPA Cup 2019 will have an English broadcast after all, LCK caster Max “Atlus” Anderson announced. Just a few days ago, League of Legends fans were disappointed to hear KeSpa Cup 2019, a Korean tournament where the LCK 2020 rosters perform for the first time ahead of the regular season, wouldn’t have an English broadcast. But with the power of the community and the support from Korean teams T1 and Gen.G, …
Goku, Pikachu, other anime characters share voices with LoL champs
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
Japanese League of Legends players get to enjoy their favorite anime voice actors voicing in-game champions, featuring actors from Naruto, Dragon Ball, Pokemon, and more. When Riot Games recently announced Sett as the first upcoming champion in 2020, as well as his voice lines across all supported languages, League fans were quick to realise Sett’s voice actor is Takehito Koyasu, who is famous for his work as main antagonist Dio …
Esports Life Tycoon is a surprisingly accurate esports sim
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
You’ve accidentally starved animals in Zoo Tycoon and you’ve burned your house down in Sims. Now it’s time to create a low-tier esports team in Esports Life Tycoon. This new game by U-Play Online transforms players into the CEO of an esports team looking to win the League of Heroes championship. Train against other teams. Deal with distractions and arguments before matches. Just remember, the success belongs to your players, …
T1 and Gen.G push for 2019 KeSPA Cup English broadcast to return
William Davis
League of Legends
Gen.G and T1 have offered to cover the expenses of the 2019 KeSPA Cup English broadcast. LCK on-air talent, Max “Atlus” Anderson shared on Twitter that the Korea Esports Association decided to cut off the English broadcast and had barred them from restreaming the event. League of Legends fans were quick to react to the news, venting frustration over being denied access to the last competitive event of the year. …
Riot reveals first batch of PCS teams for inaugural season
William Davis
News
Riot Games has revealed nine of the teams that will take part in the inaugural season of the Pacific Championship Series. Earlier this year, Riot Games shared its plans to merge the LMS and the LST to create a new league known as the PCS. The LMS was home to eight teams from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao. The LST brought together teams from the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and other …
Time Magazine says League of Legends is one of decade’s best games
M Alzamora
League of Legends
Riot Game’s MOBA has made Time Magazine’s list of the “10 Best Video Games of the 2010’s,” cementing its place as one of the best and most popular games of the decade. League of Legends joined nine other video games on the list published by Time Magazine. League of Legends and Epic Game’s Fortnite were the only two multiplayer games on a list dominated by single-player titles. While Riot’s flagship …
Golden Guardians reveals new logo, TFT and Apex Legends players
William Davis
Apex Legends
Golden Guardians has revealed its new brand identity and announced its expansion into multiple new esports titles. The esports branch of NBA team Golden State Warriors is expanding beyond League of Legends in 2020. Golden Guardians started as a franchise in the LCS, and now the organization has expanded into World of Warcraft, Apex Legends, and other games including Hearthstone, Teamfight Tactics, and Legends of Runeterra. The announcement also included …
KeSPA decides not to run English broadcast for 2019 Kespa Cup
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
League of Legends fans were disappointed to hear this year’s KeSPA Cup won’t have an English broadcast. Popular LCK caster Max “Atlus” Anderson shared on Twitter he was let know KeSPA Cup 2019 won’t run a broadcast for English speaking audience. Together with other organizers of the event, the Korean Esports Association decide to not even allow English casters to rebroadcast the tournament from their own homes, in spite of …
Sylas to receive major overhaul from Riot in LoL patch 10.1
William Davis
League of Legends
League of Legends season 10 is just around the corner and a number of gameplay changes are set to arrive in the game. Among them is an overhaul of Sylas that might help the champion break out of ELO hell. The unchained revolutionary has been suffering for a few patches and has a dismal 45% win rate in both jungle and mid lane roles due to his weak early game …
Best and worst offseason roster moves heading into the 2020 LCS
William Davis
League of Legends
The offseason in League of Legends is finally over, and teams have completed their starting rosters for the 2020 LCS Spring Split. This year, every team made at least one roster change, but who made the best and worst moves of the offseason? 100 Thieves won the offseason, simple as that. While most teams are trying to put together cohesive squads that have a fighting chance in the LCS 2020, …
Sugar Rush, old Snowdown Showdown skins now available in LoL store
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
The Sugar Rush event is now live in League of Legends together with new skins, chromas, summoner icons, and more. Sugar Rush is a new version of Snowdown Showdown, a winter event League players have been enjoying for the past ten years. This year, instead of being dressed as elves, Santa Claus, or reindeers, Sugar Rush skins are all about sweets. The event includes skins for Braum, Evelynn, Ziggs, and …
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.
