League of Legends
League of Legends
TusiN leaves DragonX, rumored to join a roster in the LCS
William Davis
Support Park “TusiN” Jong-ik has parted ways with DragonX amid rumors of possible LCS transfer. TusiN is no longer part of DragonX, the team that was recently accused of player tampering by KT Rolster. TusiN’s departure doesn’t come as a surprise considering the rumors that he is heading to North America. Korean supports have seen some success in the region, and the best example of that trend would be Team …
League of Legends
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reveals Silver rank in League of Legends
gabhernandez
Alexandria “AOC” Ocasio-Cortez showed off the results of her effort to climb the ranked ladder in League of Legends on Twitter, proving that being a member of Congress will never stop a true gamer. Ocasio-Cortez is a United States Representative for New York’s 14th congressional district who is known for being outspoken and not afraid to cause a stir. She also is a known LoL player, having picked the game …
League of Legends
Fnatic parts ways with coach YoungBuck amid internal issues
William Davis
Fnatic has parted ways with head coach Joey “YoungBuck” Steltenpool, who had overseen the team since 2018. Fnatic is looking to enter 2020 with new coaching staff. The organization released coach YoungBuck, who led the team to the World Championship final in 2018. The change comes after an underwhelming result at the World Championship where Fnatic was knocked out in the quarterfinals despite high expectations. “This year, we still feel how …
League of Legends
Former EU LCS pro k0u survives suicide attempt, is hospitalized
Olivia Richman
League of Legends fans began to panic when they saw a blog post written by former EU LCS pro Lâm “k0u” Tịnh Trì entitled, “My Reality, My Thoughts.” In it, k0u wrote that anyone reading the post should know he is “no longer in this world.” He stated the blog post is a “dive into my mind during my last moments.” One of k0u’s former Riddle Esports teammates, Noman “Nomi” …
League of Legends
Only 1 LoL player had perfect 2019 Worlds Pick’Ems
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Each year, League of Legends players look to prove their knowledge and try their luck with the Worlds Pick’Em. This year, only one person was perfect throughout the event. Not many League fans expected China’s FunPlus Phoenix to take the trophy at the 2019 LoL World Championship, but FPX made everyone that doubted them look foolish by skating through the event. FPX placed first in its group, took the quarterfinals match …
League of Legends
Griffin Director Cho resigns while the LCK team is investigation
William Davis
Griffin’s Director Cho Kyu-nam has resigned, and the decision came after almost two months of public drama. Griffin is ready to put an end to the internal drama and start focusing on 2020. The team announced that former director Cho Kyu-nam is no longer part of the organization. Cho was part of a public battle with former head coach Kim “cvMax” Dae-ho who was fired back in September. cvMax accused …
League of Legends
KT Rolster reports DragonX for tampering with mid laner BDD
William Davis
KT Rolster has reported DragonX, formerly known as Kingzone DragonX, for alleged player tampering, and the organization took the matter directly to Riot Games Korea. DragonX is in hot water after a post on Twitter that hinted at a possible player tampering. In a now-deleted post, the team made some comments that made it sound like KT Rolster’s mid laner Gwak “BDD” Bo-seong would be joining the team. The post …
League of Legends
Zven announces free agency, Upset rumored to join the LCS
William Davis
Bottom laner Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen has been a free agent for over a month, and the player revealed the details through Twitter. Zven might not be coming back to Team SoloMid. The Danish player is back home in Europe to enjoy his off time. According to a post on his Twitter, Zven has been talking to teams in both Europe and North America, including TSM, for the better part of …
FunPlus Phoenix share picks for 2019 World Champion skins
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
As the winner of the League of Legends 2019 World Championship, FunPlus Phoenix picked champions that will receive the new World Champion skins. Beyond the trophy and a cash prize, winners of League’s Worlds championships get their own set of in-game skins. Players get to choose champions they wish the skins to be designed for, under the condition they played that champion during the main event. Often the champions picked …
Zikz joins 100 Thieves as head coach while Amazing leaves
William Davis
League of Legends
Former Team SoloMid coach Tony “Zikz” Gray has joined 100 Thieves, and the team announced the signing through Twitter. 100 Thieves is making moves ahead of the 2020 Spring Split, with the team announcing Zikz as the head coach for its LCS team. Zikz is joining 100 Thieves after an underwhelming year with TSM. Hiring Zikz is the first deal closed by the newly appointed general manager and former broadcaster …
Huni reported to sign $2.3 million contract with Dignitas
William Davis
League of Legends
Dignitas wants to keep top laner Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon for two more years, and according to ESPN the organization offered him a contract for $2.3 million guaranteed. Dignitas is not afraid to spend money on its roster, and if the contract goes through, Huni will become one of the best paid players in the LCS and possibly the world. Huni was transferred from Echo Fox to Clutch Gaming in 2019, …
Worlds 2019 finals breaks Twitch viewing record, beats Fortnite
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Although some viewers around the world might have needed some extra coffee to wake up or stay up and watch the World Championship over the weekend, the last weekend of Worlds still managed to break Twitch’s record for all-time peak concurrent viewers. The finals had 1.7 million viewers on Twitch alone, which beat the previous record by 100,000. With this, League of Legends has surpassed Dota 2 and Fortnite as …
Wadid parts way with FlyQuest, announces free agency
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
FlyQuest has released Kim “Wadid” Bae-in from the organization’s League of Legends roster. FlyQuest confirmed Wadid’s release on Twitter, thanking him for the time he spent with the team and wishing him success in his future endeavors. Soon after, Wadid followed up with a Tweet announcing that he is a free agent for the first time since the beginning of his professional career. He’s looking to return to action and …
Everything you need to know about the LoL ranking system
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
League of Legends has been around for ten years. The game’s ranked system has changed over the many seasons of its life. Its core has remained largely the same, with players placed in different tiers based on their skill level. League players are now ranked from Iron to Challenger based on the league points they earn and lose over the course of a season. These seasons lasts almost a year, …
G2 Esports CEO cries, cusses in emotional interview after LoL Worlds
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
G2 Esports was the clear favorite to win the Summoner’s Cup heading into this weekend. Instead, FunPlus Phoenix overcame a tumultuous start to their run in the 2019 League of Legends World Championship and upset G2 to become the season nine champions. They didn’t just beat G2 to earn the title, either. They thrashed the Europeans in their own backyard. While it was surely an overwhelming moment for FPX, it was an even more emotional …
Legends of Runeterra progression, loot system revealed by Riot
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
Riot Games is ready to jump into the digital card game genre with Legends of Runeterra. Some players already got a chance to play the beta test and the developer has recently offered clear details on the in-game progression system. As with any other trading card game, collecting cards to play with is a major part of LoR. Cards can be obtained via quests, capsules, chests, vaults, and other rewards. …
True Damage Little Legends arrive in Teamfight Tactics
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
Little Legends series five has arrived in League of Legends. Teamfight Tactics’ three new little legends are based on the recently debuted virtual band True Damage. The new additions are named Ossia, QiQi and Melisma, and they resemble the True Damage versions of Akali, Qiyana, and Senna, respectively. Riot Games announced the upcoming little legends series through a video trailer that is a cuter, clumsier version of the one released …
LoL Worlds 2020 finals headed to Shanghai Stadium
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
News
The finals to next year’s League of Legends World Championship will be played in China. After a quick LoL Worlds 2019 final, which saw FunPlus Phoenix sweep G2 Esports in dominating fashion, Riot Games is already installing the framework for next year’s championship. Following the series, the Worlds hosts announced that the 2020 Worlds finals will be headed to Shanghai. Worlds is headed back to China for the tenth edition …
FunPlus Phoenix’s Tian wins LoL World Championship MVP
William Davis
League of Legends
FunPlus Phoenix jungler Gao “Tian” Tian-Liang is the 2019 League of Legends World Championship finals MVP. Throughout the series, Tian was the superior jungler to Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski. Tian established this early in game one with an invasion that started FunPlus Phoenix’s snowball towards victory. That became a trend throughout the series, as Tian continued to get his team ahead and set his team up for success around the map. The …
True Damage debuts during LoL Worlds opening ceremony
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
The 2019 League of Legends World Championship finals kicked off in memorable fashion. The live event began with an extended musical performance that included Cailin Russo and Chrissy Costanza performing the World 2019 theme Phoenix, as well as Awaken singer Valerie Broussard. Most notably, League’s new virtual band, True Damage, made its official debut with a rendition of debut single Giants. The song featured a mix of hip hop 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.
