League of Legends
League of Legends
100 Thieves adds Meteos, Ssumday back to LCS roster for 2020
William Davis
Jungler William “Meteos” Hartman and top laner Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho are back in the 100 Thieves LCS roster for 2020. 100 Thieves revealed two members of its LCS starting roster, Meteos and Ssumday. 2020 will be a bit of a homecoming for these two players as they will return to the main roster in the spring. Ssumday spent most of 2019 playing for 100 Thieves Academy. In the summer, the …
League of Legends
TFT Patch 9.23 resets ranked, adds True Damage Little Legends
William Davis
The TFT ranked system is back with Patch 9.23, the first update since the release of Set 2: Rise of the Elements. In Patch 9.22, TFT changed completely. Set 2 introduced new units, synergies, and classes. Riot Games gave players two weeks to adapt and then relaunched the ranked system with a hard reset. Everyone is back in Iron and must play five games to determine their starting point in …
League of Legends
FlyQuest signs IgNar as new support for the 2020 LCS season
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
South Korean League of Legends player Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun has joined FlyQuest as the team’s new support, the organization announced on Twitter. After having played the 2019 season with the German team FC Schalke 04 Esports, and the fourth-place team in the 2019 LoL European Championship Summer season, IgNar is moving to North America. From one of the best teams in the LEC, IgNar is transferring to NA to play …
News
Riot fines Cloud9 for breaking LCS rules over player equity
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Riot Games’ Lol Esports staff shared on November 20 that Cloud9 is getting fined due to the organization’s equity plan, which violates the rules of the League of Legends Championship Series. Cloud9 needs to pay a total of $175,000 in fines in addition to removing and repaying stocks that their players hold in the organization. C9 issued stock to seven of their players, which would’ve been fine prior to 2017 but has …
League of Legends
Preseason patch 9.23 changes the map, dragons, runes, and more
William Davis
Patch 9.23 is loaded and ready to go. Welcome to the preseason! The ranked season is done and it’s time for a fresh start with a new map, new dragons, and new items. Patch 9.23 introduces a new set of mechanics that will change the game completely. The new mechanics change the priority in objectives, the experience and gold distribution, and the impact of individuals on the game. The biggest …
League of Legends
Origen reveals 2020 roster featuring Upset, Xerxe and Destiny
William Davis
Origen has announced its roster for 2020, including former FC Schalke 04 AD carry Elias “Upset” Lipp and former Splyce jungler Andrei “Xerxe” Dragomir. Origen reinvented itself with a new bottom lane duo and a new jungler. Upset will be joined by Australian support Mitchell “Destiny” Shaw, who recently took part in the World Championship with MAMMOTH. The roster will be completed with top laner Barney “Alphari” Morris and mid laner …
League of Legends
JD Gaming bot laner and former world champ Imp announces retirement
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Veteran League of Legends player Gu “imp” Seung-bin has announced his retirement, a Korean esports reporter “Kenzi” announced over Twitter. Imp has been active in the South Korean League of Legends scene since he joined MVP Ozone in 2012. In 2013, the team was renamed to Samsung White, a legendary name to League fans. Samsung White took the crown at the 2014 World Championship with a dominant performance. But ever …
League of Legends
New League of Legends champion Aphelios announced
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Riot Games has revealed a new League of Legends champion. Aphelios is a new marksman with lore surrounding his protection of the Lunari. He is a trained assassin that channels the magics of his twin sister, Alune. Their powers converged “like the moon of stone and its spiritual reflection” when the Solari attacked. Aphelios now protects his people as the conduit for Alune, using her powers in the world while she …
SK Telecom T1 extends Faker’s contract through 2021
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
As the majority of SK Telecom T1’s roster face expiring contracts, the Korean team has extended Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok’s contract to 2021. While Faker’s new salary with the contract hasn’t been made public, it’s been rumored that his base salary last year was $2.5 million, making him one of the highest paid esports players of all time. League of Legends fans speculated that Faker would be leaving SKT during last …
Riot Games announces new Dutch and Belgian leagues for 2020
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
Riot Games has introduced two new leagues to the European Masters. The Benelux region is getting richer as Dutch and Belgian Leagues will be starting in the 2020 competitive season. Riot’s head of esports for France and Benelux, Damien “Damzee” Ricci, shared on November 18 that the organization has partnered with Belgian digital marketing agency 4Entertainment to build a stronger local League of Legends scene in the Benelux region. The Benelux Premier …
Broxah splits from Fnatic, replaces Xmithie on Team Liquid
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
Team Liquid had a solid 2019 season, but that didn’t keep the team from making changes for 2020. According to Jacob Wolf on the ESPN League of Legends Free Agency Show, Liquid has added Fnatic jungler Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen. He is set to replace Jake “Xmithie” Puchero. Broxah leaves Fnatic after more than three years. He first joined the organization in 2016 with Fnatic Academy but was promoted to the …
Cloud9 adds ex-TSM carry Zven, Dignitas’ Vulcan as new bot lane duo
William Davis
League of Legends
According to ESPN’s Jacob Wolf, Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen and Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme are the new bottom lane duo for Cloud9. Cloud9 is reportedly about to close a deal with the former Team SoloMid AD Carry. The Danish player revealed on November 12 that he had decided against renewing his contract with TSM and that he would enter free agency. The news didn’t surprise LCS fans considering the poor results Zven has …
T1 loses Khan and Clid to free agency, locks down Effort
William Davis
League of Legends
T1, formerly known as SK Telecom T1, has been at the center of a surprising amount of news regarding League of Legends free agency. The organization has extended its contract with Lee “Effort” Sang-ho. The support player will return next spring and will remain a part of the organization that gave him his start thanks a two-year extension. Before this, T1 extended its contract with Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, which will see …
KT Rolster still in negotiations with its current roster
William Davis
League of Legends
KT Rolster has terminated its contracts with its League of Legends roster, but it might not be done with the players just yet. The organization barely avoided relegations in the summer and that has the brand ready to change its approach for the next season. That shift started when the team released support No “SnowFlower” Hoi-jong before the free agency period officially started. Now, the team has nixed its contracts …
Team SoloMid adds ex-Splyce carry Kobbe for 2020 LCS Spring Split
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
The free agency period of League of Legends is in full swing and one of the biggest moves thus far is Team SoloMid adding Kasper “Kobbe” Kobberup. The move was reported on ESPN’s League of Legends Free Agent Live Show. The former Splyce AD carry will most likely be replacing Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen, who announced his departure from the team last week. Kobbe is a big pickup for TSM. The Danish player has …
Norskeren and Patrik join Excel, Fnatic replaces YoungBuck with Mithy
William Davis
League of Legends
Patrik “Patrik” Jírů and Tore “Norskeren” Hoel Eilertsen are Excel Esports’ new bottom lane duo. The former Origen bot laner and ex-Splyce support will be the team’s starters for the 2020 LEC Spring Split. The roster also includes top laner Ki “Expect” Dae-han and jungler Marc Robert “Caedrel” Lamont. The team is yet to reveal its starting mid laner. The duo represent an influx of both young talent and veteran …
Hans Sama joins Rogue, extends Vander’s contract two years
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
Former Misfits Gaming bot laner Steven “Hans Sama” Liv is joining Rogue for the 2020 season. The organization has also secured the services of Oskar “Vander” Bogdan’s for the next two years. ESPN’s Jacob Wolf shared the news regarding Rogue’s 2020 League of Legends European Championship roster. Rogue quickly confirmed the news on Twitter, sharing a video announcing Vander’s re-signing and teasing Han Sama as the new addition towards the …
Team SoloMid trades Smoothie to CLG for Biofrost
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
Team SoloMid and Counter Logic Gaming will reportedly be swapping their supports. According to ESPN’s Jacob Wolf, Vincent “Biofrost” Wang and Andy “Smoothie” Ta will be switching teams for the upcoming LCS season. This comes as both organizations look to retool their rosters after failing to qualify for the 2019 League of Legends World Championship. The news will likely be confirmed once free agency announcements begin on November 18. Biofrost played for TSM during …
Gen.G drops most of its LoL team to rebuild around Ruler and Life
William Davis
League of Legends
Gen.G Esports extended the contracts of bottom lane duo Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk and Kim “Life” Jeong-min and released the rest of its roster. Top laners Lee “CuVee” Seong-jin and Kim “Roach” Kang-hui, jungler Han “Peanut” Wang-ho, and mid laners Song “Fly” Yong-jun and Lee “Kuzan” Seong-hyeok now find themselves as free agents. “We are sad to announce players’ departures as we enter the offseason. We thank them for everything they’ve …
Faker extends contract with T1, staying with team through 2021
Nina Forneloza
League of Legends
Legendary mid laner and three-time World Champion Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok has confirmed he will remain with SK Telecom’s League of Legends team T1 until at least the end of 2021. While many fans would assume that there would be no reason for Faker to leave an organization that he has won so many titles with, there has been a fair bit of speculation that he’s ready for a change of …
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.
