League of Legends
League of Legends
These are the best League of Legends champion picks in 9.23
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends was updated with the preseason patch on November 19. The patch 9.23 implemented big changes to the Summoner’s Rift, together with changes to items, runes, jungle objectives, and more. Although the patch wasn’t about balance changes, new features impacted the gameplay and started clearing out the looks of the preseason meta. The champions that are dominating the Rift are Darius on top, Ekko in the jungle, Katarina …
League of Legends
Xmithie rejoins Immortals after being dropped by Team Liquid
William Davis
Immortals has announced the first member of its 2020 team and it’s a blast from the past. Jake “Xmithie” Puchero is rejoining his former organization. The North American jungler was part of the team in the 2017 NA LCS Summer Split. With Xmithie on its roster, Immortals finished in second place that split and went to compete in the 2017 League of Legends World Championship. “Among all the LCS players Jake …
League of Legends
T1 welcomes Cuzz, re-signs Effort after Clid leaves for Gen.G
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Just a day after League of Legends fans were hit with the shocking news that T1 jungler Kim “Clid” Tae-min had departed the team to join Gen.G, T1 announced on Twitter that it has come to terms with Lee “Effort” Mun on a new deal to keep the player on the team. Additionally, the organization confirmed that Mun “Cuzz” U-Chan will be joining the roster as the new starting jungler after splitting off from DragonX. …
League of Legends
Macaiyla says LoL ban unfair because Tyler1’s behavior is much worse
William Davis
Popular Twitch streamer and Instagram model Macaiyla is making an appeal to have a banned League of Legends account restored. She says that the ban, which was for toxic behavior, is illegitimate because her actions were no worse than those of her boyfriend, streamer Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp. Macaiyla’s LoL account “HYPUHS” was banned over a year ago. A chat log was included in the streamer’s ban message citing her toxicity. …
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
Evil Geniuses buys out Bang from 100 Thieves for 2020 LCS
William Davis
According to a report by ESPN, Bae “Bang” Jun-sik will join Evil Geniuses’ League of Legends team for the 2020 season. The newest team in the LCS paid an undisclosed sum of cash to 100 Thieves for the former World Champion AD carry. He joins fellow recent additions Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen and Tristan “Zeyzal” Stidam, who were acquired by Evil Geniuses from Cloud9. Evil Geniuses seems committed to putting together …
Clid, Rascal, and Bdd sign with Gen.G for 2020 LCK season
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
Gen.G has announced that Kim “Clid” Tae-min, Kim “Rascal” Kwang-hee, and Gwak “Bdd” Bo-seong have been signed to the organization’s League of Legends roster for the 2020 LoL Championship Korea season. News of Rascal leaving DragonX and Bdd splitting off from KT Rolster wasn’t a shock to fans. Far more surprising was the reveal that T1’s jungler was splitting off from the organization after a highly successful 2019 season. Clid was part of the SK …
Sneaky talks about leaving Cloud9 LoL roster during Twitch stream
Nina Forneloza
League of Legends
During a recent stream, veteran AD carry Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi confirmed that he will no longer be playing for Cloud9 on their starting roster next year. This comes after an ESPN report in which Cloud9 are said to have signed former Team SoloMid bot laner Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen to go along with Dignitas transfer Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme as the squad’s new bot lane. While streaming on twitch, Sneaky also hinted …
Preseason patch 9.23 changes the map, dragons, runes, and more
William Davis
League of Legends
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 …
Origen reveals 2020 roster featuring Upset, Xerxe and Destiny
William Davis
League of Legends
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 …
JD Gaming bot laner and former world champ Imp announces retirement
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
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 …
New League of Legends champion Aphelios announced
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
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 …
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.
