League of Legends
League of Legends
G2 Esports wins back-to-back LEC titles by defeating Fnatic
William Davis
G2 Esports is the 2019 LEC Summer champion! G2 took down Fnatic after five intense games. The back-to-back champion-winning team is now heading to the 2019 League of Legends World Championship as the number one seed of the LEC. The series got off to an explosive start, with both teams looking for a fight early. It all began with Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle and Zdravets “Hylissang” Iliev Galabov going head-to-head …
League of Legends
Riot Games answers questions on Clash, events in latest Ask Riot
gabhernandez
In their latest Ask Riot, Riot Games responded to questions surrounding the future of Clash, bonus game modes, and high-quality events like Odyssey. As a followup to the NA Clash tests, Riot laid out their future plans. So far, the redesign and optimizations have been received well and Riot are looking to continue regional testing across the rest of the servers. These are anticipated to last until October. If regional …
League of Legends
Cody Sun reflects beating CLG, talks Worlds qualifier vs TSM
Olivia Richman
In one of their most intense matches of the year, Clutch Gaming came out on top once again today after defeating their rivals at Counter Logic Gaming. After beating FlyQuest yesterday and CLG today, Clutch is on their way to scoring that last spot in the World Championships. The only thing standing in their way is a third and final best of five against Team SoloMid tomorrow. WIN.gg spoke with Cody …
League of Legends
Fnatic knocks out FC Schalke 04, faces G2 Esports in LEC summer finals
William Davis
Fnatic destroyed FC Schalke 04 in round three of the 2019 LEC Summer Playoffs. Fnatic was merciless and took Schalke out in three quick, clean games. Now the squad is preparing to get the revenge on G2 Esports in the finals. The team that was on display here has a real chance at defeating G2, and is one of the squads to watch at the 2019 League of Legends World Championship. …
League of Legends
League of Legends players debate the power of Spear of Shojin
Olivia Richman
League of Legends players are debating if Spear of Shojin is healthy for the game’s meta. In a now deleted Reddit post, one user went on a rant about the item and why he feels it should have “never been implemented” to begin with. The item, which adds 60 to a player’s attack damage along with a 20% cooldown reduction and 250 health, also grants Awakened Dragon for six seconds …
League of Legends
Clutch Gaming beats FlyQuest in LCS regional qualifiers to face CLG
William Davis
Popular underdog Clutch Gaming defeated FlyQuest in round one of the LCS regional qualifier. Clutch is not slowing down in the race to the 2019 League of Legends World Championship. The team took a decisive victory over FlyQuest and are set to face Counter Logic Gaming in a hotly anticipated rematch. The series was far from perfect as both Clutch and FlyQuest made mistakes, but in the end Clutch proved …
League of Legends
sOAZ working analyst desk for 2019 LPL Summer Playoffs finals
Nina Forneloza
Former Misfits top laner Paul “sOAZ” Boyer is heading to the LPL playoffs, but not as a competitor. The LPL announced on Twitter that the veteran player will serve as a broadcast personality for the 2019 LPL Summer Playoffs finals and regional qualifiers for the 2019 League of Legends World Championship. Though the original announcement stated he would be working as a caster, the league later corrected this and noted …
League of Legends
Riot Games looks to LoL community on Eternals achievements
Olivia Richman
Riot Games is coming up with trackers for champion-based achievements based on community feedback. After the new Eternals system was announced and immediately decried, developers have been working on the game’s achievement system, updating it based on player feedback. Riot’s design lead Xengenic posted a list of ideas for champion-based Eternals to the League of Legends developer blog. According to Xenegic, the goal is to build sets of three Eternals …
G2 Esports owner ocelote angers Fnatic fans with Rekkles tweet
William Davis
League of Legends
G2 Esports’ owner and founder Carlos “ocelote” Rodríguez has angered Fnatic’s fan base once again. Ocelote is known for his sense of humor and memes on Twitter, but this time he took it a bit too far in the eyes of Fnatic fans. On Wednesday, ocelote quoted Counter-Strike: Global Offensive analyst Jacob “Pimp” Winneche and tagged Martin “Rekkles” Larsson without any more context. “Take it from someone who has had …
PapaSmithy joins 100 Thieves as LoL general manager
William Davis
News
Former LCK caster Chris “PapaSmithy” Smith has joined 100 Thieves. 100 Thieves has announced PapaSmithy as the team’s new League of Legends general manager in a surprise move. “Previously an LCK caster for 4+ years, Chris is one of the most well-respected analysts / commentators in the industry. We’re thrilled to bring him to NA & can’t wait to build more for 100T LoL,” 100 Thieves said on Twitter. On …
GrabbZ wins LEC Coach of the Summer, Inspired wins Rookie of the split
William Davis
League of Legends
The LEC has announced that Rogue jungler Kacper “Inspired” Słoma has won Rookie of the Split for the 2019 LEC Summer season, while G2 Esports’ Fabian “GrabbZ” Lohmann has won the award for top coach. The season is on its final leg. On Sunday, one team will raise the trophy and earn a ticket to the World Championship as Europe’s first seed. Now that the season is almost over, the LEC looked back on …
Fortress Esports opening largest esports venue in southern hemisphere
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
With more than 2,700 square meters and two floors, the Fortress Melbourne esports arena is set to be the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere. Located at the Emporium Melbourne shopping complex, the esports arena can host tournaments in its custom-built, 200-seat competitive area. Then there’s the gaming section of the center, which has 160 gaming PCs, streaming areas, and spots designated to RPGs and tabletop gaming. While …
TFBlade rants at Riot after being suspended for battling trolls
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Team Liquid streamer Ashkan “TFBlade” Homayouni’s quest to be top ranked in every League of Legends server in the world has been put on hold after his account was suspended for 14 days in Turkey. “I cannot believe it. I prefer to be banned than play in this region. Maybe after 14 days I’ll come back. Or maybe I’ll just say I don’t need the rank one,” TFBlade said after …
Griffin’s Tarzan posts historically bad game in LCK Summer finals
William Davis
News
Griffin’s jungler Lee “Tarzan” Seung-yong posted a standout performance in the 2019 LCK Summer playoffs finals, but not in a good way. On August 31, SK Telecom T1 and Griffin competed with the championship on the line, which saw SKT come out on top 3-1. SKT and its players landed in the record books for a variety of reasons ranging from the organization winning its eighth LCK championship, to becoming the …
SK Telecom T1 breaks multiple records with 8th LCK title win
William Davis
News
SK Telecom T1’s victory over Griffin in the 2019 LCK Summer finals was an important one. In addition to rebounding from an ugly start to the split, SKT qualified as the LCK’s first seed to the 2019 World Championship. That’s not all. SKT became the first team in LCK history to win eight titles. The team’s supremacy started in summer 2013 when the team achieved its first championship. 2019 is the second …
Streamer, ex-pro IWillDominate gets suspended live on Twitch
Nina Forneloza
League of Legends
Christian “IWillDominate” Rivera, a popular League of Legends streamer and former pro jungler for Team Liquid, had his account suspended by Riot Games during a recent 24-hour stream on Twitch. Just before the 18-hour mark and having just concluded a game, IWillDominate was confronted with a message from the LoL Client. “Account Suspended. This account has been suspended. Relog for more information,” it said. IWillDominate revealed that suspicious activity was …
PapaSmithy to leave the LCK, his next destination unknown
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
UPDATE: PapaSmithy has agreed to become the general manager at 100 Thieves. League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) English caster Chris “PapaSmithy” is leaving the Korean league after over four years spent broadcasting in the region. PapaSmithy is an Australian color commentator that has been on the LCK screen since 2015. He became one of the most favored League of Legends casters as a part of the LCK English cast, …
Star Guardians Little Legends coming to TFT in Patch 9.18
William Davis
League of Legends
Teamfight Tactics is getting three new Little Legends in Patch 9.18. Three familiars based on the Star Guardians line of skins are being added as Little Legends in Patch 9.18. Fuwa, Sisha, and Dango belong to Series 4. Fuwa and Dango are all-new characters in League of Legends and are not attached to any of the established Star Guardian characters. On the other hand, Sisha is Soraka’s Star Guardian familiar …
Riot Games settles lawsuit for sexual harassment, discrimination
William Davis
League of Legends
The class-action lawsuit filed against Riot Games for alleged sexual harassment and discrimination has come to a close. The plaintiffs, Jessica Negron and Melanie McCracken, sued their former employer on grounds of discrimination, harassment, and violation of the California Equal Pay Act. The lawsuit began following a Kotaku report that exposed sexist work conditions at Riot Games. The parties have reached a settlement nearly a full year after the case …
Teemo buffs and QOL changes expected in LoL patch 9.18
William Davis
League of Legends
League of Legends’ most feared little ball of evil may be getting some buffs come the next patch. Riot Games design director Andrei “Meddler” van Roon reached out to fans on the LoL community boards to discuss possible upcoming changes to Teemo in patch 9.18. Meddler described that the developers would be building these buffs off of a much larger rework that the team explored earlier this year. “Focus here …
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.
