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Teamfight Tactics celebrates ranked mode with Showdown tournament League of Legends Teamfight Tactics celebrates ranked mode with Showdown tournament By Olivia Richman Team Liquid is charting a path to global esports domination League of Legends Team Liquid is charting a path to global esports domination By Jared Wynne LEC crushes LCS in Rift Rivals despite strong showing from Team Liquid League of Legends LEC crushes LCS in Rift Rivals despite strong showing from Team Liquid By William Davis
Origen Kold has some advice for NA teams after Rift Rivals League of Legends
Origen Kold has some advice for NA teams after Rift Rivals Olivia Richman Europe was crowned the Rift Rivals champions for the second year in a row. The grand finals saw Team Liquid defeat G2 Esports, but it wasn’t enough to hold back the LEC. Still, the performance made Origen realize that North America may have more to offer than the team previously thought.  WIN.gg spoke with Origen’s jungler Jonas “Kold” Andersen about the LEC victory and his advice to North American teams after …
Team Liquid gets revenge on G2 Esports for MSI Finals at Rift Rivals 2019 League of Legends
Team Liquid gets revenge on G2 Esports for MSI Finals at Rift Rivals 2019 William Davis Team Liquid is helping to undo some of the reputational damage inflicted to the LCS at Rift Rivals 2019. Day two of the event started with an interesting rematch of the Mid-Season Invitational grand finals, with Team Liquid looking to take revenge upon G2 Esports. The matchup would have been compelling all on its own, but it had extra stakes in the form of Liquid trying dig the LCS out …
Mikyx and G2 Esports stun TSM with unorthodox lineup at Rift Rivals League of Legends
Mikyx and G2 Esports stun TSM with unorthodox lineup at Rift Rivals William Davis He might be a support player, but Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle carried G2 Esports to a massive victory over Team SoloMid. The Mid-Season Invitational champions once again showed their incredible versatility and victimized one of the LCS’s best in the process. After fielding a seemingly standard draft, G2 left TSM stunned after the picks and bans as they played their champions in surprising positions. Jungler Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski finally got a …
G2 Esports Mikyx discusses loss to Team Liquid, Bard, and pizza League of Legends
G2 Esports Mikyx discusses loss to Team Liquid, Bard, and pizza Olivia Richman G2 Esports had a fun day at Rift Rivals: NA vs EU.  First, the European team faced Team Liquid and lost. But they lost in style. G2 had drafted a never before seen composition, including an assassin in the bottom lane. According to head coach Fabian “Grabbz” Lohmann, they did it out of boredom after dominating the previous day.   He still noted that the team most likely had less than …
SK Telecom T1 scrape past KT Rolster in rivalry low point League of Legends SK Telecom T1 scrape past KT Rolster in rivalry low point By William Davis Chiefs signed under ICON Esports, works towards Oceanic growth League of Legends Chiefs signed under ICON Esports, works towards Oceanic growth By Jared Wynne Cloud9 gets crushed by G2 Esports to start Rift Rivals 2019 News Cloud9 gets crushed by G2 Esports to start Rift Rivals 2019 By William Davis
Kold and Patrik talk lane swaps, win over TSM, the rise of the LEC League of Legends
Kold and Patrik talk lane swaps, win over TSM, the rise of the LEC Olivia Richman European League of Legends teams have come to Los Angeles to prove that they’re the region to beat. The first day of Rift Rivals: NA vs EU was quite one-sided by the time Origen easily defeated Team SoloMid. But Origen didn’t want to win doing the same old thing. They took Rift Rivals as an opportunity to try out some brand new strategies, and they seemed to pay off immediately. …
Team Liquid team up with Marvel, reveal exclusive Avengers jerseys League of Legends
Team Liquid team up with Marvel, reveal exclusive Avengers jerseys Olivia Richman Team Liquid has just announced a brand new strategic partnership with Marvel Entertainment.  The partnership was revealed at Rift Rivals: NA vs EU today. Team Liquid’s League of Legends team walked on the stage with custom designed Captain America competitive jerseys. While the one-of-a-kind jerseys were an immediate showstopper, that’s not all the partnership has in store.  Over the next few months, Team Liquid will partner with Marvel to drop …
Rap Rivals has NA and EU face off before Rift Rivals tournament League of Legends
Rap Rivals has NA and EU face off before Rift Rivals tournament Olivia Richman Although Rift Rivals doesn’t start until tomorrow, NA and EU are already duking it out in the form of an old school rap battle.  The two regions were represented by hard hitting commentators who had some flow to dish out, along with some epic burns. For those of you still recovering from H1ghsky1’s Turner “Tfue” Tenney diss (click at your own risk), this may be just the medicine you need …
Riot Games partners with Nielsen to provide advanced sponsorship data League of Legends
Riot Games partners with Nielsen to provide advanced sponsorship data Fariha Bhatti Consumer insights platform Nielsen has announced a new partnership with developer Riot Games that will see the company track sponsorship valuations and return on investment across multiple League of Legends competitions.  Nielsen will be measuring brand exposure for sponsors across both the LCS and LEC throughout 2019 and 2020, as well as at international events such as the annual World Championship, the Mid-Season Invitational, and the All-Star event. Select Asian …
Top ranked player Revenge declares intent to go pro in the LCS Fariha Bhatti League of Legends Moe “Revenge” Kaddoura is one of the best League of Legends players in North America, and now he is looking to take his skills to the LCS stage for the first time.  Revenge is currently ranked 26th on the North American ranked ladder, a higher rank than those held by most of the current LCS players. He is also undoubtedly one of the most mechanically skilled players in the region, …
Teamfight Tactics is live in North America and Europe on June 26 Steven Rondina League of Legends The staggered launch of Teamfight Tactics has hit North American shores. Riot Games’ take on the rapidly growing Auto Chess genre is now available for fans in North America, Oceania, and Japan. The game will also soon hit Europe and Russia. Though the game has now launched and is available for players to try out, a number of restrictions have been made in order to prevent server issues. Riot put …
Iranian LoL players blocked amidst international tensions gabhernandez League of Legends Due to political and economic sanctions placed by the current administration in the United States, Iranian League of Legends players are having their IP addresses blocked from the game, making it nearly impossible to play on nearby servers.  In the past month, the nation of Iran has increased its production of nuclear fuel. This increase in production has been done in defiance of a nuclear deal signed in 2015. The …
Svenskeren, Licorice carry Cloud9 over CLG as LCS summer continues William Davis League of Legends Cloud9 is back in the win column. After suffering an upset loss at the hands of 100 Thieves, C9 bounced back and took down Counter Logic Gaming. The clash between these giants was exciting and full of action. CLG jungler Raymond “Wiggily” Griffin locked in his signature Trundle and immediately made his presence felt, pressuring lanes and keeping Cloud9 uncomfortable. Full of confidence, CLG decided to play more aggressive but …
Dignitas opens new training and media facility as LCS return looms William Davis League of Legends Dignitas has a new home. The organization celebrated the grand opening of its new content and media facility, a 3,000-square-foot space in Newark, New Jersey. This new training ground is located near the New Jersey Devils’ home, the Prudential Center. The team and arena are both owned by Dignitas parent company Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment. The Dignitas gaming and media facility features a 500-square foot content studio sponsored by …
Team Liquid break up 6-way tie in LCS with win over Golden Guardians William Davis League of Legends The six-way tie at the top of the LCS is over but the summer split remains competitive. After week three wrapped up with six teams owning a 4-2 record, things got back to normal in week four as top squads were forced to face off. One of the key matchups was the showdown between Team Liquid and the Golden Guardians. Though many were expecting a tight, competitive game, it was …
Team Liquid partners with HUYA to bring player livestreams to China Olivia Richman League of Legends Team Liquid began searching for a Chinese streaming partner two years ago, and they’ve finally partnered with game streaming platform HUYA.  Through this exclusive partnership, Team Liquid will have its players’ Twitch streams also available on the HUYA platform, using Restream.io, a back-end system that allows players to restream onto different platforms. This includes their League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Apex Legends, PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds, and Hearthstone players. This most …
SKT benches LoL legend Faker during series against Griffin Olivia Richman League of Legends It’s looking like SK Telecom T1 might miss out on another trip to the World Championship. The organization is currently in ninth place in the LCK Summer Split after losing to Griffin, a team they swept in the grand finals of the LCK 2019 Spring Playoffs. The team’s decline is surprising on its own but even more shocking is that Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, the League of Legends god himself, was benched halfway …
SK Telecom T1 blanked by Griffin, slip to 9th place in LCK William Davis League of Legends SK Telecom T1’s slide continues. The storied organization suffered from a tough week three in the LCK 2019 Summer Split, taking a pair of losses from Griffin. The losses add to the ongoing collapse of the team since winning the LCK 2019 Spring Playoffs. The day started with a surprise appearance on stage from SKT coach Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun, who was present during the picks and bans for the first …
Nightblue3 suspended from League of Legends for making bogus reports Olivia Richman League of Legends “JUST GOT A 2 WEEK VACATION” Popular League of Legends streamer Nightblue3 was suspended from his game of choice for 14 days after attemping to have another player banned.  The 2018 All-Star participant received major backlash from the League of Legends community after he reported a teammate using the handle Nubrac to a private Riot Discord server for members of the League Partner Program. In a shocking twist, Nightblue3 was …
Misfits bench Febiven and add LIDER to starting lineup after loss Olivia Richman League of Legends With a 2-3 standing, Misfits have not been having the best LEC Summer Split. A humiliating match against SK Gaming in which they lost in under 30 minutes seems to have pushed the coaching staff to make changes.  The struggling team has decided to bench Nubar “Maxlore” Sarafian and Fabian “Febiven” Diepstraten. They will be replaced with Thomas “Kirei” Yuen and Adam “LIDER” Ilyasov, who are now on the starting lineup.  …
Riot Pls video discusses client updates, Teamfight Tactics, and more gabhernandez League of Legends Riot has released their latest “Riot Pls” video, giving fans a bit of news on a number of different topics. It has been nearly a year since the last installment in the series and a lot has happened in the months since. With the pro League of Legends summer season in full swing and a number of major projects on its hands, Riot had a lot to discuss. Lead producer …

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.