League of Legends
News
Cloud9 becomes first esports team sponsored by AT&T
Olivia Richman
Cloud9 has been chosen for AT&T’s first esports team sponsorship. Shiz Suzuki, who works in sponsorships and marketing for AT&T, spoke to the passion of Cloud9’s fans as the driving reason for the company’s choice. “We wanted a team with a crazy passionate fan base, the real folks that just love their team,” Suzuki said. The terms of this new deal give AT&T presenting rights to Cloud9’s new weekly digital …
League of Legends
Riot Games hires first chief diversity officer
Olivia Richman
After multiple former Riot Games employees opened up about sexist behavior at the company, sexual harassment, and discrimination against female employees, Riot has hired its first chief diversity officer. According to Riot, Angela Roseboro will oversee all company activity relating to diversity and inclusion. This includes leading the recruitment team in hiring diverse talent and working with Chief People Officer Emily Winkle on integrating diversity and inclusion into the company’s …
League of Legends
Fans vote on new Tristana skin in League of Legends
William Davis
Tristana is getting a new skin and the League of Legends community has the opportunity to decide what it will be. The Riot Games skins team announced that the Bandle City gunner would soon be getting a brand new cosmetic. A poll was posted to encourage players to vote on what the next new skin for the Yordle gunner will look like. Fans may choose between three different themed skins …
League of Legends
Twitch Prime subscribers now receive free League of Legends skins
Olivia Richman
Twitch knows that gamers love nothing more than some free loot. League of Legends players are now eligible for a new free loot capsule if they’re also a Twitch Prime subscriber with linked accounts. The “Summoner’s Crown Capsule” contains a random permanent skin, ward skin, and summoner icon. This promotion is available until April 3. This League of Legends promotion is imilar to one Twitch had in December, which offered …
League of Legends
SK Telecom and Comcast Spectacor create new esports giant
Olivia Richman
Comcast Spectacor and SK Telecom have announced the creation of T1 Entertainment & Sports, an esports entity that will operate out of Philadelphia, Seoul, and Los Angeles. SK Telecom is home to three-time World Champion League of Legends team SK Telecom T1. Comcast Spectacor owns the Overwatch League’s Philadelphia Fusion, who played in the grand finals last season. T1 will continue to have teams compete in Overwatch, League of Legends, …
League of Legends
Urgot and Yasuo likely slide in competitive after patch 9.4
William Davis
Patch 9.4 has brought about some big changes to the competitive scene in League of Legends. One major change is the Urgot nerf. This champion made its return to the meta by the end of 2018 during the KeSPA and Demacia Cup competitions in Asia. Along with Lissandra, Urgot has grown into one of the mainstays of pro League. In Patch 9.2, Urgot received his first nerf of the season. …
League of Legends
Liquid rolls past 100 Thieves through bot lane domination
Jared Wynne
Team Liquid found another victory against 100 Thieves in a match that was one-sided in favor of the LCS’s top dogs. Before the match, Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng said it would be “a boring game,” and results in the bottom laner didn’t prove him wrong. The game, which lasted just over 30 minutes, showed the worst side of 100 Thieves. The strategy for 100 Thieves was clear: try to get top …
League of Legends
Riot is updating champions Kayle and Morgana
Olivia Richman
Riot Games has announced major changes for popular champions Morgana and Kayle. Kayle will be seeing more dramatic changes than her sister, including a brand new set of abilities. Her new kit revolves around her passive ability, Divine Ascent, which will now features four different forms that Kayle reaches as she progresses in levels. Zealous is the first form that Kayle starts the match with. With every auto attack, Kayle …
Team Liquid signs new and exclusive deal with Twitch
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Team Liquid has announced that Twitch as the esports organization’s sponsorship sales partner. The team called the partnership “their most ambitious crossover” yet. The multi-year sponsorship sales agreement involves Twitch working with brands to create unique partnerships with Team Liquid. The streaming service will help brands enter the pro gaming industry through partnerships with the esports giant. This is the first time Twitch has signed a direct managing deal with …
G2 get back on track with quick triumph over Schalke
William Davis
League of Legends
G2 Esports kicked off the sixth week of the LEC Spring Split with a dominant victory over Schalke 04. After a small setback in taking their season’s first loss against Origen last week, G2 continues to rule the LEC. Schalke could not contain Rasmus “Caps” Winther and the rest of the G2 squad, as G2 was able to claim the victory after just 23 minutes. In the laning phase, Schalke …
Riot Games launches new official LCS store
William Davis
League of Legends
Riot Games’ official LCS store is now live, coinciding with the ongoing 2019 LCS Spring Split. The store was developed by esports merchandising company We Are Nations, who first partnered with the LCS in 2018. The shop’s stock includes LCS-branded shirts and hoodies as well as team jerseys. Customers can choose from either a team’s general jersey, a specific player’s jersey, or a custom lettered jersey with the purchaser’s chosen …
Faker quadra kill keys SKT win over rival KT Rolster
William Davis
League of Legends
SK Telecom T1 came out victorious in the first telecom war of 2019, one of the oldest esports rivalries in esports. Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok reminded fans why he is considered among the best players in the world. The mid laner secured a quadra kill 30 minutes into the second game to secure the clean 2-0 sweep for SKT. The telecom war is one of the most anticipated events in the …
RP in League of Legends is going up in price for most of the world
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Riot has announced some changes to its Riot Points system, which will go into effect in March. The main in-game currency for League of Legends will have its price increased in several regions to account for new tax laws and inflation. According to Riot, the company reviews global pricing annually, but this year they’ve seen more changes than usual in the affected regions. The United States has recently added a …
Controversy surrounds all-female pro League team
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
League of Legends Continental League team RoX banned five support champions in the draft phase against all-female opponents Vaevictis Esports, a sexist joke that drew attention to how problematic the team was to begin with. Even though Vaevictis seemed amused by the joke while on stage, an ensuing Reddit thread about RoX’s stunt was locked due to “an overwhelming amount of sexist comments.” Before the lockdown, a Reddit user noted …
TSM ends the undefeated dream for Team Liquid
William Davis
League of Legends
Team Liquid is no longer undefeated. The defending champions went down to Team SoloMid after having amassed a perfect 7-0 record. TSM broke that record and finished week four with two victories. TSM showed a dominant performance against a Team Liquid that found itself without answers. Matthew “Akaadian” Higginbotham left his passive jungling style behind, pressuring Jake “Xmithie” Puchero out of his own jungle. In the top lane, Sergen “Broken …
Cloud9 manage methodical victory over Rush and Echo Fox
William Davis
League of Legends
Cloud9 took a dominant victory over a hesitant Echo Fox to claim second place in the LCS standings. Cloud9 started week four on a high note in defeating Echo Fox. The World Championship semifinalist showed a methodical game against an Echo Fox roster that has at times struggled.. The star of the match was young support Tristan “Zeyzal” Stidam on Alistar. Zeyzal had a strong presence in the map with …
SKT overcome Kingzone DragonX Frostmancy strategy
William Davis
League of Legends
SK Telecom T1 started the new lunar year with a victory against Kingzone DragonX to secure third place in the LCK. It’s a new year and a new meta in the LCK, as the Korean league is back after a week of celebrations. Despite the chaotic new meta, SKT managed to pull a reverse sweep against Kingzone. Game one went in favor of Kingzone through the use of the “Frostmancy” …
LCS officials admit fault for creep blocking rule confusion
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
LCS commissioner Chris Greenley has taken responsibility for the rule controversy that shook the League community after 100 Thieves used creep blocking to their aid in a recent win over Clutch Gaming. Creep blocking is an in-game mechanic that allows players to walk in front of the game’s first waves of minions, slowing down the incoming waves from reaching the opposing team. This tactic creates an imbalance in the lane …
LCS host Dash to dye hair if Team Liquid goes undefeated
Olivia Richman
News
Team Liquid has to win just 12 more games and LCS host James “Dash” Patterson will dye his hair. Team Liquid is undefeated in the spring split with a 6-0 record. This includes an opening victory against their biggest rivals, Cloud9. This strong start to the season had Dash tweeting about Team Liquid’s successful three weeks, joking that “those Team Liquid guys are pretty good.” This prompted an immediate response from …
Vaevictis sign five female players for new LCL pro team
William Davis
League of Legends
In a surprising move, Russian organization Vaevictis Esports has signed an all-female roster for the 2019 LCL Spring Split. The move comes after Riot Games Russia announced its plans to franchise the LCL in 2020. In January, Vaevictis announced a new roster that would compete in the 2019 LCL Open Cup. This tournament is organized by Riot Games Russia and takes place at the same time as the LCL regular …
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.
