League of Legends
League of Legends
NRG back in the LCS after acquiring CLG
William Davis
Los Angeles-based organization NRG has completed the acquisition of CLG, marking its return to the LCS. NRG is back in League of Legends after a seven-year absence. The team that officially disbanded in 2016 is back on the scene after completing the acquisition of CLG and its LCS slot. Earlier this week, fans were saddened to learn CLG would be shutting down for good. According to a report by Travis …
League of Legends
CLG likely to shut down, exiting esports entirely
William Davis
Esports may say goodbye to another iconic name soon, with CLG allegedly preparing to shut down entirely. The esports industry continues to stumble in 2023, with multiple high-profile sponsorship deals and team partnerships continuing to fall through. CLG may be next, according to unconfirmed reports by established LoL journalist Travis Gafford. The company itself has not acknowledged these rumors, but it wouldn’t be out of place in the industry’s current …
League of Legends
MAD Lions could win the LEC with a negative winrate
Tokoni Uti
Two-time LEC champions MAD Lions could actually go on to win the Spring title with an overall negative win/loss record. Due to the double-elimination structure of both the group stage and playoffs, each remaining team will be able to win the split with a minimum of 10 more wins and a maximum of nine more losses. For MAD, who already carry over a negative winrate, this means that they could …
League of Legends
TSM might be leaving the LCS in 2023
William Davis
One of North America’s most popular esports brands might exit the scene. TSM is putting a pause on its esports efforts according to a report by the Sports Business Journal. This could mean that TSM is leaving the LCS in 2023. TSM might not be as profitable as the team claimed to be after all. The organization is pausing its esports efforts and instead focusing on its player development app …
League of Legends
This infinite mana and damage bug ruined ranked
Nicholas James
This infinite mana and damage bug ruined League of Legends’ ranked, and it comes from the most unlikely of places, the Undo button in the shop. A recent bug in League of Legends was responsible for players getting effectively infinite mana and damage, and it was ruining ranked games. Rather than some other bugs, which require very specific champions to occur, this could be pulled off by any champion in …
League of Legends
CLG Contractz looks to EG: “I wish it was Sunday already”
Nicholas James
WIN.gg spoke with CLG’s LCS jungler Juan “Contractz” Garcia about his style of play, the team’s success, and what comes next after the team’s 3-1 loss to Cloud9 in the second game of the 2023 Spring Split Playoffs. Contractz is a veteran of the LCS, entering as a high-value rookie who took the LCS stage by storm with his aggressive play. In 2023, he’s an experienced voice who has found …
League of Legends
The best ranged top laners in LoL
Nicholas James
Ranged top laners are considered a faux-pas for most players, who prefer the toe-to-toe brawling of tank and juggernaut matches. But if you insist on breaking that rule, here are the best ranged top laners in LoL. Top tends to be the lane most commonly filled with tanks, juggernauts, and fighters of all kinds in League of Legends. The classic matchup of two brawly melees is what most top laners …
League of Legends
“It’s not over until it’s over” 100T Tenacity has hope for playoffs
Nicholas James
WIN.gg caught up with 100 Thieves LCS top laner Milan “Tenacity” Oleksij and talked about bouncing back from losses, coaching changes, and a high-stakes bet. WIN.gg caught up with Tenacity after the team’s loss to FlyQuest in the opening round of the 2023 Spring Split Playoffs winner’s bracket. 100 Thieves had surged to a third-place finish after a shaky middle of the split following sudden coaching changes. After the 0-3 …
Every member of T1 was voted 1st All Pro
Nicholas James
League of Legends
In an unsurprising but nonetheless impressive turn of events, every member of the LCK’s T1 roster was voted first in the All Pro ballot for the 2023 Spring Split 2023. T1 has been absolutely dominating the LCK Spring Split this year. The roster ended with a ridiculous 17-1 record, only dropping one series to fifth-place finishers Hanwha Life Esports. The most decorated team in the history of League of Legends …
You can kill Dragon in LoL in less than 0.5 seconds
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Dragons are a vital neutral objective in League of Legends, and a team just set the record for the fastest way to kill a dragon in LoL. Dragons are available from five minutes onwards in League of Legends, and they are one of the core neutral objectives that games are played around. For as long as they’ve been in the game, players have been looking for the quickest ways to …
What will the Rell rework be?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Riot Games revealed a lot of its process to updating champions in a series of new developer blogs, with some peeks at the new Iron Maiden. So what will the Rell rework be? Riot Games has started to publish regular Developer Updates that take fans behind the scenes of the creation and maintenance of League of Legends. This was accompanied by several blog posts, one which delved into the new …
Tyler1 calls out stream snipers after reaching Diamond IV in EU
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
League of Legends personality Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp has finally reached Diamond IV in the EUW region despite a lot of players in the region trying to get in the way of his goal. Reaching Diamond IV in the EUW servers is the latest challenge that Tyler1 has dominated. He has also hit challenger in all five roles, among other tricky League of Legends accomplishments. This, along with his boisterous personality, …
Why Chapter 4 Season 2 is the best Fortnite season yet
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Fans of Epic Games’ battle royale constantly debate which season of the game is best, and right now Chapter 4 Season 2 is making a strong case the best Fortnite season ever. Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2 brought a ton of new zones, items, augments, and more to Epic Games’ wildly successful battle royale. From the Kinetic Blade Katana to Highcard bosses to floating loot islands, the game is filled …
Is Arcane canon? The answer is complicated
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Arcane was the hit League of Legends animated adaptation on Netflix that released in 2021, and fans have been loving the intricate storyline and action. But is what happens in Arcane canon? League of Legends canon stands in an awkward place in the current day, and Arcane is a big part of that. With the animated show being by far Riot Games’ most successful effort in telling stories inside Runeterra, …
The best LoL champions for new players
Nicholas James
League of Legends
If you’re a newcomer to the biggest video game in the world and are looking for where to start, here are the best LoL champions for new players. League of Legends is an incredibly complicated game, and with over 140 characters to choose from, it can be hard to decide where to start. Riot Games tries to rate champions based on their difficulty in the client, but these ratings are …
Skarner rework will give his ultimate an area of effect
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Riot Games has revealed initial previews of what the Skarner rework will look like, including a wild new ultimate. Riot Games delivered a new Dev Update video accompanied by several articles that delved into the confirmed rework. The most exciting of these was a reveal of the first iterations of the Skarner rework’s appearance. Fans also got sneak peeks at what his new abilities might be. The most shocking of …
Riot reveals new LoL quick play mode
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Riot Games has continued to keep fans updated on its plans for development, with updates on reworks, LoL quick play, and more. After a lackluster start to the season with a disappointing cinematic combined with an uncertain future for events, Riot Games has decided to make active efforts towards more transparency. This has involved regular video updates from senior Riot Games staff laying out their plans. The latest video includes …
Riot confirmes investigating EG Danny situation since 2022
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Riot Games is reportedly investigating the Evil Geniuses controversy, with the League of Legends developer allegedly looking into the EG Danny situation. Earlier this year, allegations began to surface that LCS organization Evil Geniuses had mistreated Kyle “Danny” Sakamaki. Reports from journalists Richard Lewis, Duncan “Thorin” Shields, and Arsh Goyal publicized separate reports that alleged misconduct, incompetence, and systemic issues at Evil Geniuses that resulted in significant mental and physical …
TFT: Glitched Out brings new features mid-set
Nicholas James
League of Legends
TFT: Glitched out is the mid-set update for Teamfight Tactics’ first set of 2023, Teamfight Tactics: Monsters Attack, here’s what you need to know. For every set of Teamfight Tactics, Riot decides to freshen up the gameplay at the halfway point with new mechanics, units, and traits. For Monsters Attack, Riot is bringing a theme that would make League of Legends’ resident bug-finder Vandiril proud with Glitched Out! From the …
Riot is fixing the most-hated ARAM feature
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Riot Games is fixing the All Random All Mid mode’s most-fated recent addition, here’s what changes are coming to ARAM. ARAM is a more casual game mode for League of Legends where all ten players are randomly assigned champions. Then both teams of five players play a match on one single large lane. Recently, Riot Games made several changes in order to improve this game mode. One of those changes …
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.
