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TSM ends the undefeated dream for Team Liquid League of Legends TSM ends the undefeated dream for Team Liquid By William Davis Cloud9 manage methodical victory over Rush and Echo Fox League of Legends Cloud9 manage methodical victory over Rush and Echo Fox By William Davis SKT overcome Kingzone DragonX Frostmancy strategy League of Legends SKT overcome Kingzone DragonX Frostmancy strategy By William Davis
LCS officials admit fault for creep blocking rule confusion League of Legends
LCS officials admit fault for creep blocking rule confusion Olivia Richman 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 News
LCS host Dash to dye hair if Team Liquid goes undefeated Olivia Richman 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 League of Legends
Vaevictis sign five female players for new LCL pro team William Davis 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 …
Fnatic Rising looks to continue Fnatic legacy in UK League of Legends
Fnatic Rising looks to continue Fnatic legacy in UK Olivia Richman Fnatic is looking to dominate the United Kingdom League of Legends Championship with new team Fnatic Rising. Jordan “Shikari” Pointon, Daniel “Dan” Hockley, Matthew “xMatty” Coombs, and Tom “Prosfair” Willis are four Brits in the UKLC lineup who will be repping the black and orange. Their fifth and newest member is Sweden’s Felix “MagiFelix” Bostrom. The newly formed team will be based out of the Fnatic HQ’s new practice facilities …
Liquid remain unbeaten after fending off FlyQuest challenge League of Legends Liquid remain unbeaten after fending off FlyQuest challenge By William Davis Riot Games struggles with sexism, harassment, and identity League of Legends Riot Games struggles with sexism, harassment, and identity By William Davis LCS broadcaster Jatt retires, moves to development team News LCS broadcaster Jatt retires, moves to development team By William Davis
Riot’s API Challenge brings innovation and Yasuo bans League of Legends
Riot’s API Challenge brings innovation and Yasuo bans Olivia Richman Riot’s API Challenge brought out the best and brightest in the developer community. With 300,000 Riot Points on the line, developers who took part in the contest had five weeks to work on their projects. Developers of all skill levels participated, creating applications that interacted with Riot’s game client through the League Client APIs. According to Riot, one of the goals for the API Challenge was to “strengthen and empower …
G2 resist Vitality’s bot lane pressure to remain unbeaten League of Legends
G2 resist Vitality’s bot lane pressure to remain unbeaten William Davis G2 Esports collected another victory to continue undefeated in the LEC. G2 remains at the top of the standings after defeating Team Vitality in week four of the LEC Spring Split. The match of the week started with a surprise in the draft as Martin “Wunder” Hansen locked in Jarvan IV in the top lane. Vitality focused its early efforts on the bottom lane and secured first blood four minutes …
A former MLB executive is the new Gen.G CEO League of Legends
A former MLB executive is the new Gen.G CEO William Davis Gen.G has announced Chris Park as the organization’s new CEO. Chris Park was a senior vice-president for Major League Baseball prior to his appointment as the CEO of Gen.G. Park joins the organization after four years in charge of products and marketing at the MLB. The move makes Park the latest executive to transition from the world of traditional sports to esports, a nascent industry in need of experienced talents …
China declares esports an official career path League of Legends
China declares esports an official career path Olivia Richman Esports has officially been accepted as a career path in China. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China added “esports operators” and “esports professionals” to its growing list of approved career paths. The ministry described an “esports professional” as someone who competes in tournaments, performs in events, and trains with other pro players. It also lists a Chinese term that translates to “account boosting” as one of …
The latest League patch is a love letter to ADCs Olivia Richman League of Legends League of Legend’s 9.3 patch notes are a love letter to ADCs, delivered just in time for Valentine’s Day. ADCs have felt a little neglected in the current mea, and Riot has promised change. Riot is giving the ADCs in their life some crit item changes to help them cope with the burst damage carries now frequently run into. Infinity Edge was reworked with an added extra 25 percent chance …
Cloud9 star Sneaky reveals another revealing cosplay Olivia Richman League of Legends Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi’s gender-bending cosplay has the League of Legends community afire. The Cloud9 bot laner couldn’t wait until the summer to show off his latest Swimsuit Ahri cosplay on Twitter. The photos, which perfectly hid his bare bottom with a well-placed emoji, are among many available on Sneaky’s official Patreon. Many of Sneaky’s League of Legends-inspired cosplays are available as signed and customized polaroids through his Patreon, which currently …
Wrapping up changes for League of Legends ranked Season 9 Jared Wynne League of Legends League of Legends players are gearing up for the latest season of ranked play in the popular MOBA. As is the case every year, the new season comes with new content and big changes to the game. Season 9’s New Ranked System Riot has added two new ranks: Iron and Grandmaster. Iron is placed before Bronze, and Grandmaster is placed in between Master and Challenger. In addition, Division V has …
Liquid are the last unbeaten LCS team after win over Clutch William Davis League of Legends Defending champion Team Liquid finished week two of the LCS Spring Split on a high note after defeating Clutch Gaming. Liquid found its fourth consecutive win of the early season versus Clutch Gaming, as the defending champions took down the Texas-based team after 36 minutes of play. The action started in the bot lane with a first blood just two minutes into the game in favor of Team Liquid. Clutch …
TSM find victory over Echo Fox after baron swing William Davis League of Legends Team SoloMid found victory against Echo Fox after an action-packed game in the second week of the 2019 LCS Spring Split. TSM and Echo Fox took the stage early in week two looking to make a mark early in the first split of the new year. This exciting match started with a surprising Jayce pick in the bottom lane for Echo Fox. Colin “Solo” Earnest started the action in the …
TSM forms developmental team for young players Olivia Richman League of Legends Team SoloMid has announced a “League of Legends Jr.” team designed to provide a path for younger competitors looking to one day go pro. The team’s roster will consist of players who have demonstrated the “skill and drive” to play League of Legends on a professional level, but are currently too young to pursue their professional esports dream on a pro team. Historically, young players have largely been left to …
Doublelift protects his throne, Liquid dominate 100 Thieves William Davis League of Legends Team Liquid dominated its first highly anticipated match against 100 Thieves and consolidated itself as the sole leader atop the LCS. The match between the defending champions at Liquid and a newly retooled 100 Thieves created high expectations in the community. It was the first time that Yilliang “Doublelift” Peng would face two-time world champion Bae “Bang” Jun-sik on the LCS stage. 100 Thieves surprised in the picks and bans …
MSI is coming to Vietnam and Taiwan Olivia Richman League of Legends The 2019 Mid-Season Invitational is heading to Vietnam and Chinese Taipei for the first time in its history. Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi will be home to the play-in stage and group stage. Taipei will host the semifinals and finals. The move was made to acknowledge the region’s growing interest in League of Legends and esports in general. Vietnam was announced as a new competitive region for League of …
Broadcast error reveals LCK team’s strategies William Davis League of Legends Riot Games accidentally leaked team strategies for pro team Jin Air Green Wings during a recent LCK broadcast. During an early season bout between pro League teams Jin Air Green Wings and SK Telecom T1, an unfortunate camera shot leaked Jin Air’s pick and ban strategies. The camera captured a clear shot of the notebook held by assistant coach Choi “Alvingo” Byeong-cheol. The notes included the strategies the team intended …
Auto giant Honda to sponsor Team Liquid gabhernandez League of Legends Team Liquid has announced an official automobile partnership with Honda. More and more, the world’s biggest companies are getting involved in the esports industry. One of the most prolific partner industries for professional esports organizations has been the automobile industry. In 2018, Mercedez-Benz announced that the automobile giant would be expanding its partnership with ESL One through 2020. This year, Honda will be the global mobility partner for Team Liquid. …
Jensen leads Liquid over former Cloud9 teammates Olivia Richman League of Legends Team Liquid’s win over Cloud9 in the first game of the 2019 LCS season was a bit more personal this time around. Liquid’s newly acquired mid laner Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen showed no signs of holding back against his old teammates. His loyalty to Liquid was made clear at the start of the match as he chased down and killed his replacement at Cloud9, Yasin “Nisqy” Dincer. Jensen and the rest of …
Prestige skins in League of Legends spur backlash gabhernandez League of Legends Some League of Legends fans and players are none too happy about the reintroduction of Prestige skins to the game. The Prestige line of skins was first seen with Prestige K/DA Kai’Sa. After its relatively welcome reception, Riot added a Prestige K/DA Akali skin to the mix. Riot had since announced the continuation of the Prestige skin line, with different means of obtaining the skins to be offered. As opposed …

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.