League of Legends
League of Legends
Cloud9 dominates TSM and secures ticket for NA LCS final
William Davis
After a rocky start this summer, Cloud9 took down TSM in a five-game series to complete their comeback and qualify for the NA LCS final. Cloud9 started game one with Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen and Robert “Blaber” Huang on the rift. Gold was even through most of the game. Both teams were aggressive and eager to fight, exchanging kill for kill. In the end, TSM had built up four drakes and …
League of Legends
Team Liquid repeats as NA LCS champion
William Davis
Team Liquid secured back-to-back championships in the NA LCS after defeating Cloud9. Team Liquid continue its dominant year in North America with a second title, this time against American stalwart Cloud9. The team that started the summer season at the bottom of the standings turned its luck around and fought hard to make the finals versus the favorites at Liquid. Team Liquid proved to be unimpressed by Cloud9’s resurgence, snatching …
League of Legends
KT Rolster wins first LCK championship title
William Davis
KT Rolster won its first LCK title after defeating rookie organization Griffin in the grand final at the Samsam Gymnasium in Incheon. The summer season came to an end with the two powerhouses facing each other in one of the most anticipated finals in LCK history. Game one kicked off with some surprising picks for KT Rolster, including Victor for mid laner Son “Ucal” Woo-hyeon and Jinx for Kim “Deft” …
League of Legends
Riot Games teams up with Tyler1 for exhibition
gabhernandez
At the 2018 summer split finals, Riot hosted a showmatch that caused League of Legends fans everywhere to rejoice. The match featured League of Legends personalities including Imaqtpie, Voyboy, and even Tyler1 gracing the Oracle arena as part of a heated exhibition. After TSM earned victory over 100 Thieves in the NA LCS third-place match, the stage revealed Tyler1 and Riot Games’ Phreak standing together. Phreak is well …
Team Liquid looking to defend NA LCS title in Oakland
William Davis
League of Legends
Team Liquid have taken down 100 Thieves to qualify for the NA LCS summer finals. The match had big implications for both organizations, as the winner would qualify for both the summer split final and the World Championship. The match began with a surprise, as Cody “Cody Sun” Sun was replaced by academy player Richard “Rikara” Samuel Oh as 100 Thieves’ starting AD carry. Game one was defined by jungler …
Fnatic defeats Misfits and qualifies for EU LCS summer finals
William Davis
League of Legends
Defending champion Fnatic took down Misfits in the EU LCS semifinals and will travel to Madrid to compete for the summer split title. Fnatic jumped into game one with Martin “Rekkles” Larsson back on the starting roster. At 14 minutes, Misfits took the tier two turret in the bottom lane, but Fnatic managed to build a gold advantage that couldn’t be ignored. Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau was caught out of position multiple times, …
FC Schalke 04 qualifies for EU LCS finals
William Davis
League of Legends
FC Schalke 04 Esports qualified to the EU LCS final for the first time after defeating Team Vitality in an intense series. Schalke and Vitality met in the semifinals with Vitality as the favorite. The team in black and yellow finished the summer split on a strong note thanks to new jungler Mateusz “Kikis” Szkudlarek. Schalke was more inconsistent throughout the season, enduring some difficult losses by the end. In …
Jin Air defeats Griffin to stave off relegation
William Davis
League of Legends
For , the story has been very different. The rookie team is having a successful first split in the LCK, only comparable to the early years of SK Telecom T1. Griffin showed a strong performance and found convincing victories against strong teams like Afreeca Freecs and Gen G, but couldn’t take a victory from Jin Air Green Wings in week seven. In game one, Griffin opted for Teemo and Soraka in the bottom lane. The …
TSM Defeats Echo Fox in Quarterfinals
William Davis
League of Legends
TSM is moving forward to the semifinals after a victory against Echo Fox in five action-packed games. Echo Fox made it to playoffs after an inconsistent performance in the summer split. The team known for its explosive and unpredictable style struggled to find the wins even after multiple roster changes. TSM, meanwhile, has been looking to recover from a brutal spring. Echo Fox didn’t waste time in game one, as …
100 Thieves takes down FlyQuest, move to semifinals
William Davis
League of Legends
100 Thieves qualified for the NA LCS semifinals after defeating FlyQuest in a one-sided affair. FlyQuest jumped into the rift with a newfound confidence that proved short-lived, as the team that finished eighth in the spring couldn’t stop 100 Thieves from rolling through them. Game one was all about the junglers. Andy “AnDa” Hoang started the action with a gank in the top lane for 100 Thieves. Lucas Tao “Santorin” …
Bjergsen Sets 2018 Summer Split Kill Record
gabhernandez
League of Legends
In TSM’s last chance for a guaranteed spot in the summer playoffs, Bjergsen put his team on his back. TSM’s summer split has had its ups and downs, leading many to think the team would miss playoffs for the first time in the organization’s history. Since an offseason overhaul of its roster, TSM has suffered from a seeming lack of leadership and general cohesion. Despite these problems, TSM put it …
Return of the Legends 2018
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
Return of the Legends is coming back around for another year. The tournament started in 2017 and looks to be an recurring annual event. Return of the Legends 2018 features retired professional players from both the eastern and western parts of the world. Old fans of Cloud9 will see familiar faces in Hai “Hai” Lam and Derek “LemonNation” Hart. TSM’s Marcus “Dyrus” Hill will also be on Team West, along …
Cloud9 continue epic comeback with playoff bye
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
Cloud9 has done what seemed impossible. After sitting in 10th place in the standings just four weeks ago, Cloud9 is now guaranteed a top two finish in the 2018 NA LCS Summer Split. They will qualify for the 2018 NA LCS Summer Playoffs with a quarterfinals bye. A win over Golden Guardians secured a playoff seed for Cloud9, and a subsequent victory over FlyQuest secured the bye — not bad …
Wildturtle and FlyQuest are headed to LCS playoffs
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
A week 9 victory over Golden Guardians resulted in FlyQuest punching its first ticket to the playoffs in two years. The seeding will be determined in the remaining games of the regular season. FlyQuest has been a pleasant surprise in the summer split, rising to fan favorite status after a slew of backdoor victories. In an interview with InvenGlobal, AD Carry Jason “WILDTURTLE” Tran attributed FlyQuest’s rise to his teammates’ …
Tyler1 leads push for voice comms in League solo queue
gabhernandez
League of Legends
The maligned solo queue experience has been a subject of ridicule since League of Legends’ inception, but there are some surprising people who are working hard to improve it. Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp, a League of Legends player and content creator once renowned for his negative attitude and ensuing permanent ban from League of Legends, has proved once again that he has turned over a new leaf. On August …
Breaking Down the NA LCS Coach of the Split Candidates
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
The NA LCS Coach of the Split award is highly contested, as it’s often difficult to recognize a coach’s direct impact on a team. But certain coaches in the NA LCS are clearly doing more with less. OpTic Gaming is currently in the NA LCS playoff picture after a ninth-place finish in the Spring Split. Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage has been an absolute monster, and head coach Thomas “Zaboutine” Si-Hassen deserves …
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.
League of Legends
League of Legends
League of Legends
League of Legends
