League of Legends
League of Legends
Jin Air defeats Griffin to stave off relegation
William Davis
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 …
League of Legends
TSM Defeats Echo Fox in Quarterfinals
William Davis
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 …
League of Legends
100 Thieves takes down FlyQuest, move to semifinals
William Davis
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” …
League of Legends
Bjergsen Sets 2018 Summer Split Kill Record
gabhernandez
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 …
League of Legends
Tyler1 leads push for voice comms in League solo queue
gabhernandez
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 …
League of Legends
Breaking Down the NA LCS Coach of the Split Candidates
Steven Rondina
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
OpTic Gaming steals a win from Echo Fox with surprise Fizz
Steven Rondina
If OpTic Gaming’s playoff hopes are dashed, the team certainly missed the memo. The boys behind the Green Wall continue to challenge top teams in their last ditch effort towards playoff qualification. Facing off against a talented Echo Fox roster, OpTic Gaming threw several curveballs during the draft phase. Noh “Arrow” Dong-Tak was given his signature Draven, and was paired with an enabler in Terry “Big” Chuong’s support Zilean. The …
League of Legends
Team Liquid secures NA LCS Summer Playoffs slot
Steven Rondina
Team Liquid has qualified for the 2018 NA LCS Summer Playoffs after a win over OpTic Gaming secured the team a bye in the playoffs. Team Liquid has stayed ahead of the pack in the NA LCS, but this is the first time they’ve solidified themselves in the summer as the clear favorite in the North American region. A 2018 Spring Championship had Team Liquid firing on all cylinders, but …
Misfits bench MikyX in favor of Jesiz
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
After a second half dip in performance in the 2018 EU LCS Summer Split, Misfits are shaking things up. Misfits have announced that strategic coach Jesse “Jesiz” Le will be starting at support, leaving Mihael “MikyX” Mehle on the bench for the first time this season. Misfits began the Summer Split with an undefeated first half of play. Since then, the team has struggled to adapt to the new and …
Rekkles returns to Fnatic starting lineup
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
Fnatic’s hero has returned, as Martin “Rekkles” Larsson will return to the squad’s starting lineup this week. Following Fnatic’s EU LCS Spring Championship and subsequent Mid Season Invitational appearance, the League of Legends meta went through some dramatic changes. Mage bot lanes were an increasingly viable strategy, and Rekkles’ individual game impact suffered when taken off of his signature marksmen picks. Rekkles opted to take a step back from the …
Zikz Leaves CLG
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
For the first time in five years, Tony “Zikz” Gray will not be coaching for Counter Logic Gaming, as the most decorated League of Legends coach in NA LCS history is parting ways with his team. Zikz joined CLG in 2013 as a remote analyst before moving up the chain and eventually become head coach of the team. Under Zikz’s leadership, CLG won its second NA LCS championship in the …
Golden Guardians make sweeping staff changes
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
Golden Guardians has replaced the entirety of their NA LCS coaching staff. Golden Guardians Academy head coach Daniel “Mango” Morissette will be assuming all head coaching duties for the team. Under interim spring head coach Tyler Perron, Golden Guardians looked to be a team hitting its stride. Sitting at 5-3 after four weeks of play is a massive improvement from a tenth-place effort in the spring split. But the Golden …
Inero joins Golden Guardians as consultant
William Davis
League of Legends
Nick “Inero” Smith is joining Golden Guardians as a consultant, the team announced through a news release on social media. Inero started his career as coach back in 2015 with Mousesports, a European esports organization. In May 2017 he became the head coach of Echo Fox as the team began its transition into the newly franchised NA LCS. Under Inero’s command, Echo Fox finished in third place during the Spring …
Clutch Gaming part with Head Coach
William Davis
League of Legends
Clutch Gaming is parting ways with head coach David Lim, the organization has announced through a press release. Clutch Gaming finished the Spring Split in fourth place, but failed to find similar success in the summer. The changes in the meta didn’t favor AD Carry Apollo “Apollo” Price, the player widely considered the key to the team’s success. According to the press release, assistant coach Anand “Curry” Agarwal was appointed …
Cloud9 opens summer split with perfect week
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
Cloud9 finally has something to smile about, securing its first unbeaten week in Week 6 of the 2018 NA LSC Summer Split. Up until this week, Cloud9 has looked completely lost. A revolving door of a roster has seemingly done nothing to fix the team’s in-game indecision that has marred its results since the beginning of the split. Cloud9 sat in last place early on, looking like the worst team …
Pobelter Scores 1000th Kill in LCS career
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
Team Liquid Mid Laner Eugene “Pobelter” Park has secured the thousandth kill of his NA LCS career. The kill came 26 minutes into Team Liquid shutting the door on Clutch Gaming, as Pobelter’s Orianna eliminated Chae “Piglet” Gwang-jin’s Ezreal. Pobelter’s thousandth kill was his first of the game, as Team Liquid characteristically won the early game through the bot lane. The “Notorious POB’s” achievement was almost an afterthought in another …
Clutch Gaming make big roster moves in bid for playoffs
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
Clutch Gaming will be making some big substitutions this week. Jungler Nam “LirA” Tae-yoo, AD carry Apollo “Apollo” Price, and support Nickolas “Hakuho” Surgent will not be on the starting roster. Clutch Gaming Academy jungler Galen “Moon” Holgate will be debuting on the main roster alongside academy bot lane duo Chae “Piglet” Gwang-Jin and Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme. This is the first time Clutch Gaming has adjusted its roster in its …
Echo Fox Acquires Smoothie from Cloud9 Amidst Roster Changes
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
Echo Fox made a massive summer splash Tuesday, acquiring the contract of Andy “Smoothie” Ta from Cloud9. The move was originally reported by The Shotcaller, and stands to give Echo Fox some much needed stability at the support position. Starting alongside Smoothie in the bottom lane will be Echo Fox Academy ADC Carry Lawrence “Lost” Hui. A highly touted player with experience in the Oceanic Pro League under his belt, …
The LPL wins Rift Rivals for second year in a row
William Davis
League of Legends
The Chinese squad took the victory after five games. This is the second time in a row that the LPL has defeated the LCK at Rift Rival. The tournament final started with a match between Invictus Gaming and KT Rolster. Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu surprised the audience when he picked Vel’Koz in the bottom lane, and Go “Score” Dong-bin surprised his Chinese opponents with an early first blood as the game got underway. Both junglers focused …
Korea and Taiwan Meet Again at Rift Rivals
William Davis
League of Legends
The League Master Series finished the group stage with a poor 2-6 record. On the other side of the rift, the League Champions Korea teams finished at an even 4-4. These results were an early indication of how one-sided the semifinals would be. KING-ZONE DragonX AD carry Kim “PraY” Jong-in and support Kang “GorillA” Beom-hyeon showed their dominance from the beginning. A strong pushing bottom lane gave Han “Peanut” Wang-ho the freedom to invade LMS team Machi’s …
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.
