League of Legends
League of Legends
Cloud9 vs. Evil Geniuses: 2022 LCS Spring playoff betting analysis
William Davis
It’s do or die for Cloud9 and Evil Geniuses in the lower bracket of the 2022 LCS Spring Split playoff as the two teams face off in a best-of-five for further advancement in the bracket. Both teams had a rough start to the playoffs in the upper bracket, with C9 taking a 0-3 loss against 100 Thieves while EG made it close against Team Liquid but ultimately fell short. After …
League of Legends
Arcana skins and Wukong mobility buffs in patch 12.7
Nicholas James
League of Legends players are spoiled after a new patch drop that added brand new Arcana skins and buffs for 10 separate champions. Patch 12.7 is being rolled out, bringing with it a bevy of new cosmetics with Arcana skins as well as some serious rebalancing efforts. Fans have complained that Riot Games has been too reticent to make large balance changes in recent patches, but patch 12.7 aims to …
League of Legends
WBG Huanfeng wanted to poison his coach, says ex-girlfriend
Nicholas James
The ex-girlfriend of Worlds finalist Tang “Huanfeng” Huan-Feng has come forward with allegations that the pro player abused her and told her he wanted to poison his ex-coach at Suning Gaming for drinking from his water bottle. In a series of posts by the ex-girlfriend of Chinese professional player, referred to as Sis Lychee by the Chinese community, Huanfeng was accused of emotional and physical abuse as well as cheating. …
League of Legends
Swain’s rework in LoL gives his ultimate an infinite duration
Nicholas James
A new Swain rework is bringing drastic changes to Noxus’ iron-fisted leader, with the new update allowing him to stay in his ultimate indefinitely under the right circumstances. Swain got a full Visual Gameplay Update years ago that has slowly made his niche in League of Legends shaky. Swain is one of the latest champions to get a mid-scope update looking to change some functionality of their kit without giving …
The new Olaf rework lets his ultimate last forever
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Riot Games announced an incoming small-scale Olaf rework and it’s already available on the PBE. With the new rework, Freljordian berserker can remain in his powerful ultimate ability state forever. At least, in theory. Riot has been increasing the number of smaller-scale reworks performed on champions in League of Legends, with tweaks to Ahri making her suddenly playable even at the pro level after years of mediocrity. A new Olaf …
100 Thieves vs. Team Liquid: 2022 LCS Spring playoff betting
William Davis
League of Legends
The first finalist for the 2022 LCS Spring Split will be decided this weekend as top seed Team Liquid will take on 100 Thieves in what could be the closest best-of-five series of the playoffs so far. After both teams advanced with a victory in the first round of the upper bracket, it’s now time to find the first finalist. Team Liquid entered the playoffs as the first seed but …
New Lunar Eclipse and Solar Eclipse skins coming soon to LoL
Nicholas James
League of Legends
New Lunar Eclipse and Solar Eclipse skins are coming to League of Legends, adding to the fan-favorite skinline. Riot Games has announced a suite of new Eclipse skins coming to its massive MOBA, as well as two new unique skins for Gangplank and Yasuo. The skins take inspiration from Targon’s two main factions, the sun-worshipping Solari and the moon-worshipping Lunari. A new wave of the Eclipse skins has made its …
If Maple and Bo head to the LCS, which teams will they join?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
LPL players Huang “Maple” Yi-tang and Zhou “Bo” Yang-Bo are rumored to be making their way to North America, but where could Maple and Bo end up in the LCS? According to a recent streaming clip of Chinese pro player Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang, it is suggested that the previous FPX jungler and Anyone’s Legend mid laner are looking at heading to the LCS. Both of these players have plenty to …
X7 vs Karmine Corp is EUM’s biggest rivalry, but the teams have never met
Tokoni Uti
League of Legends
The European Masters’ group stage draw has lined up an inaugural meeting between two of the tournament favorites, X7 and Karmine Corp. The two teams already share a unique rivalry despite never having played each other before. Here is the story of X7 vs KC. Inter-European rivalries are nothing new to League of Legends esports. The most obvious such rivalry is between the LEC old guard Fnatic and G2, the …
How to watch Tyler1 at the 2022 LCS Spring Split finals
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp will be featuring as part of the opening of North American League of Legends’ biggest domestic competition, and here’s how you can watch Tyler1 at the LCS finals. Ahead of the grand finals for the 2022 spring split in the LCS, it was announced that Tyler1 would be appearing at the finals in Houston, Texas. The famously reformed streamer will have appeared on Riot Games’ official LCS …
These are the teams that qualified for MSI 2022
William Davis
League of Legends
The first big international League of Legends event is right around the corner. As the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational heads to South Korea next month, fans are excited to see the top League of Legends teams in the world collide at MSI 2022. A total of 11 teams will be fighting for the MSI trophy at the highest international level. As always, it will be each region’s spring split winner that …
Former Worlds winner Nuguri reportedly returning to DWG KIA
William Davis
League of Legends
A familiar face might be returning to DWG KIA for the next split, as top laner Jang “Nuguri” Ha-gwon is reportedly signing with the team for the upcoming 2022 LCK Summer Split. As per reports from Korizon Esports, the Korean top laner is set to return to the professional stage starting next split. He will be rejoining his former team in DWG KIA, playing with the likes of Kim “Canyon” …
Is Vetheo the best League of Legends player in Europe today?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Vincent “Vetheo” Berrié has been awarded the prestigious Most Valuable Player award in the LEC for the 2022 spring split, but is Vetheo really the best League of Legends player in Europe? Vetheo has been a standout performer for Misfits Gaming in the LEC and has been recognized for his impressive performance as the spring split’s MVP. This is an impressive accomplishment, especially from a team that finished third in …
LGD Jay banned indefinitely for match-fixing by Riot Games
Nicholas James
League of Legends
LGD Gaming mid laner Chen “Jay” Bo has been banned indefinitely from the LPL and all League of Legends competitions for match-fixing in Riot Games’ franchised Chinese league. Allegations surfaced following the leak of several alleged text messages sent between LGD mid laner Jay and an unknown party in which Jay negotiates to throw a fight against Top Esports in order to fix bets. LGD and Riot Games have come …
Fnatic vs. G2 Esports: 2022 LEC Spring playoff betting analysis
William Davis
League of Legends
For the second time during the 2022 LEC Spring Split playoffs, fans will be treated to a best-of-five series between Fnatic and G2 Esports. The last time the two teams met was in the first round of the upper bracket, where Fnatic took home a decisive 3-1 victory. Since then, G2 has ramped up in the lower bracket by taking out Vitality and Misfits Gaming without dropping a single game. …
The EU Play-In Knockout matches that will determine the EUM lineup
Tokoni Uti
League of Legends
With the EU Masters Play-In group stage now concluded, the remaining eight teams will soon become four with the last quartet of sides earning spots alongside the higher-seeded outfits in the European Masters Main Event. The Play-In groups were held across two days, with four groups that all saw four sides play a double-round robin to move on to the knockout section. Now, the Knockouts will narrow down the competition …
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
