League of Legends
League of Legends
Gwen is finally getting nerfed, as is split-pushing Hullbreaker
Nicholas James
The latest patch preview for League of Legends showcases Gwen and Hullbreaker nerfs alongside other balance changes. Professional play has seen tons of split-push specialists pick up the powerful legendary Hullbreaker item in order to pad their stats while pressuring alone, and Riot Games wants to change that. But rather than punish every champion, Riot has been very careful with how it targets the upcoming Hullbreaker nerfs. The patch 12.5 …
League of Legends
Faker is given his Flash back in an LCK game and drama ensues
Nicholas James
Recently, pro player Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok paused an LCK game, blew his flash in the process, and the game was rewound. Why? The Korean league issued a statement explaining the strange happenings in one of T1’s recent matches, here’s the full breakdown of the Faker pause controversy. Why didn’t judges let Faker pause, and why was did the game have to be Chronobreaked? On February 23, LCK titans T1 played …
League of Legends
Will League of Legends fans see LS coaching again in the future?
Nicholas James
After the sudden departure of Nick “LS” DeCesare from his position as head coach of Cloud9’s LCS roster, many fans wonder if they’ll see LS coaching again. After mere weeks of being stateside to coach the new roster, LS was released from Cloud9 during the third week of LCS play. Many fans were disappointed to see the prominent community figure depart so quickly, but is there any chance of LS …
League of Legends
Why Doublelift thinks Champions Queue is crucial for NA
Nicholas James
Professional player Peng “Doublelift” Yilang recently spoke out on the new matchmaking experience in North America, explaining that Champions Queue is “crucial.” One of the biggest problems that professional players have raised with Riot Games about North American solo queue is the high ping for players on the west coast as well as the wildly inconsistent player skill matching in high Elo. Here’s why Doublelift thinks Champions Queue could solve …
League of Legends
T1 CEO makes fun of Cloud9 for releasing LS
Nicholas James
The T1 CEO Joe Marsh recently made light of Cloud9’s explanation for the release of Nick “LS” DeCesare. After returning to Korea mere weeks after arriving in North America to coach Cloud9’s LCS roster, LS streamed the LCK and was joined for part of it by Joe Marsh. During the stream, the T1 CEO took the time to toss a joking jab at the esports organization for its choice. During …
League of Legends
Fans unsatisfied by Cloud9 LS statement after sudden departure
Nicholas James
After the sudden departure of Nick “LS” DeCesare from his position as Cloud9’s coach last weekend, many fans felt the Cloud9 LS statement lacked details. After several days of radio silence, outside of contextual clues from Cloud9 players and the speculation of community figures, Cloud9 explained LS’ sudden release in a video. Many fans come out of the other side of the Cloud9 LS statement without much more context than …
League of Legends
How to get Yordle Lord in TFT, secret trait explained
Nicholas James
Teamfight Tactics set 6 and 6.5 have included a unit with a unique trait that can’t ever be acquired from the shop. So how can players get the Yordle Lord in TFT? Fans who have been playing either of the latest Teamfight Tactics sets might have noticed a unique five-cost champion that doesn’t even appear in the shop. Veigar is a five-cost champion with the unique trait labeled “Yordle Lord,” …
League of Legends
T1 vs. DWG KIA: 2022 LCK Spring betting picks
William Davis
The sixth week of the 2022 LCK Spring Split will start with a match between two top teams in T1 and DWG KIA. Despite being the defending LCK champion, it’s not DWG KIA who will enter this match as the favorite or the team that everyone is keeping an eye on. That will instead be T1, who is still undefeated in the league now with a whopping 10-0 record. With …
Why is Kanye West’s rival’s name banned in League of Legends?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
A fan has noticed that the name of Kanye West’s latest online rival has been banned from use in certain names. International superstar Kanye West has recently gotten attention for going on a social media crusade against comedian Pete Davidson, who is rumored to be dating Kanye West’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian. A League of Legends player discovered that the SNL cast member’s name was banned from as the moniker for …
This LoL pro has been waiting two years for prize money
Nicholas James
League of Legends
A League of Legends player recently announced that they’ve been waiting two years for prize money owed to them from a large league. Ahahacik, a jungler for Case Esports, took to Twitter to announce that he has been waiting for two years for his prize money from the LCL Open Cup 2020. The LCL is the highest level of play in the Commonwealth of Independent States, organized by Riot Games …
How tall are Arcane characters? Answers revealed by Riot
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Fans of the animated League of Legends show have occupied themselves guessing the exact heights of the cast, so how tall are Arcane characters? Arcane’s depiction of its League of Legends-based cast shook up some preconceptions members of the fanbase had about the characters. A member of Riot Games has revealed the heights of many of the main cast, here’s how tall various Arcane characters are. Jayce and Caitlyn are …
What is wrong with TFT? Pro player k3soju has an idea
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Professional Teamfight Tactics player Michael “k3soju” Zhang took to Twitter to air a long list of complaints about the game’s current state for both casual and professional play, and many TFT players agree that something is wrong with the game today. k3soju has rapidly become one of the most popular English-speaking Teamfight Tactics streamers, being signed to Cloud9 in August 2019. k3soju has earned a reputation for being vocal about …
Tyler1 has reached Challenger with every role after support win
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Streamer Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp has reached Challenger in the fifth and final role on his journey to reach the highest rank in all of League of Legends while playing each of the game’s positions. Tyler1 began as a well-known streamer and bot lane player, particularly associated with Draven and an aggressive play style. Over more recent years, Tyler1 has begun to trank up in other lanes and roles in League …
League of Legends fans shocked by LS’ release from Cloud9
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Nick “LS” DeCesare was suddenly released from his position as head coach of Cloud9’s LCS team in the third week of the spring split. LS’ departure was announced after Cloud9 had already made their way onto the LCS stage for their match against Counter Logic Gaming. Cloud9 announced on Twitter that he had been released from his position, and that Max Waldo had been promoted to head coach in his …
FlyQuest vs. 100 Thieves: 2022 LCS Spring betting picks
William Davis
League of Legends
The second week of the 2022 LCS Spring Split will bring a match between FlyQuest and 100 Thieves, both of whom are tied at the top of the standings. The first LCS split of the year has gotten off to an incredibly close start, as five teams are currently tied for first with 3-1 records. Two of them are FlyQuest and defending champion 100 Thieves. FlyQuest started the split with …
LoL Wild Rift voice chat is returning, but when will it come?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Wild Rift voice chat has returned to the game after a brief disappearance, here’s why voice chat was disabled and how to use it. Wild Rift voice chat is making a return to the game after disappearing in patch 2.4 due to substantial technical issues with the voice communication system. Changes to a new plugin had caused the system to misfunction, which meant Riot Games removing it for a full …
Why is Ahri’s win rate and popularity surging after her rework?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
A partial Ahri rework has led to the nine-tailed fox’s popularity and win rate shooting skywards after this effort at modernizing the classic champion. The Ahri rework wasn’t a full visual gameplay update that rebuilt her from the ground up. Instead, Riot Games chose to modernize Ahri’s kit ahead of her Aesthetic Sustainability Update. ASUs are meant to be mid-scope changes to the visual look of a character that help …
A new Caitlyn item bug makes her Q deal no damage
Nicholas James
League of Legends
A new Caitlyn item bug that was spotted on the Public Beta Environment has somehow made its way to live servers, potentially crippling her damage. The new bug causes Caitlyn’s Q, Piltover Peacemaker, to deal no damage as long as Caitlyn has the item in her inventory. This glitch could cripple one of League of Legends’ most powerful marksmen by punishing players for being smart about what items they buy. …
Here are all the Teamfight Tactics set 6.5 battle pass rewards
Nicholas James
League of Legends
The Teamfight Tactics set 6.5 battle pass rewards have been revealed, including tons of cosmetics and rewards. Neon Nights has arrived on the League of Legends live server, ushering in 20 new units, 80 new augments, and tons of new gameplay. Here are all of the Teamfight Tactics set 6.5 battle pass rewards. For those who don’t want to spend money on the battle pass, there are still plenty of …
Faker reaches 1,000 pro games played against rival KT Roster
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, broadly considered to be the greatest League of Legends player of all time, has now reached 1,000 pro games played over his career as of February 18. Faker is the single most decorated player to ever touch the game and recently reached a staggering 1,000 pro games played over the course of his career, all of which he has spent competing in the LCK, Korea’s top competitive …
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.
