League of Legends
League of Legends
Why is Riot changing fighters and juggernauts?
Nicholas James
With a large swath of itemization changes, Riot is changing fighters and juggernauts in League of Legends. Riot Games has been known to update and tweak champion classes in the past, with updates for tanks, mages, assassins, and more. With big changes coming to live servers, why is Riot changing fighters and Juggernauts? In a developer blog post, Riot Games talked about all the changes coming to the top lane’s …
League of Legends
Is Riot Games filing DMCA claims for using the word Arcane?
Nicholas James
Riot Games seems to have filed a DMCA claim against an independent artist due solely due to their use of the word Arcane. A shirt design by artist Kutty Sark was taken down from online clothing store Teepublic following an intellectual property claim by Riot Games. There’s just one problem: The featured art has nothing to do with League of Legends or its animated adaptation. So why would Riot be …
League of Legends
Who is IWillDominate, the controversial League streamer?
Olivia Richman
League of Legends streamer Christian “IWillDominate” Rivera is well known on Twitch thanks to his former career as a pro League of Legends player for Team Liquid. Ever since then, IWillDominate has been known for his impressive in-game skills and his outspoken nature when chatting with his fans. But who is IWillDominate, really? While IWillDominate has become a top League of Legends content creator over the years, some viewers and …
League of Legends
Zeri is already getting nerfed in patch 12.3
Nicholas James
League of Legends’ newest champion, Zeri, the Spark of Zaun, is already getting nerfed in the next patch. Zeri debuted to abysmal win rates, but quickly began to move upwards as players began to pin down her unusual build. After branching out into Runaan’s Hurricane, Zeri began to show off some pretty shocking damage. The preview of the next patch for League of Legends’ live server was posted to Twitter …
League of Legends
Why isn’t Sjokz hosting the LEC in week 3?
Nicholas James
Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere has announced that she won’t be hosting the LEC in week 3 of the spring split. Sjokz is likely the single most recognizable and well-known host in English-speaking League of Legends, having made her name as a top-tier host over the years. She announced on Twitter that she would not be hosting the LEC in the third week of play. Sjokz’s absence from the desk next week …
League of Legends
Here’s everything in the new Lunar Revel LoL event
Nicholas James
Ring in the lunar new year with the Lunar Revel event in League of Legends. From the return of a fan-favorite game mode to brand new quests, tokens, and loot orbs, there are lots of details to get caught up on. Here’s an overview of all the aspects of the new Lunar Revel event in League of Legends. All-Random Ultra Rapid Fire, the randomized version of League’s super-fast game mode, …
League of Legends
Janna using Smite in the top lane is breaking League of Legends
Nicholas James
The latest exploit to trick League of Legends’ comeback systems into giving teams gold involves taking the summoner spell Smite into the top lane. Objective bounties add additional gold rewards to objectives for losing teams and were introduced in the offseason. As it turns out, smite top lane on champions who choose to only harass and never farm can give troves of gold to teams that aren’t actually losing. The …
League of Legends
Misfits Gaming vs. MAD Lions: 2022 LEC Spring betting analysis
William Davis
An important match will unfold during week 3 of the 2022 LEC Spring Split, as MAD Lions and Misfits Gaming will fight for a spot in the top three. The two teams will enter this week completely even in the standings, with a 3-2 record on each side. Going up against each other, this is a match that can decide a lot as the winner will get a big step …
Advienne speaks on being replaced by Mikyx at Excel
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Henk “Advienne” Reijenga has spoken out on his sudden replacement as the LEC support for Excel former by Mid-Season Invitational champion Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle. Advienne was suddenly replaced by Mikyx after the accomplished support player’s contract went without a buyer during the offseason. Advienne posted a Twitlonger explaining his full feelings on his sudden removal from Excel’s main roster. The sudden substitution caught many LEC fans off-guard. Europe’s depth of …
This is what the Ahri visual rework might look like in LoL
Nicholas James
League of Legends
League of Legends fans are getting an Ahri visual rework, an Aesthetic Sustainability Update in Riot Games’ official parlance. It’s already been announced that Ahri will be receiving a small gameplay update alongside her visual rework, similar in scope to Caitlyn’s update ahead of Arcane’s release. Ahri’s update will likely look to more closely match her appearance in the Riot Forge game Ruined King as well as Legends of Runeterra. …
Tyler1 is a Masters support in League of Legends after 1.5 weeks
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp has reached Masters tier on his fifth role, support, after only a week and a half of playing. Tyler1 has received much community attention and praise for his climbs to Challenger in four separate roles. He has reached the first major milestone in his journey to achieve the highest rank in all five roles by hitting Masters tier as a support player. After branching out to jungle, …
Leak shows first look at possible new LoL champion Renata
Nicholas James
League of Legends
It looks like a new League of Legends champion named Renata was data mined from the Chinese version of Teamfight Tactics. Renata appears to be the new support with a dark theme that is slated to be released next. Renata was meant to be introduced after Zeri late last year, but Riot pushed their releases to 2022. Thanks to data mining for the Chinese version of Teamfight Tactics’ mid-set update, …
Who is Thebausffs, the LoL player who found a new way to use Sion
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Who is Thebausffs, the European streamer and League of Legends personality? Simon “Thebausffs” Hofverberg is a Swedish League of Legends Challenger player, streamer, and personality. Thebausffs is best known for his full attack damage Sion play, and his liberal use of Sion’s passive. Here is everything you need to know about Thebausffs Twitch history. Thebausffs made his way onto the scene as a high ELO player who would be signed …
New Blizzard survival game in new universe has been announced
Nicholas James
League of Legends
There’s a new Blizzard survival game coming, set to take place in a brand new universe. Following the nearly $70 billion dollar acquisition by Microsoft to acquire gaming titan Activision Blizzard, a new game has been announced. Blizzard Entertainment is looking to fill several positions for the new property, the first entirely new IP to come out of Blizzard for a major title in years. Blizzard has had its hands …
Mikyx joins Excel Esports as new starting support in the LEC
William Davis
League of Legends
The first big roster move after the 2022 LEC Spring Split start has dropped, with Excel Esports singing former G2 Esports support Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle. Mikyx will be replacing Henk “Advienne” Reijenga, who got to play five games this LEC split before getting replaced. Advienne joined Excel back in June 2021 and has since then been the team’s go-to support. What’s next for Advienne is still unknown, as the team …
Double Up TFT becomes a permanent game mode
Nicholas James
League of Legends
The Teamfight Tactics’ Double Up game mode is being added as a permanent feature of the auto battler. The Double Up mode for Teamfight Tactics sees two players join forces to fight three other teams of two with unique mechanics. Up until now, the mode has been a part of Riot Games’ Labs program to test out new ways to play Teamfight Tactics. The game was clearly received well enough …
Rogue vs. Fnatic: 2022 LEC Spring betting analysis
William Davis
League of Legends
A battle of the undefeated teams will take place when the 2022 LEC Spring Split enters its third week of the regular split. It will be Fnatic clashing with Rogue, both of whom yet to lose a game this season. Now that the two top teams finally meet, it will be decided who stays undefeated and takes sole possession of first place in the LEC. For Fnatic it will be …
Riot Games is disabling the Chemtech Drake in League of Legends
Nicholas James
League of Legends
It’s finally happening. Riot games is disabling the dreaded Chemtech Drake in League of Legends. The new dragon has seen significant backlash since its introduction, given its stealth terrain effect and arguably the most powerful dragon soul of all the Elemental Drakes. Riot Games announced it will be disabling the Chemtech Drake itself as well as its unique terrain and soul. The Chemtech Drake has had plenty of critics, from …
How to complete the TFT Lunar Legend Festival quests
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Riot Games has introduced secret missions for the Lunar Legend Festival quests. The quests don’t immediately appear in your missions tab, so here’s a reminder of what you need to do to complete them. From feeding Tahm Kench to building up a Colossus, there are lots of tasks to do to collect your gifts. To first access these quests, head into the interactable Lunar Legend Festival event on the home …
Riot Games suing Imba Games over TFT lookalike I Am Hero
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Ahead of the launch of Teamfight Tactics: Neon Nights, Riot Games is suing a company named Imba Games for allegedly infringing on copyrights related to TFT. Fans have remarked in the past on the blatant similarities between characters in Imba Games’ I Am Hero: AFK Tactical Teamfight and those in Riot Games’ League of Legends universe. I Am Hero is a hex-based hero fighter with some striking similarities to Riot’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.
