League of Legends
League of Legends
How to best play new champion Zeri, the Spark of Zaun
Nicholas James
The latest addition to League of Legends’ roster has some players struggling and wondering how best to play Zeri. Zeri, The Spark of Zaun has debuted to one of the worst win rates in a long time for a new champion. What are the best runes for Zeri, what’s the best build for her, and how are the game’s best players playing her? Zeri is a marksman unlike any other, …
Valorant
How to enable MFA on your Riot account for Valorant and League
Fariha Bhatti
Riot Games has finally introduced a much-needed Multi-Factor Authentication feature for Valorant and League of Legends. Here’s how to make this feature work on your account. Valorant’s animated cosmetics can cost an arm and a leg, yet players can’t stop stacking their accounts with fresh skins. A fully-loaded Valorant account could cost as much as $6,000. Whereas, League of Legends accounts are also worth big money, especially if they’re older. …
League of Legends
Cloud9 vs. 100 Thieves: 2022 LCS Lock In betting analysis
William Davis
The 2022 LCS Lock In tournament kicks off its second week with a battle for first place in group A between Cloud9 and 100 Thieves. Two North American giants will clash when C9 looks to defend its flawless start at the LCS Lock In. Challenging the team will be the defending LCS champion 100 Thieves, already having won two games so far this tournament but also falling short against FlyQuest …
League of Legends
Faker sets new record playing over 70 champions in pro games
Tokoni Uti
Legendary mid laner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok has now used a total of 70 diffferent champions throughout his LCK career, and 74 across his entire career after locking in Tryndamere during T1’s latest series. He also showed how effective the hero is as a counter to Corki. Up against DRX in T1’s third match of the split, Faker pulled out the unexpected pick as an answer to Corki, who is firmly …
League of Legends
Teamfight Tactics: Neon Nights revealed, removes 2 traits
Nicholas James
The mid-set update to Gadgets and Gizmos has been announced, with Teamfight Tactics: Neon Nights set to succeed it. The Teamfight Tactics developers at Riot Games put out an announcement showing off plans for the mid-set update, Teamfight Tactics’ seventh set, and even further beyond. Gadgets and Gizmos is reaching its halfway point, and will be replaced by Teamfight Tactics: Neon Nights in mid-February. The Piltover-themed set will be modified …
League of Legends
New League of Legends Porcelain Protectors cinematic leaks
Nicholas James
Riot Games can’t seem to stop content from coming out early recently, with the skin line-themed Porcelain Protectors cinematic leaked early. The cinematic depicts a modern-day adaptation of Ezreal discovering the latent power of his Zodiac Relic before being attacked by the villainous Lissandra. The cinematic was likely meant to launch in tandem with the upcoming skin line, but the German League of Legends account posted it early. https://twitter.com/SkinSpotlights/status/1483834892018401284?s=20 In …
League of Legends
A bunch of Hextech Augments are being removed from TFT
Nicholas James
The next Teamfight Tactics update, which is coming in patch 12.2, will see more Hextech Augments removed from the game. With the mid-set update looming, are more Hextech Augments going the way of the dinosaurs? Despite Hextech Augments being a massive hit, some of them are being removed for the health of the game. The mid-set change for Gadgets and Gizmos has recently been announced and looks to be taking …
League of Legends
Who owns League of Legends and Riot Games? We break it down
Nicholas James
With recent discussion of Activision-Blizzard being acquired by Microsoft, some fans are left wondering who exactly owns popular MOBA League of Legends. Riot Games, the League of Legends developer and publisher, is 100% owned by Tencent, a Chinese technology and entertainment conglomerate of colossal size. However, recent developments have made it possible for Tencent to begin selling back its ownership shares to Riot Games employees, opening the possibility for a …
MAD Lions vs. Rogue: 2022 LEC Spring betting analysis
William Davis
League of Legends
The second week of the 2022 LEC Spring Split will include an exciting matchup between reigning champion MAD Lions and Rogue, who had a great start to the season so far. With three rounds of games played in this LEC split, it’s time for two giants to face off against each other. It will be the current top team Rogue who will be up against MAD Lions. Both teams have …
More Valorant x League of Legends crossovers are coming
Nicholas James
League of Legends
It seems like more Valorant and League of Legends crossovers are coming following developer posts for both games. Following acknowledgments of the similarities between new LoL champion Zeri and new Valorant Agent Neon, Riot has noted that this isn’t going to be a one-off affair. In posts detailing the development of both characters and the process of tandem design across two very different games, Riot Games discussed leaving the door …
Is there a surprise Quinn VGU coming out?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
According to a Riot Games designer, there’s a chance for a Quinn VGU without being voted on. Riot Games has recently published the list of possible candidates for 2023’s Visual and Gameplay Update, with Skarner, Nocturne, Shyvana, Tryndamere, and Kog’Maw being the options. Despite not being on the list, it sounds like Quinn could be getting a VGU in the future without appearing on the current poll. Riot Games’ lead …
Here’s how to get 3-star 5-cost units in Teamfight Tactics
Nicholas James
League of Legends
In Gadgets and Gizmos, the latest Teamfight Tactics set, 3-star 5-cost units are incredibly powerful and can win games on their own against entire nine-unit teams. How quickly can a player theoretically assemble a 3-star 5-cost piece, and what’s are some of the fastest examples of these game-ending carries? Thanks to the new set, it’s possible to assemble the most powerful units in the game faster than ever. Getting one …
Cloud9’s Blaber finishes LCS Lock In week 1 with a 14 KDA
William Davis
League of Legends
The first rounds of the 2022 LCS Lock In tournament are over and Cloud9 jungler Robert “Blaber” Huang dominated the weekend in terms of KDA. Over the course of his first three games of the tournament, Blaber ended up pulling off a KDA of 14.3. This incredible stat was gained after Blaber managed to secure 10 kills and 33 assists across the three games. What’s most impressive is that the …
Is Riot going to fix damage creep in League of Legends?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
League of Legends’ damage creep is an topic often discussed by fans, and it pertains to the steady addition of more sources of damage into the game through new items, runes, and other even new champion abilities. Developer Riot Games has discussed addressing League’s current level of damage in a developer post detailing plans for League of Legends in 2022 and beyond. But is League of Legends’ excess damage really …
Is Riot Games going to fix LoL’s hated Chemtech Drake?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Riot Games has acknowledged that the Chemtech Drake, one of the latest additions to Summoner’s Rift, is leaving League of Legends players massively dissatisfied. Chemtech Drake was a controversial addition to League of Legends, with an incredibly powerful terrain effect and dragon soul. In a recent official blog post about the current state of the game, Riot admitted that there’s a large swath of the player base who feel incredibly …
Who is casting for the LCS in 2022?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
North America’s LCS broadcast has announced its lineup of talent to answer the question of who is casting for the LCS in 2022. North America’s franchised league for professional League of Legends play returned on January 14 with the LCS Lock In tournament. With the return of the broadcast came full confirmation of the lineup of casters, hosts, analysts and interviewers that fans would be seeing on the LCS broadcast. …
Here are all the new TFT Lunar Legends Festival skins
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Celebrate the lunar new year with the Lunar Legends Festival, the latest event to hit Teamfight Tactics’ live servers following a sizable update. With new orbs, eggs, emotes, maps, Booms, and more, the event promises free rewards and some big bundles for those looking to spruce up their Little Legend or map. Here are all the important details of the Lunar Legends Festival event. The Year of the Tiger Protector …
Newest LoL champion Zeri can build up infinite movement speed
William Davis
League of Legends
The newest League of Legends champion Zeri is still waiting to hit the live servers, but players have already discovered fun interactions in her kit through the Public Beta Environment (PBE). Just like when any other new champion gets released, players are quick to discover fun interactions and bugs through their kits. With Zeri, one of the biggest discoveries revolves around her ultimate and how she can build up an …
Is new agent Neon just a copy of this League of Legends champion?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Riot Games has recently released two very similar characters side-by-side in their two biggest games, with Neon arriving in Valorant and Zeri arriving in League of Legends. Both Zeri and Neon are hyper-quick lightning users who emit bursts of electricity from their fingers, have yellow hair, and are voiced by the same voice actress. Are these two characters actually the same person? The simple answer to this question is no, …
Who is casting on the LEC broadcast in 2022?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
The LEC, Europe’s top franchised professional League of Legends circuit, has announced its 2022 talent lineup for casters, hosts, and analysts. This year’s lineup includes the return of Marc “Caedrel” Lamont after an offseason where his return seemed uncertain, as well as Trevor “Quickshot” Henry’s return to regular appearances on the broadcast. In a video published by the LEC, the full lineup of talent across the analyst desk, casting, and …
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.
