League of Legends
League of Legends
Here’s a tier list of the best Urf champions in League of Legends
Nicholas James
League of Legends’ hyper-fast, fan-favorite rotating game mode Ultra Rapid Fire, or URF, has returned. Here’s a breakdown of our best picks for the mode. We’ll only be covering the best of the best champions for our URF tier list. We’ll break down the best-performing characters by role and give you some insight into exactly what makes them so overpowered in URF. Fiora is first on our list of exceptionally …
League of Legends
Hanwha Life vs. LNG Esports: 2021 Worlds betting analysis
William Davis
The 2021 League of Legends World Championship will kick off with a bang when two eastern giants clash in the first match of the play-in stage. It will be a match between LCK’s Hanwha Life and LPL’s LNG Esports. Both teams come out of their respective regions as the fourth seeds and are looking to be the strongest contenders in the play-in stage. The two have been drawn into group …
League of Legends
League of Legends world champion arrested for drug trafficking
Nicholas James
According to reports from Taiwanese news sources, former League of Legends world champion Kurtis Lau “Toyz” Wai-kin has been arrested on drug trafficking charges. Toyz is best known for being a member of Season 2 World Championship team Taipei Assassins. Toyz had a long and storied career in esports, having coached Fnatic and serving as a founding member of Hong Kong Esports. Taipei Assassins wins the Season 2 World Championship …
League of Legends
Who is Silco in League of Legends’ Arcane?
Nicholas James
Ahead of Riot Games’ highly anticipated animated series Arcane, one new character has caught many fans’ attention. The sleek, slender form in question is that of Silco, a mysterious figure being set up as one of the key villains of the series. But who is Silco? What does he want with Jinx, and what’s with the purple stuff? We don’t have all the answers just yet, but let’s unravel everything …
Amumu and Jarvan hit with the nerf hammer on LoL patch 11.20
William Davis
League of Legends
League of Legends patch 11.20 is an upcoming smaller patch with nerfs to some significant solo-queue dominators. The fast-approaching patch will only be targeting 10 champions with nerfs and buffs but it might still be a patch that can shake up the meta in solo queue. In the most recent preview, it was detailed how Riot will be targeting both Amumu and Jarvan with nerfs. Both champions are currently crushing …
Name That Champion event comes to Wild Rift
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Riot Games has taken inspiration from the Pokemon animated show with its latest event for League of Legends: Wild Rift. Name That Champion takes the general format of the classic ‘Who’s That Pokemon?’ segment used when leaving to, or returning from, an ad break. The short event will last between September 28 and October 3. As a part of the event, players will have to guess which champion is being …
2021 Worlds song released with “Burn It All Down” by PVRIS
Nicholas James
League of Legends
League of Legends’ annual Worlds song has been released, with the 2021 version being entitled “Burn It All Down.” The song features alternative-pop act PVRIS and is accompanied by an animated video featuring some of League of Legends esports’ most legendary players facing off using the abilities of their iconic champions. The greatest League of Legends showdown of their year begins with Play-Ins on October 5. https://youtu.be/1Z6CHioIn3s The stunning animated …
Who was Remilia? Remembering League of Legends’ first female pro
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Maria “Remilia” Creveling was League of Legends’ first female professional player. Remilia played support as a part of Renegades’ LCS roster and later served as a substitute player for FlyQuest. Maria sadly passed away in 2019, but left behind a legacy of breaking boundaries. Remilia made her name in League of Legends playing the support role, and is specifically known for her play on the champion Thresh. It’s pretty clear …
Why would Rekkles leave G2 for the 2022 LEC season?
William Davis
League of Legends
European bot lane star Martin “Rekkles” Larsson might be looking to part ways with G2 Esports ahead of the upcoming season after playing just two splits with the organization. In a recent report by Dot Esports, it was revealed that G2 is holding tryouts to find a replacement for Rekkles and is in the process of selling his contract, which is set to last through November 2023. According to the …
Udyr rework, two new champions teased in LoL Champion Roadmap
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Riot Games continues their Champion Roadmap series of developer blog posts in which they highlight the new creative direction on Udyr’s long-awaited rework and tease two new champions joining League of Legends. Udyr’s rework promises to breathe life into what has become an outdated kit. Meanwhile, bot lane players can look forwards to plenty of new tools, with both a marksman and a support slated for release. Udyr’s intimidating new …
Alphari blasts Riot Games for Worlds 2021 health protocols
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Barney “Alphari” Morris, the top laner for the LCS’ Team Liquid, took to Twitter to express his frustration with Riot Games’ health protocols during the boot camp for the 2021 World Championship. In a since-deleted tweet, Alphari took umbrage with the company’s enforcement of policies. Alphari thanked Riot with dripping sarcasm for what he perceives as unnecessary restrictions. According to Alphari’s tweet, Riot demanded that players wear masks while scrimming …
Riot responds to backlash over Worlds 2021 Play-Ins joke
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
League of Legends fans were shocked when Riot Games appeared to mock the Play-Ins leading up to the World Championship. Fans who were looking to participate in the Worlds 2021 Pick’Ems were met with a strange message regarding the first leg in the tournament. After selecting teams, participants got a message saying to come back on October 10 to make Group Stage picks. This was followed with: Play-Ins are happening …
Is this Lee Sin kick interaction a bug? Jarvan IV players hope so
Nicholas James
League of Legends
The latest potential Lee Sin bug raising the eyebrows of players is a wild interaction with Jarvan IV. Riot Games’ premiere MOBA is no stranger to unusual combinations that can seem to defy logic. This latest suspect interaction can turn a Jarvan’s typical escape plan into a deadly mistake. After it was seen in a pro match, many fans’ eyebrows are raised. Lee Sin’s ultimate, “Dragon’s Rage,” is one of …
We explain the Neeko “Sho’ma” voice lines
Nicholas James
League of Legends
The term “Shoma” comes up time and time again in Neeko’s voice lines. She’s got plenty of mysterious soundbites, but this one in particular has interested players. What is this strange Sho’ma that Neeko keeps referencing, and why is it so important? In order to explain, we have to dive into Neeko’s lore. Shoma is actually properly spelled as Sho’ma and is intertwined with Neeko’s backstory. Neeko is a part-Vastayan …
Is Fimbulwinter from Wild Rift coming to League of Legends?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Riot Games continue to innovate and experiment with Wild Rift, the hit mobile adaptation of League of Legends. One of these iterations is Fimbulwinter, a frosty tank item unique to Wild Rift, and fans are wondering if they’ll soon be seeing the item in League of Legends. The item is meant to fill a gap for crowd control-focused tanks, allowing them increased rewards for a passive early game with extra …
Arcane release date, more LoL champions revealed in new trailer
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Arcane is the highly anticipated animated adaptation of League of Legends coming to Netflix this fall. The first official trailer has just been released. The story-focused trailer takes aim at sisters Vi and Jinx, and also boasts appearances from Caitlyn, Viktor, Jayce, and Heimerdinger. https://youtu.be/fXmAurh012s Arcane will cover the origin stories of many iconic champions from the twin cities of Piltover and Zaun, with a special focus on League’s long-rumored …
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
