League of Legends
League of Legends
Someone tries to sell SKT T1 Faker’s name, Riot won’t let them
William Davis
The popularity of T1 mid laner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok is by no means decreasing in South Korea, as his former summoner name was recently put up for sale. A whopping $39,000 was the asking price for Faker’s previous name of SKT T1 Faker. This name belonged to Faker on the Korean LoL server before the organization rebranded to T1. Since then, the name has seemingly been grabbed up by another …
League of Legends
RNG vs. PSG Talon MSI 2021 betting analysis
William Davis
The first semifinal of the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational is between two teams that have been closer than expected at the year’s first international tournament. With Royal Never Give Up still being one of the clear favorites to win MSI 2021, PSG Talon could make it hard for them in the semifinals after finishing the rumble stage with some impressive performances. Having to play with a bot lane substitute all the …
League of Legends
Is GALA the best player at the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational?
William Davis
Royal Never Give Up bot laner Chen “GALA” Wei has been a treat to watch at the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational so far and is rocking some of the best stats among all competing players. After joining RNG in June 2020, GALA has been on an upward trajectory individually. After just two splits with the organization, many would now consider GALA as one of the best bot laners in the LPL, …
League of Legends
Cloud9 Fudge lead top laners in kills after MSI 2021 Rumble Stage
William Davis
Despite not making it to the semifinals at the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational, Cloud9 top laner Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami is leading in kills among all top laners at the tournament. To everyone’s surprise, Fudge has been one of the absolute best performers for Cloud9 throughout the tournament. Some would even argue that Fudge has been the best player representing North America during MSI 2021, which makes the upcoming split even more …
League of Legends
Low ping really does matter in League of Legends, and here’s why
William Davis
Quick reaction times and clutch decision-making can be the keys to success in League of Legends, and ping can have a big say in either attribute. But how big of a difference does a low ping really make? Professional League of Legends games are usually run with the lowest ping possible to make the games as evenly competitive as possible. This provides the players with the best chance to react …
League of Legends
Rift Herald refuse to complete its charge for DWG KIA at MSI 2021
William Davis
A rare Rift Herald bug had the match between DWG KIA and PSG Talon at the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational undergo a Chronobreak during the rumble stage. During the fourth day of the rumble stage at MSI 2021, a fairly rare Rift Herald bug happened after DWG KIA mid laner Heo “ShowMaker” Su tried to spawn it in the mid lane. Usually, the Rift Herald would charge the turret and grant …
League of Legends
MAD Lions vs. RNG: MSI 2021 betting analysis
William Davis
The 2021 Mid-Season Invitational Rumble stage is coming to a close and will have an important match between MAD Lions and Royal Never Give Up on the last day. Before the four best teams from the rumble stage move on to the semifinals, an anticipated rematch between LEC’s MAD Lions and LPL’s RNG has to be played out. RNG won the first match against the LEC champions, but it was …
League of Legends
Golden Guardians completes LCS Summer roster with Solo and Chime
William Davis
With only a few weeks before the 2021 LCS Summer Split kicks off, Golden Guardians has presented several roster changes. After a poor spring split, Golden Guardians is making some changes to make a better showing in the last split of the year. Golden Guardians will be promoting support Jonathan “Chime” Pomponio from the academy roster while signing Colin “Solo” Earnest as the starting top laner. Solo’s last appearance in …
RNG is 12-0 at MSI 2021, hasn’t lost a tier-2 turret yet
William Davis
League of Legends
The 2021 Mid-Season Invitational rumble stage is in full swing and LPL champion Royal Never Give Up continues to dominate the tournament. Over the course of 12 games, RNG has yet to be defeated. As RNG was placed in group A where only three teams played due to the absence of GAM Esports, teams had to play only eight games in total during the first stage. RNG swept the group …
Evil Geniuses replace Deftly with Danny in the bot lane for LCS Summer
William Davis
League of Legends
Evil Geniuses is preparing for the 2021 LCS Summer Split which has led to a change in the bot lane. In a recent announcement, Evil Geniuses revealed that bot laner Matthew “Deftly” Chen will be replaced by Kyle “Danny” Sakamaki who played the recent split on Evil Genius’ amateur team. The young 17-year-old bot laner can therefore look forward to his first split in the LCS after only one split …
Riot speaks on Tahm Kench and Sona reworks, item balance
William Davis
League of Legends
The Summoner’s Rift balancing team has their work cut out for them in the upcoming months with several projects in the pipeline. In a recent tweet by gameplay design director Mark “Scuffy” Yetter, a rough priority timeline of projects was presented to the League of Legends players. This list includes several projects that have already been hinted at, including changes to systemic mobility that will likely be worked on throughout …
New LoL bug can unlock 900-damage Smite in just 6 minutes
William Davis
League of Legends
Smite received a big change in the most recent League of Legends patch 11.10 and a game-breaking bug hitched a ride with it. A recent YouTube video showed how players can gain access to the 900-damage Smite after just six minutes using the Unsealed Spellbook keystone. In the recent patch Riot changed Smite to deal flat damage, starting at 450 before increasing to 900 after completing the Smite quest. The …
NRG acquires GAM Esports re-enters League of Legends
William Davis
League of Legends
An old face re-enters the League of Legends scene with NRG’s acquisition of GAM Esports. GAM Esports is the defending champion of the Vietnamese VCS and has been acquired by North American organization NRG together with the Vietnamese entertainment company CMG.ASIA. Acquiring GAM Esports is the first move by the newly formed NRG Asia project and it’s expected that the organization will provide quality training facilities and infrastructure to the …
Phase Rush nerf puts Ryze at lowest win rate in LoL
William Davis
League of Legends
Ryze is struggling like never before in solo queue on League of Legends patch 11.10 due to the recent nerfs made to Phase Rush. The most recent patch has already taken its toll on Ryze, even though the Rune Mage didn’t receive any direct nerfs. Instead, Riot chose to nerf the Phase Rush keystone by adding a longer early-game cooldown and decreasing the bonus movement speed from the rune. This …
Top amateur LoL teams to compete in Challengers Uprising Summer
William Davis
League of Legends
The next split of the North American Proving Ground Circuit is right around the corner and will once again include events for amateur teams filled with up-and-coming talent. The League of Legends 2021 Summer Proving Grounds Circuit will kick off on May 24 with the first of three circuit events. The event is Challengers Uprising Summer Sprint, where top amateur teams will compete for a chance at challenging the LCS …
MAD Lions vs. Cloud9: MSI 2021 betting analysis
William Davis
League of Legends
The first NA versus EU brawl of the year is about to unfold at the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational as MAD Lions face off against Cloud9 in the Rumble Stage. After a nail-biting group stage from Cloud9 and a fairly convincing one from MAD Lions, the two will finally clash in a battle between the LCS and LEC. Cloud9 had a rough start to the group stage but stepped up on …
DWG KIA vs. RNG: MSI 2021 betting analysis
William Davis
League of Legends
The 2021 Mid-Season Invitational will conclude with the grand final between DWG KIA and Royal Never Give Up. Both teams have fought consistently throughout the tournament and are now ready to fight for the trophy. Prior to the tournament, DWG KIA was considered the biggest favorite, and for good reason. The defending world champions have looked scary in all stages at MSI, only struggling against RNG during the rumble stage. …
Nexus Blitz returns to League of Legends with PROJECT: Bastion
William Davis
League of Legends
One of the most intense featured game modes in League of Legends will be back when Nexus Blitz returns during the upcoming PROJECT: Bastion event. With the reveal of six new PROJECT skins, Riot is ready to unleash a new in-game event centered around the PROJECT lore. The event goes under the name PROJECT: Bastion and will run from May 27 to June 28. The four-week event will include an …
Riot reveal six new PROJECT LoL skins to Varus, Senna, others
William Davis
League of Legends
Riot is back with new cosmetics for League of Legends and this time it’s for the PROJECT skin line which will grow even bigger. The popular PROJECT skin line already includes cosmetics for Yasuo, Zed, Lucian, and other popular champions. A total of 17 PROJECT skins are already in the game but now Riot will bring in six brand new additions. The new cosmetics will include Varus, Mordekaiser, Senna, Renekton, …
DWG KIA jungler Canyon hits rank 1 on EUW server while at MSI
William Davis
News
DWG KIA isn’t only looking strong at the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational, but the players are also crushing it on the EUW solo queue ladder. Of all the competitors at MSI, jungler Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu was the one to climb the fastest as he has just reached rank 1 on the server. Canyon is known for being a strong solo queue player, setting a scary pace whenever he put his mind …
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.
