League of Legends
League of Legends
This new bug lets you proc Jayce’s Q twice in a row
William Davis
If Jayce wasn’t already a monster at poking, a new bug in League of Legends will surely turn him into one. Through a recent bug discovered on the current patch 11.8, Jayce is able to proc the damage of his Shock Blast (Q) twice. This mechanic doesn’t look to be intentional, as it can potentially be abused in solo queue and give Jayce an unfair advantage. The bug occurs when …
League of Legends
Will FC Schalke 04 leave LEC following football relegation?
William Davis
FC Schalke 04’s future in Europe’s top League of Legends league, the LEC, could be on the line following the football club’s relegation from the German Bundesliga. Schalke 04’s core business of football has taken a big hit recently, with the club being relegated from the best German division, the Bundesliga. The relegation happened after a horrible season where the Gelsenkirchen-based club has only managed to win two matches out …
League of Legends
DWG KIA is the big favorite for MSI 2021, and this is why
William Davis
The 2021 Mid-Season Invitational is right around the corner and will bring the first international clashes of 2021, with DWG KIA looking like the biggest favorite. After winning the world championship last year, DWG KIA has kept the impressive form and dominated the 2021 LCK Spring Split. With back-to-back LCK trophies and a world championship in the bag, it’s expected that DWG KIA will perform well at the upcoming MSI. …
League of Legends
Everything you need to know about TFT Set 5: Reckoning
Steven Rondina
Teamfight Tactics: Reckoning is almost here, and there is a lot for TFT players to look forward to from this new set. TFT: Reckoning is set to feature the usual roundup of changes between sets, with new origins and classes being added and represented by a different lineup of champions. What sets TFT: Reckoning apart from the rest is how much bolder Riot Games is becoming with synergies in the …
League of Legends
This weird ARAM bug might give your team the same champion twice
William Davis
A new bug in League of Legends ARAM provides a chance of having two similar champions on the same team during a game. This was recently discovered and reported by YouTuber Vandiril, who could show clips from a match where Varus was on the team twice in an ARAM game. Ever since the release of ARAM in 2012, it has not been possible to have the same champions twice in …
League of Legends
100 Thieves signs Abbedagge as new mid laner for 2021 LCS Summer
William Davis
Former Schalke 04 mid laner Felix “Abbedagge” Braun will be moving to North America to play for 100 Thieves in the LCS. The move happens after several rumors surrounding 100 Thieves and its new mid laner. Originally, Fnatic mid laner Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer was rumored to join the team but, to everyone’s surprise, it will be the German super talent. Abbedagge joins after a solid split with Schalke in the …
League of Legends
Cloud9 Perkz says Kassadin can’t ever be balanced in LoL
William Davis
Cloud9 mid laner Luka “Perkz” Perković recently explained why he doesn’t think Kassadin will ever be balanced in League of Legends. During a recent stream, Perkz addressed the state of Kassadin and why it is hard for Riot Games to balance the champion. The star mid laner explained that Kassadin has been bad in competitive play for many years while being completely the opposite in solo queue, making him an …
League of Legends
Learn all about how to counter Sylas in League of Legends
William Davis
Sylas is starting to pop up in solo queue and professional games more frequently in season 11, both in the mid and the top lane. Sylas’ unique kit can make him intimidating to play against, but there are good ways to counter him and gain an advantage. Since his release in January 2019, Sylas has moved in and out of the meta. The Unshackled has one of the most special …
The best way to build Syndra in League of Legends season 11
William Davis
League of Legends
League of Legends season 11 has shaken up the game’s items completely with a big overhaul. This has affected all champions and forced players to learn new builds for most champions in the game, Syndra being one of them. Syndra is considered one of the go-to mages for the mid lane by many players, and for good reason. Syndra is able to dish out reliable damage and can decide fights …
Reapered joins 100 Thieves as the new head coach, Zikz leaves
William Davis
League of Legends
Former Cloud9 head coach Bok “Reapered” Han-gyu has been announced as the new head coach for 100 Thieves. Starting with the 2021 LCS Summer Split, Reapered will take over the head coach position on 100 Thieves after the team’s stumble in the Mid-Season Showdown. Reapered will replace Anthony “Zikz” Gray, who has been with 100 Thieves since November 2019. Reapered will be back as an active coach after taking a …
LoL gameplay design director pulled, transferred to Riot’s MMO
William Davis
League of Legends
Riot Games gameplay design director Mark “Scuffy” Yetter has announced a big career move that involves him leaving the League of Legends design team to join a different department in Riot as game director of the upcoming LoL MMO. Personal News:I’ll be joining the MMO team as the Game Director!Excited to go on this next epic adventure with you all. pic.twitter.com/lANaSdQVdU — Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) April 16, 2021 This marks …
How to counter Renekton in League of Legends
William Davis
League of Legends
Renekton has been one of the most popular top laners for years in League of Legends, and will likely remain a viable pick in both solo queue and professional play. The Butcher of the Sands has a lot of great matchups in the top lane, but oit’s also possible to counter him with the right picks. As of season 11 patch 11.7, Renekton only has a 47.87% win rate in …
How to play League of Legends’ newest champion Gwen
William Davis
League of Legends
Gwen has finally made her entrance in League of Legends as the newest champion and players are hungry to play her on Summoner’s Rift. The Hallowed Seamstress was revealed only a few weeks back and since then, players have had the chance to test her out on the Public Beta Environment (PBE). Now that she has made it to the live servers, players will have to figure out the best …
Tyler1 is hosting a Twitch Rivals powerlifting competition
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
Twitch Rivals isn’t just about video games anymore. Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp is set to host the Tyler1 Power Meet in conjunction with Twitch Rivals, a powerlifting competition involving 10 streamers. The event begins April 19 and will feature a $10,000 prize pool. ????️ 2 Squads???? 10 Creators???? $10,000We’ll see who’s got what it takes to rock a powerlifting competition, the @loltyler1 Power Meet, powered by Twitch Rivals.April 19 at 12pm …
Watch Tyler1 land an insane Sion ult to secure quadrakill
William Davis
League of Legends
Popular League of Legends streamer Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp is back at it again with another major highlight play. In a recent scrim session streamed by Tyler1 on Twitch, the T1 streamer managed to land a game-deciding Sion ultimate after a smooth teleport flank that his opponents didn’t see coming. The play happened 19 minutes into the game as Tyler1’s team engaged in a fight at the enemy Raptors. To join …
Morgana may now have League’s fastest jungle clear after buffs
William Davis
League of Legends
With new adjustments made in patch 11.8, control mage Morgana is now possibly the fastest jungle clearer in the game. In a recent video, a player showcased how Morgana can now fully clear the jungle in just under three minutes at level 1. This sort of clearing speed isn’t usually seen from any jungler, and could potentially make Morgana viable in a completely new role in the patches to come. …
League of Legends feed: News, tweets, more from top pro players
William Davis
League of Legends
The #MSI2021 On-Air Talent!More info: https://t.co/YZ658WFYvH pic.twitter.com/5JxlyOsHlK — LoL Esports (@lolesports) May 3, 2021 The world of @LeagueofLegends is coming to Netflix.Arcane drops this Fall. pic.twitter.com/7DJgqHpODM — Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) May 3, 2021 PBE Preview Arcana Edition! ✨Say hello to Arcana Xerath, Lucian, Camille & Tahm Kench! ???? pic.twitter.com/xp2R4oRgY2 — League of Legends // UK, IE & Nordics (@LoLUKN) April 27, 2021 Most popular matches of #EUMasters Spring 2021:#1 – …
LEC viewership sees 35% growth from last year’s spring split
William Davis
League of Legends
With the conclusion of the 2021 LEC Spring Split, the viewership of the league has once again set a completely new standard for European League of Legends. The LEC viewership keeps growing after the 2021 spring split, with an increase of around 35% in the average viewership compared to the 2020 LEC Spring Split. This growth is yet another example of how the popularity around competitive League of Legends isn’t …
All the qualified teams for the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational
William Davis
League of Legends
The best teams from each region will soon compete at the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational in Reykjavík, Iceland. Here are all the qualified teams and the schedule for the tournament. With the spring playoffs being concluded throughout all of the biggest League of Legends regions, teams are starting to qualify for the upcoming MSI. Only the best team from each region will be able to participate, making the race for a …
Perkz, Cloud9 top Team Liquid in Mid-Season Showdown finals
William Davis
League of Legends
Cloud9 is the 2021 Mid-Season Showdown champion after taking down Team Liquid in a five-game thriller. After a competitive split in North America, the final was a rematch between the LCS Lock-In winner Team Liquid and first seed from the regular split Cloud9. For Team Liquid, the final was a bit different as jungler Lucas “Santorin” Larsen had to sit out due to health issues. This meant another game for …
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.
