League of Legends
League of Legends
Gen.G Rascal has the most solo kills globally in spring 2021
William Davis
Gen.G top laner Kim “Rascal” Kwang-hee is currently leading the solo kill leaderboard globally as all regions are closing in on the spring playoffs. With a total of 19 solo kills so far this season, Rascal is on top of the leaderboard. In general, Korean players are dominating this statistic. This is likely due to the fact that the LCK plays a best-of-three format, giving players more games to play. …
League of Legends
Riot-created pro player accounts to be disabled after unfair MMR gains
Tokoni Uti
While professional players and League Partner Programme creators are often given accounts by Riot, unusually high LP gains since the start of the season have led to Riot disabling these accounts and issuing new ones in their place. Riot-created accounts tend to start at Diamond MMR, allowing known professionals to more quickly climb the ladder rather than “smurfing” their way from the bottom. However, fellow high-tier players had noticed that …
League of Legends
Yone player disconnects from the game, still outplays opponent
William Davis
Outplaying the opponent can be done in many different ways, but one Yone player ended up outplaying the opponent unintentionally after disconnecting from a game. Seeing an enemy disconnect in a solo queue game usually means a free kill, but it wasn’t the case when a Yone player in solo queue happened to disconnect in the middle of a fight. Instead of giving away a free kill, the enemies ended …
League of Legends
WildTurtle, Neo, and Lost all scored pentakill in week 5 of LCS
William Davis
Pentakills were on the menu during the 2021 LCS Spring Season week 5, with a total of three pentakills over the course of three days. It’s usually possible to find many entertaining matches in the LCS each week, but week 5 was something else as the bot laners went on a pentakill streak over the course of the weekend. Fans are usually happy to see just one pentakill, but a …
League of Legends
Esports community mad at TSM Dunc for insensitive Twitter meme
Olivia Richman
TSM is under fire, with some esports fans even demanding the organization be fined after it posted an offensive meme format on its Twitter. After losing a match in the LCS, TSM responded by posting a classic meme with a dark twist. It was an “Are you winning, son?” meme, but with the son hanging from the ceiling, his gaming chair knocked over. The joke was essentially that TSM wanted …
League of Legends
T1’s Teddy says it’s harder to build synergy with a 10-man roster
William Davis
Another player on T1 has addressed the recent criticism towards its 10-man roster and constant roster swaps. This time it’s bot laner Park “Teddy” Jin-seong. Teddy thinks that it has gotten harder to build synergy on T1 with the frequent roster swaps to the starting lineup, according to a recent interview he had with InvenGlobal. Teddy notes that he was also a part of the large T1 roster in 2019. …
League of Legends
G2 Esports dominates Rogue, takes 1st ahead of LEC playoffs
William Davis
G2 Esports is in pole position of the 2021 LEC Spring Split after taking down Rogue in week 7. After being neck-and-neck for weeks at the top of the LEC standings, G2 and Rogue have finally separated themselves from each other. Moving into the final weeks of the regular split, this match was crucial for both teams to secure the first seed going into playoffs. Unfortunately for Rogue, G2 Esports …
League of Legends
Riot is bringing more nerfs to healing in LoL patch 11.6
William Davis
Healing continues to be overtuned in the current League of Legends meta, and Riot will be bringing more nerfs to it in patch 11.6. Riot will be making nerfs to certain sustain items and runes for the upcoming patch 11.6, according to recent updates on the Public Beta Environment (PBE). While these changes are by no means final yet, it looks like life steal on several items will take a …
The week’s best value draft for the 2021 LEC Spring Split
William Davis
League of Legends
Want to get some skin in the game with your favorite esports players? With our partner DraftKings, you can do just that. Click the link here to see their full slate of esports contests! Eligibility restrictions apply. See draftkings.com for details. Week 7 of the 2021 LEC Spring Split is coming up and that means it’s time to set a team that has the potential to go all the way and win. But building a …
ShowMaker regains top spot in LoL ranking, Jankos enters top 10
William Davis
League of Legends
The latest version of the League of Legends player ranking is out, and it shows a change at the top as well as some completely new faces in the top 10. Leagues around the world are closing in on the first playoffs of the year, after many exciting matches in store in the four major leagues. With this many matches playing out each week, a lot is still happening in …
G2 Esports is closing in on DWG KIA in the LoL team rankings
William Davis
League of Legends
The League of Legends team rankings are still very competitive, with G2 Esports closing in on DWG KIA at the top. DWG KIA is still defending the top spot on the team ranking, but G2 is starting to climb after its recent dominance in the LEC. It will still take some effort to knock down the world champions from the throne, but a couple of bad games could change everything. …
These are the strongest teams in the European Regional Leagues
William Davis
League of Legends
The European regional League of Legends leagues are booming like never before, and we’ve put together a list of some of the strongest teams from these competitions. Even though the LEC takes most of the attention in Europe, the regional leagues are also competing at a high level. The best teams from the regional leagues will ultimately qualify for the first EU Masters tournament of 2021, where both glory and …
Riot reveals new Battle Academia skins for Caitlyn, Yone, more
William Davis
League of Legends
New skins are coming to League of Legends, and this time it’s from the Battle Academia skin line. Riot will be adding five new cosmetics to the game as well as an extra prestige edition. This time it’s the Battle Academia skin line that will get some love, with skins for Caitlyn, Wukong, Yone, Garen, and Leona. On top of these will be a prestige edition skin for Leona, who …
Riot is planning to upgrade Xin Zhao’s abilities
William Davis
League of Legends
Xin Zhao is looking to get an overhaul in the near future with updates to all of his abilities, opening up for more range and ability power scaling. As revealed by gameplay design director Mark “Scuffy” Yetter, Xin Zhao is getting a little upgrade, after he has been struggling in terms of power on Summoner’s Rift lately. The Seneschal of Demacia is looking to get adjustments for all five abilities, …
DWG KIA is 1st team to clinch spot in 2021 LCK Spring playoffs
William Davis
League of Legends
Defending world champion DWG KIA is locked in for the 2021 LCK Spring Split playoffs after mathematically securing a spot. After another flawless week for DWG KIA, the team is now on a nine-match winning streak and is starting to add some distance from the rest of the LCK field. With an 11-1 record, DWG KIA is already locked in for the playoffs despite having four weeks of the regular …
2021 Mid-Season Invitational gets new format, dates revealed
William Davis
League of Legends
The 2021 Mid-Season Invitational will happen and fans now know when, where, and how it will take place. #MSI2021 is coming. Who will Break Out? Pack your parkas, because League of Legends’ greatest pro players are about to showdown in Iceland! This sprawling, epic landscape will set the stage for big moves & rising legends. Dates: May 6-22. pic.twitter.com/besQKwW3AW — LoL Esports (@lolesports) March 1, 2021 After missing out on …
Riot Korea under fire for copyright striking LCK YouTube content
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
The League of Legends community is frustrated with Riot Korea for how restrictive the company officials are being with LCK content. Before the 2021 season, the LCK announced that it “couldn’t reach a broadcasting rights agreement” with YouTube, meaning the matches would only be available for viewing on Twitch for English-language viewers. Many fans were frustrated with their lack of viewing options and pointed out how LCK’s Twitch viewership hasn’t …
Sneaky’s latest cosplay brings gamer girl fantasy to life
Olivia Richman
News
Former League of Legends pro Zach “Sneaky” Schuderi revealed a cosplay late last night that will have more than just Cloud9 saying “you’re so hot, brother.” “Any gamers?” Sneaky coyly tweeted, showing off some photos from his latest cosplay photoshoot. Sporting pink pigtails and a cropped off-the-shoulder hoodie, Sneaky looked like the streamer of everyone’s dreams. Any gamers? ????: @squarenoodles ????: Lynn pic.twitter.com/UjT6nQZxz4 — Zach Scuderi (@Sneaky) February 28, 2021 …
G2 Esports locks up LEC Spring Playoffs spot by beating Fnatic
William Davis
League of Legends
G2 Esports is guaranteed a spot in the 2021 LEC Spring Split playoffs after taking a dominant victory over longtime rival Fnatic. After losing the first match of the LEC season to Fnatic, G2 Esports had to step up and show that they’re still the big brother. Based on pure momentum from previous weeks, G2 entered the match in a much better place, but this LEC rivalry is in a …
G2 Esports players dominate the all-time LEC kill leaderboard
William Davis
League of Legends
Ahead of the sixth week of the 2021 LEC Spring Split, Riot shared the all-time LEC kill leaderboard, and it’s largely dominated by G2 Esports players. The LEC has hosted some of the best players in League of Legends history, but some have acquired more kills than others. Looking at the all-time kill leaders in Europe, several names of great veterans can be found but also a few fresh faces. …
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.
