League of Legends
League of Legends
Riot bringing nerfs to Kai’Sa and Moonstone Renewer in patch 11.4
William Davis
League of Legends’ soon-to-be-released patch 11.4 is aiming to balance out Kai’Sa and Moonstone Renewer while giving some much-needed buffs to off-meta champions. Season 11 feels more and more balanced for every patch, but there are still things for Riot to work on. In previous weeks, Kai’Sa has seen a lot of popularity in both solo queue and professional play, and Riot is looking to do something about that. Moonstone …
League of Legends
Riot CEO investigated for discrimination and sexual harassment
Steven Rondina
Riot Games’ gender discrimination issues continue to linger. Former Riot Games executive assistant Sharon O’Donnell filed suit against the company in January for medical expenses, lost wages, and general damages related to employment. As a result of the suit, the company is investigating CEO Nicolo Laurent for alleged gender discrimination and sexual harassment, per Daily Esports. Riot issued a statement on the matter, acknowledging the investigation: “Core to giving Rioters …
League of Legends
Vitality adds Crownshot as new starting bot laner, replaces Comp
William Davis
Former SK Gaming bot laner Juš “Crownshot” Marušič will be the new starting bot laner for Vitality in the LEC. After a poor start to the 2021 LEC Spring Split, Vitality has made the decision to make an early-season swap in the bottom lane. As Crownshot didn’t find a suitable team in the LEC or LCS for the 2021 season, the talented bot laner has watched from the sidelines up …
League of Legends
Team Liquid reveals new merch collaboration with Naruto
Olivia Richman
Team Liquid announced its latest merch collaboration earlier today. This time, the esports organization is teaming up with Naruto Shippuden to bring anime and esports fans together. The lifestyle apparel collection combines Hidden Leaf ninjas and Team Liquid’s logo to create one-of-a-kind clothing that blends streetwear with high fashion. The denim jacket, parka, joggers, hoodies, and t-shirts in the collection feature Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, and other popular characters from …
League of Legends
Who is Isolde, the next champion coming out in League of Legends?
William Davis
Riot Games is following its plan to add at least one champion to each role in 2021. So far, junglers have welcomed a new addition to the rotation in the Ruined King himself, Viego. On January 8, to celebrate the start of Season 11, Riot explained that the next three champions coming out would be related to Viego and the Ruined King storyline. According to Ryan “Reav3” Mirelles, Riot is …
League of Legends
G2 Esports, Rekkles dealt surprise loss from Fnatic in LEC
William Davis
Fnatic took down G2 Esports in unexpected fashion in their first LEC clash of 2021. A lot was on the line for both teams when the G2 and Fnatic rivalry unfolded for the first time in 2021. During the offseason, the rivalry got even more intense as G2 picked up bot laner Martin “Rekkles” Larsson. This put Fnatic in a difficult spot ahead of the 2021 season, but left them …
League of Legends
Bo carries FPX to another victory, dominates Top Esports in LPL
William Davis
FunPlus Phoenix keeps impressing in the Chinese LPL after taking down the defending champions Top Esports. A highly anticipated matchup between the defending LPL champions Top Esports and former world champions FPX unfolded today. On paper, the match seemed extremely close but FPX managed to dominate and show why they are sitting on a big winning streak at the top of the leaderboards. FPX took the win in just two …
League of Legends
Riot bans four people in alleged LoL roster poaching scandal
Steven Rondina
Riot Games has instituted significant sanctions against a team competing in the 2021 NA Amateur circuit. ANEW Esports, an organization that has enjoyed success in LCS Scouting Grounds events since forming in 2019, has seen several individuals slapped with heavy penalties over the signing of jungler William “Trixter” Benoit. Riot claims that the organization was approached by Trixter while he was signed to Wildcard Gaming and “poached” him from the …
Riot is planning jungle nerfs for LoL patch 11.4
William Davis
League of Legends
Riot has given the first sneak peek at the upcoming League of Legends Patch 11.4 and it includes nerfs to the jungle. The jungle position has been very strong so far in Season 11, but Riot is looking to tone down its strength in Patch 11.4. In the recent patches, several jungle champions have been sitting at the top of the win-rate charts and there is a good reason for …
Nuguri takes top spot from ShowMaker in LoL player rankings
William Davis
League of Legends
The League of Legends player rankings are back for the second update of 2021. A lot has changed in just two weeks, so here’s how the best players in the world rank. The first player ranking of the year had DWG KIA mid laner Heo “ShowMaker” Su at the top, but he has since then been dethroned by his former teammate, Jang “Nuguri” Ha-gwon. Further down the list are some …
DWG KIA defends top spot in LoL team ranking, LPL closes in
William Davis
League of Legends
The second League of Legends team ranking of 2021 is here and a lot has changed in the last two weeks. Defending world champion DWG KIA is still sitting at the top of the ranking, but several teams from the LPL are closing in on them. The same goes for Gen.G who has surpassed Cloud9 and is now placed as the second-best team in the world according to the rankings. …
IWillDominate to co-stream LCS after League Partner ban lifted
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
League of Legends streamer and former pro player Christian “IWillDominate” Rivera is allowed to co-stream the LCS again. “Really thankful that I can resume the co-streams and excited to move forward together with Riot and the LCS into the 2021 season,” IWillDominate tweeted to his excited fans. IWillDominate noted that he will resume co-streaming the LCS on Friday. Happy to announce that I have been given permission by Riot to …
What is the MoonStaff meta and how do you play it?
William Davis
League of Legends
Ahead of Season 11, League of Legends completely changed its item system, introducing a new tier, the mythical items. These are powerful items and players can only pick one per game. The new item system created opportunities for creative build paths, like the strategy known as “MoonStaff.” MoonStaff consists of two items, Moonstone Renewer and the Staff of Flowing Water. Moonstone Renewer is a mythic item that, according to the …
TFT Fates renews pass for PC and Mobile
William Davis
League of Legends
The Festival of Beasts has arrived, bringing new arenas, Little Legends, and so much more. TFT: Fates is on its second half. To celebrate this milestone, the game released the brand new TFT Pass II, which includes Chinese New Year themed rewards. The TFT Pass+ sells for 1295 RP and players will have until the end of TFT: Fates to complete it. Every game grants experience points. These are necessary …
What were the most popular esports games in 2020?
Nina Forneloza
League of Legends
Major esports events have been growing in popularity and, according to newzoo.com, the audience is set to grow more rapidly in the coming years. Here is a look at the most popular esports games that dominated in 2020. There are several factors to consider when talking about the “most popular” esports title. In order to determine the three most popular esports titles in 2020, total player count, tournament prize pools, …
T1 Faker breaks another LCK record, first to play 600 games
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
League of Legends star Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok has become the first player to compete in 600 games in the LCK. The LCK proudly announced the accomplishment on Twitter and during a live stream. Faker continues to be one of the most popular and decorated players in the competitive League of Legends scene. He is beloved by fans both in South Korea and around the world. So strongly, in fact, that …
Faker publicly disagrees with T1’s 10-man roster
William Davis
League of Legends
The legendary mid laner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok disagrees with his team’s 10-man roster approach. T1 has been experimenting a lot with its new 10-man roster during the first weeks of the 2021 LCK Spring Split and it has been with very mixed results. This has gotten the face of the organization, Faker, to address the approach. More specifically, Faker has admitted in an interview that he thinks it’s stressful for …
CLG has benched Pobelter going into LCS, according to WildTurtle
William Davis
League of Legends
CLG’s mid laner Eugene “Pobelter” Park has reportedly been benched ahead of the 2021 LCS Spring Season start, according to bot laner Jason “WildTurtle” Tran On a recent podcast, WildTurtle mentioned that Pobelter has been benched for the upcoming LCS games and will likely be replaced by Academy mid laner Alexey “rjs” Zatorski, formerly known as Deus. The reported benching of Pobelter happens after CLG underperformed at the LCS Lock …
Viego won’t be available for week 3 of the LEC as planned
William Davis
League of Legends
The newest League of Legends champion Viego won’t be available for Week 3 of the 2021 LEC Spring Split. According to LEC commissioner Maximilian Peter Schmidt, Viego won’t be available for the LEC teams to play during the upcoming week even though that was the original plan. The original rule states that new champions are disabled in the LEC for the first two weeks after its release, but due to …
Team Liquid utilizes Kai’Sa, Udyr to secure LCS Lock In trophy
William Davis
League of Legends
The LCS Lock In gave a great sneak peek of what the 2021 LCS season has to offer, both in terms of the team’s strength and champion meta. Here’s a look at the most dominant champions during the LCS Lock In and which players best utilized them. While the new competitive season has just begun, the meta is already starting to develop and change from game to game. A total …
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.
