League of Legends
League of Legends
FPX Tian is taking a break from competitive LoL due to health reasons
William Davis
FunPlus Phoenix jungler and former world champion Gao “Tian” Tian-Liang recently announced that he will take a break from competitive League of Legends After beating Rogue Warriors in a 2-0 fashion to start out week three of the 2021 LPL Spring Split, Tian has decided to take a temporary break due to mental strains. According to Tian, the match against Rogue Warriors was one of few matches that he enjoyed …
League of Legends
CLG Finn gets his visa approved, but Broxah is still waiting
William Davis
CLG will soon see its new top laner Finn “Finn” Wiestål arrive in Los Angeles to compete with the team. After failing to get his North American visa in time for the LCS Lock In tournament, Counter Logic Gaming’s new top laner Finn has finally gotten it approved and will be joining up with his new team soon. Finn joined CLG in the offseason after making it all the way …
League of Legends
Armao is proving himself after helping out Liquid in LCS Lock In
William Davis
Jonathan “Armao” Armao has helped Team Liquid tremendously during the LCS Lock In so far, but is he worthy of another chance in the LCS? With the start of the 2021 LCS season, several European players have had their visas delayed and didn’t make it for the first-ever LCS Lock-In tournament. One of those players was Liquid jungler Lucas “Santorin” Larsen, who had to sit out the first week of …
League of Legends
This is the history of Akali in professional League of Legends
Nicholas James
For yet another season, Akali has been on the permanent ban list for most professional teams in many regions. The champion has been a power pick across multiple metas and seasons, always relevant and important for teams to either take away from the opponent or to pick for themselves first. The rogue assassin has been a constant presence since her rework in Season 8, which gave her some versatility in …
League of Legends
Team Liquid’s Santorin has arrived in NA to play the LCS Lock In
William Davis
After issues with a North American visa, Team Liquid’s new jungler Lucas “Santorin” Larsen has finally arrived in Los Angeles and can join his team in the LCS Lock In. Liquid recently announced that Santorin wouldn’t be making it to the start of the LCS Lock In tournament, which resulted in Liquid having to start former Team SoloMid jungler Jonathan “Armao” Armao instead. Luckily, Santorin has now officially arrived and …
League of Legends
Cloud9 bounces back, takes win over FlyQuest in 2021 LCS Lock In
William Davis
Cloud9 secured its first victory in the 2021 LCS Lock In after demolishing FlyQuest. After a rocky start in the 2021 LCS Lock In tournament, Cloud9 bounced back in impressive fashion. On day one, Cloud9 tried and failed to play through the mid lane. The team wanted to highlight its blockbuster signing of Luka “Perkz” Perković, but that plan backfired quickly. On day two, Cloud9 went for something different. This …
Counter-Strike
G2 Esports site crashes upon new jersey release
William Davis
G2 Esports’ website crashed minutes after the release of its 2021 pro kit jersey. On January 15, G2 revealed its 2021 uniform and fans were more than ready to buy them. In the first minutes of the launch, the website crashed, forcing fans to wait in line. HERE. WE. GO.Our official G2 x adidas 2021 Pro Kit Jersey is available NOW!???? https://t.co/EkftPOvt6x pic.twitter.com/fDC1v1BV1B — G2 Esports (@G2esports) January 15, 2021 …
League of Legends
Ex-Gambit, Unicorns of Love star Edward becomes coach of Furia
Nicholas James
Edward “Edward” Abgaryan announced via a twitlonger that he is retiring as a professional League of Legends player. He will move into a coaching role with the Brazillian organization Furia Esports after signing a contract expiring in 2022. pic.twitter.com/TwH54sqzSK — ???????? Edward ???????? (@EdwardCarryLoL) January 15, 2021 This is not the first time that Edward has taken time away as a player. In his decade-long career, he also coached Rogue …
Perkz debuts on Cloud9 with loss to Evil Geniuses in LCS Lock In
William Davis
League of Legends
Luka “Perkz” Perković’s debut in the LCS didn’t go exactly as planned. The mid laner didn’t live up to the hype as Cloud9 took a loss to Evil Geniuses in the opening round of the 2021 LCS Lock In. First blood for @C9Perkz, but @EvilGeniuses respond with one kill of their own! #LCS pic.twitter.com/bPuDfJehHX — LCS (@LCSOfficial) January 16, 2021 You can take the player out of G2 Esports, but …
TSM’s new roster disappoints in its 2021 LCS Lock In debut
William Davis
League of Legends
Team SoloMid had a disappointing debut in the 2021 LCS Lock-In tournament and fans are already asking for changes. Despite its stacked roster, TSM had one of its worst games to date. TSM got completely run over by 100 Thieves in the opening match of the LCS Lock-In, and it all started at level one. The difference between both squads became evident early. TSM jungler Mingyi “Spica” Lu opted for …
The LCS co-streaming program is back for the 2021 season
William Davis
League of Legends
Co-streaming of all LCS and Academy broadcasts will return for the 2021 season. Just like last year, Riot will be allowing all LCS and Academy teams, as well as members of the NA League Partner Program and Oceanic League Partner Program to co-stream the official broadcast. Last year, the LCS generated a lot of new viewers through the co-streams and Riot is looking to continue that success in the 2021 …
DWG overcomes Gamayusi pentakill, beats T1 in LCK 2021 opener
William Davis
League of Legends
Defending world champions DWG KIA started out the 2021 LCK season with a clutch win against T1. After beating T1 over three games, DWG KIA continued its impressive winning streak. DWG KIA lost its last game in the 2020 World Championship group stage where JD Gaming snatched a win in a best-of-one. Losing isn’t something DWG KIA is used to, especially in a best-of-three series. This was proven once again …
Riot gives first look at new rework changes to Rammus ultimate
William Davis
League of Legends
It’s now confirmed that Riot will be looking to give Rammus a small rework in League of Legends on the PC, as well as on Wild Rift for mobile. 2021 won’t only give fans new champions to play in League of Legends, but also improve some of the existingchampions that have been in the game for many years. One of them will be Rammus, who will see some changes to …
As the 2021 LCS Lock In begins, these are the favorites to win
William Davis
League of Legends
The first LCS Lock In tournament is right around the corner, but which teams are the most likely to win? For the first time ever, the LCS will be playing a warm-up tournament before starting off the season for real. This is done through the LCS Lock In, where the winner won’t only start out the season with confidence but also go home with $150,000. The tournament seems to be …
Broxah’s visa delayed, unlikely to join CLG until February
William Davis
League of Legends
CLG’s jungler Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen will likely be delayed until February in joining up with his new team for the 2021 LCS season. It was recently confirmed that the Danish jungler couldn’t make it to North America in time for the LCS Lock In tournament due to visa problems. According to Broxah, it’s likely that he won’t be arriving before February, which means that he won’t only miss the Lock …
The best champions to climb ranked solo queue in LoL Season 11
William Davis
League of Legends
League of Legends Season 11 has finally arrived, and players from all over the world are starting to climb up the solo queue ladder once again. But which champions are currently best to use in starting the climb? With patch 11.1 introduced, Riot has opened up for the ranked ladder once again. Some of the best and most dedicated players are already starting to reach Challenger rank in each region, …
T1 benches Faker and Teddy on LCK 2021 debut
William Davis
League of Legends
T1 debuted with a victory in the 2021 LCK Spring split, but there were some big names missing from the starting lineup. T1 took everyone by surprise on day one of the 2021 LCK when the team decided to bench jungler Moon “Cuzz” Woo-chan, ADC Park “Teddy” Jin-seong, and mid laner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. Instead, the team went with rookies Choi “Ellim” El-lim, Lee “Clozer” Ju-hyeon, and Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong. …
Why is Froskurinn leaving the LEC, and where is she going next?
William Davis
League of Legends
Color commentator Indiana “Froskurinn” Black won’t be returning to the 2021 LEC Spring Split. Froskurinn is parting ways with the LEC after two years. “I have decided not to re-sign with the LEC for the 2021 season. I cannot reveal the next steps yet, but I’ve always felt strongly about moving into management and development positions. I wish the LEC broadcast, teams, and fans the very best. I absolutely loved …
Fantasy LCS is back for 2021 season, and this is how it works
William Davis
League of Legends
The LCS has reintroduced the Fantasy LCS for the upcoming 2021 LCS Spring Split. The Fantasy LCS is back and better than ever. The LCS has partnered with Sleeper, an app available for iOS and Android. Players can download the app and create their own leagues. The onboarding process is simple, as players just need to provide a phone number or an email address. They will then receive a confirmation …
The complete history of TSM and veteran Bjergsen in the LCS
William Davis
League of Legends
TSM is one of the most legendary organizations in professional League of Legends and its origin goes all the way back to the very beginning. TSM is one of those names that any competitive LoL fan has heard before. It’s the name that was a key part of making the North American scene boom all those years ago and it’s the name that has been chanted at the biggest events …
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.
