League of Legends
League of Legends
Seraphine is failing as a mid laner due to troubling kit
William Davis
It’s been almost two months since Seraphine’s release and the champion is not living up to Riot Games’ expectations. Seraphine is arguably the most problematic champion released in 2020. From its odd online presence to its controversial lore and its kit that looks like a Sona remake, players had every reason to dislike the Starry-Eyed Songstress. To make things worse, Seraphine is not even working how Riot intended her to …
League of Legends
Expectations for each LCS roster going into the 2021 season
Nicholas James
2021 looks like it is going to be a big season for the LCS. Many teams have rebuilt their entire rosters or made moves to acquire big stars in the wake of another year in which not a single LCS squad made it out of the group stage at the World Championships. With big changes come different expectations. Some teams are looking to break into international competition with a splash …
League of Legends
Here are the starting rosters for each LCS team in the 2021 season
William Davis
The offseason has been intense for LCS teams, with a lot of new big signings and star players retiring. After weeks of signings from left and right, the 10 LCS teams are now starting to be complete and it’s, therefore, time to look at the rosters. Fans can look forward to a 2021 season with a lot of new big names in the league that will hopefully increase the competitive …
League of Legends
TSM announces 2021 Academy roster including Hauntzer, Cody Sun
William Davis
Team SoloMid has announced its roster for the Academy league in 2021, and it includes a familiar face in top laner Kevin “Hauntzer” Yarnell and bot laner Liyu “Cody Sun” Sun. Joining the two LCS veterans is young Taiwanese player Wang “Yursan” Sheng-Yu, who previously played for Alpha Esports in the PCS and is a fairly unknown name. These three signings complete the TSM academy roster, which already had jungler …
League of Legends
Riot previews new Marauder, Warden skins for Kalista, Quinn, more
William Davis
Riot recently introduced four brand new skins to close out the year. The skins include new cosmetics for Kalista, Kled, Quinn, and Gragas. Both Kalista and Kled will be receiving skins for the Marauder skin line, joining champions such as Olaf, Warwick, Alistar, and Ashe who already have Marauder cosmetics. It also looks like Xin Zhao will be receiving a Marauder skin. Quinn and Gragas will receive some light-themed heavenly …
League of Legends
Can SwordArt challenge CoreJJ as the best support in the LCS?
William Davis
After signing with Team SoloMid on a record-breaking contract, Hu “SwordArt” Shuo-Chieh will be playing in the LCS with an eye towards becoming the best support in the region. Team Liquid support Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in has been considered the best support in the LCS for a while, and may even be the best player in the entire league. The recent Worlds finalist SwordArt has now come to challenge that spot …
League of Legends
Olleh says illegal betting could ruin solo queue, points to Faker
William Davis
A new type of illegal betting in League of Legends is being scrutinized in China, and it may reach even farther than that. According to former Team Liquid support Kim “Olleh” Joo-sung, it’s possible to bet on solo queue games through illegal betting sites in China. These sites allow people to place bets on professional players’ solo queue games and whether the players involved will win or lose. This has …
League of Legends
Dignitas completes its LCS 2021 roster with new bot laner Neo
William Davis
Dignitas finalized its 2021 roster with the addition of bot laner Toàn “Neo” Trần, previously known as Asta. Dignitas promoted Neo from its Academy team and has completed its LCS roster for the upcoming season. With Neo in the roster, Dignitas becomes the only team competing in the LCS in 2021 without an import on its line-up. The organization is betting on homegrown talent for the upcoming season. Dignitas signed …
Suning head coach Chashao steps down from LPL team
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Head coach Shih “Chashao” Yi-Hao has stepped down from his position at Suning. The Chinese League of Legends team announced the news earlier today, stating that they “regret” to announce his departure. Chashao was with the team for 571 days, experiencing both the lows and highs of the team’s journey. “Thank you for your contribution and efforts to Suning,” Suning stated on Twitter. “Wishing that your next stop brings you …
Perkz says he wasn’t allowed to go to Fnatic, will be the best mid in LCS
William Davis
League of Legends
New Cloud9 mid laner Luka “Perkz” Perković talked about his offseason and how he wasn’t allowed to join the rivals from Fnatic by G2 Esports on a recent Croatian podcast. During the podcast, Perkz talked about his time with G2 and some of the offers he had gotten during the offseason. Besides the questions from the podcast host, the audience also got to ask the Croatian mid laner a few …
Lost completes the TSM 2021 roster as the new bot laner
William Davis
League of Legends
Team SoloMid has found its successor to Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng in former Academy bot laner Lawrence “Lost” Hui. Lost will be promoted to the TSM LCS squad for the 2021 season after a great year with the TSM Academy team. Lost will have to fill the big shoes of Doublelift, who recently retired. He will attempt this alongside 2020 World Championship finalist Hu “SwordArt” Shuo-Chieh who signed a record-breaking contract …
Suning huanfeng drops from LPL All-Stars over cheating scandal
William Davis
League of Legends
The upcoming 2020 All-Stars event will be without Suning bot laner Tang “huanfeng” Huan-Feng, who was originally set to represent the LPL, after a cheating scandal involving the young star player has gone viral on the Chinese forum Weibo. The scandal recently resulted in an official statement from Suning on the same platform, saying that huanfeng will be absent from the upcoming All-Star weekend. Suning said in the post that …
TSM named the most valuable esports organization in the world
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
Business magazine Forbes has released a list of the 10 most valuable esports organizations in the world. Sitting atop the list is the popular Team SoloMid, more frequently referred to as TSM. Forbes talked with a number of stakeholders in the esports industry including organizations, investors, and analysts. The end result is a list of the top-10 most valuable esports companies and an estimated value for each. These are Forbes’ …
Biofrost leaves TSM, takes break from professional play
William Davis
League of Legends
Professional support player Vincent “Biofrost” Wang has officially left Team SoloMid and will be taking a break from competing at a professional level. After a solid year with TSM, Biofrost will take “at least a split off” to focus on streaming and other opportunities. It was already known that Biofrost wouldn’t be the starting support for TSM in 2021 after former Suning player Hu “SwordArt” Shuo Chieh joined the team …
Cloud9 announces 2021 LCS coaching staff including Mithy
William Davis
League of Legends
Cloud9 has completed its LCS coaching staff for the 2021 season with three new signings who will assist head coach Kim “Reignover” Yeu-jin. After officially announcing Reignover as the new head coach back in November, C9 has now shared the rest of the coaching staff. The new additions to the coaching team are former support player and Fnatic coach Alfonso “Mithy” Rodríguez, former 100 Thieves Academy player Maxwell “Max” Waldo, …
ZionSpartan rumored to fill out new Cloud9 Academy roster
William Davis
League of Legends
Former CLG and Golden Guardians Academy top laner Darshan “ZionSpartan” Upadhyaya is reportedly joining Cloud9 Academy for the 2021 season. After over a year spent on Golden Guardians Academy, it looks like the veteran top laner will move on to a new academy project at one of the biggest esports organizations in North America. According to rumors, ZionSpartan will play alongside talented players such as bot laner Calvin “K1ng” Truong and …
Impact joins Evil Geniuses roster ahead of LCS 2021 season
William Davis
League of Legends
Evil Geniuses has announced former Team Liquid star Jeong “Impact” Eon-young as its starting top laner for 2021. Evil Geniuses finalized its 2021 roster with the addition of Impact to the squad. Impact is joining returning members Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen and Daniele “Jiizuke” di Mauro. The team also signed former FlyQuest support Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun, who will be laning with Matthew “Deftly” Chen, who was recently promoted from the academy …
DRX promotes three rookies to main roster for 2021 LCK season
William Davis
League of Legends
DRX revamped its 2021 LCK roster with the addition of three rookies to the roster. DRX will look very different in 2021, as the organization went for a roster that consists of rookies and up-and-coming players. After a disappointing end to its 2020 season, DRX is trying a new strategy for next spring. The organization kept jungler Hong “Pyosik” Chang-hyeon in the roster, while the rest of the players decided …
KT Rolster fans are protesting after recent offseason signings
William Davis
League of Legends
Another big drama in South Korean esports is unfolding after KT Rolster didn’t live up to some fans’ expectations in this offseason. After a sloppy 2020 season, KT has almost completely rebuilt its LCK roster by signing a few players with LCK experience, as well as several rookies. Even though it’s admirable that KT is going for some young players with lots of potential, some fans are not happy about …
Peanut returns to the LCK 2021 with Team Dynamics
William Davis
League of Legends
Jungler Han “Peanut” Wang-ho is returning to the LCK after signing a two-year deal with Team Dynamics. Peanut is back in South Korea and has joined Team Dynamics as its starting jungler for 2021. Peanut returns after playing for a year with LGD Gaming in the LPL. 2020 was a good year for Peanut. LGD, a team that doesn’t usually achieve much domestically, snatched the fourth LPL seed to the …
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.
