League of Legends
League of Legends
Rekkles officially joins G2 Esports for 2021 LEC season
William Davis
A few days removed from his departure from Fnatic, it’s now official. Martin “Rekkles” Larsson will be joining G2 Esports for the 2021 LEC season. The Swedish bot laner joins G2 after more than five years with Fnatic, transitioning to a G2 Esports lineup that has been steady since coming together in 2018. Rekkles and the rest of Fnatic have been the biggest rivals of G2 Esports in years, but …
League of Legends
Former T1 coach Kim returns to LPL with Bilibili Gaming
William Davis
Former T1 head coach Kim “Kim” Jeong-soo is going back to the LPL after signing with Bilibili Gaming. After getting fired abruptly by T1 when the team failed to qualify to the 2020 World Championship, coach Kim has found a new home. The coach will return to the LPL, where he earned his first World Championship title as a coach with Invictus Gaming in 2018. Coach Kim is known for …
League of Legends
Sylas is now the worst champion in League after 2021 preseason
William Davis
The 2021 LoL preseason patch has brought a lot of overpowered stuff to the game, and some champions are suffering under the new changes. Players have experienced a lot of imbalance on patch 10.23, with certain tank junglers reaching 60% win rates while using some of the new stronger items in the game. Meanwhile, other champions are being punished at the other end of the spectrum, primarily champions who can’t …
League of Legends
Doublelift contemplates leaving TSM, retirement in 2021
Olivia Richman
League of Legends veteran Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng is thinking of leaving TSM if the team doesn’t successfully acquire support player Hu “SwordArt” Shuo-Jie. According to a report from ESPN writer Jacob Wolf, Doublelift is contemplating leaving the North American team if it doesn’t sign a “top foreign support.” This could be SwordArt, Doublelift said, or another quality international support player. TSM was first reported to be signing SwordArt on November …
League of Legends
T1 signs former DRX support Keria amid ongoing controversies
William Davis
T1 has signed a multi-year contract with former DRX support Ryu “Keria” Min-seok. T1 will have a new support in 2021, as the organization made a big move by adding Keria to its starting roster. The LCK rookie of the year is one of the young prodigies in the region and is considered by many to be the best in his role. Keria is no stranger to the T1 players, …
League of Legends
LCS Academy merging with amateur events for LCS Proving Grounds
William Davis
The LCS Academy is merging with the amateur circuit for a new series of tournaments that will build future LCS stars. Earlier this month, the LCS revealed its intentions to invest in the amateur scene by adopting a new format for its Academy system. LCS Proving Grounds is the new tournament circuit that will see the best Academy and amateur teams competing for the title. The introduction of LCS Proving …
League of Legends
Rekkles officially leaves Fnatic, but where will he go next?
William Davis
One of the biggest names in European League of Legends is looking for a new home for the 2021 LEC season. The long time Fnatic bot laner Martin “Rekkles” Larsson has officially moved on from Fnatic, according to the organization’s official Twitter account. The Swedish superstar will therefore be moving to a new team for the 2021 LEC season, but it is still unknown just where his new home will …
League of Legends
Afreeca Freecs Ben officially retires from pro League of Legends
William Davis
Afreeca Freecs’ support Nam “Ben” Dong-hyun has chosen to retire from professional League of Legends to focus on his family. In a recent statement, Ben officially announced his retirement because he wants to spend more time with his daughter and wife. Ben will be going back to China together with his wife, after playing for LCK’s Afreeca Freecs since December 2019. Before joining Afreeca, Ben has played in the LPL …
How to build Senna as an ADC in the new preseason patch
William Davis
League of Legends
After the big preseason patch hit the live servers, Senna is seeing some changes in her ADC build. The new item overhaul has brought a lot of new build paths that players still have to figure out. But what is the best way to build one of the most popular bot laners from Season 10, Senna? So far in this preseason, the focus for Senna ADC has been to stack …
100 Thieves reportedly signing Huhi for 2021 LCS roster
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
LCS fans are surprised by 100 Thieves’ new roster for 2021. 100 Thieves is reportedly signing Choi “Huhi” Jae-hyun as its starting support, making him the fourth former Golden Guardians player to be signed to the new roster. Chan-ho “Ssumday” Kim, Victor “FBI” Huang, and Can “Closer” Çelik played for Golden Guardians last season and will now compete for 100 Thieves. “Huhi will replace Poome, who played the last part …
Riot will make changes to new item icons after community backlash
William Davis
League of Legends
Riot will be making changes to many of the new item icons with the goal of providing more clarity, differentiation, and rendering polish. League of Legends fans have been presented with a lot of big changes this offseason but some have been easier to consume than others. Many fans have reported that the new item icons are too identical and hard to differentiate from each other. Riot has quickly acted …
Astralis presents complete 2021 LEC roster including young talent
William Davis
League of Legends
Astralis recently announced its complete League of Legends roster for the 2021 LEC season. Since moving on from the Origen brand back in September, Astralis will now be looking to almost start from scratch. The team’s plan is to build up “a solid foundation and to constantly progress,” the organization announced in an official statement. Welcome to Denmark. Welcome to the #AstralisFamily. pic.twitter.com/m2z9U2V3zE — Astralis (@Astralisgg) November 17, 2020 The …
LIDER left without an LEC team for the 2021 season
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Former Misfits Gaming mid laner Adam “LIDER” Ilyasov is without an LEC roster for the second time since his debut in 2019 for that team. The Norwegian player was rumored to be in contention for the vacant Fnatic spot, but looks to have lost it to former Cloud9 mid laner Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer. LIDER addressed his status as a free agent and called for fans to stop criticizing Fnatic for …
Golden Guardians’ Closer, FBI head to 100 Thieves for LCS 2021
William Davis
League of Legends
100 Thieves has confirmed that former Golden Guardians jungler Can “Closer” Çelik and bot laner Ian Victor “FBI” Huang have joined the organization for the 2021 LCS season. Both players were still under contract with Golden Guardians, so 100 Thieves had to pay buyouts. 100 Thieves will look oddly familiar in 2021, as the organization seems set to pick up the majority of the Golden Guardians roster. Mid laner Tanner …
Treatz reportedly leaving TSM, heading to LEC with SK Gaming
William Davis
League of Legends
Team SoloMid support Erik “Treatz” Wessén is reportedly returning to Europe after an extended stay in North America. He will be welcomed home with a contract from SK Gaming. Treatz made a name for himself on TSM Academy, winning the 2019 NA Academy Spring Split ahead of his LCS debut in 2020. The Swedish support got promoted to the TSM LCS roster in the 2020 LCS Summer Split to split …
Liquid’s Impact, FlyQuest’s IgNar set to join Evil Geniuses
William Davis
League of Legends
Evil Geniuses is in the process of acquiring former Team Liquid top laner Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong, FlyQuest support Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun and Team SoloMid Academy bot laner Lawrence “Lost” Hui. Evil Geniuses is getting ready for the next stage of its evil plan with the acquisition of three new players. Impact is joining after three successful years with Team Liquid which saw him win four consecutive LCS titles and reach …
Why marksmen are struggling in 2021 preseason patch 10.23
William Davis
League of Legends
It’s currently rough being a marksman in the 2021 LoL preseason. The preseason has taken Summoner’s Rift by storm, but not everything is quite balanced yet. The role that is struggling the most is that of the marksmen, who are currently sitting at some very poor win rates in solo queue. On patch 10.23, only four marksmen are in the top 50 of the highest win rate champions, and only …
Cloud9 ships Licorice, Palafox, and Diamond to FlyQuest
William Davis
League of Legends
According to Jacob Wolf, FlyQuest has acquired three players from Cloud9, being top laner Eric “Licorice” Ritchie, mid laner Cristian “Palafox” Palafox, and support David “Diamond” Bérubé. After a number of notable exits from the team, FlyQuest is set to plug some of the gaps with Licorice, Palafox, and Diamond. Licorice is a well-known player in the LCS and one of the best top laners in the region. Palafox and …
CLG looking to rebuild around Team Liquid’s Broxah in 2021 LCS
William Davis
League of Legends
Counter Logic Gaming is reportedly starting the offseason by signing former Team Liquid jungler Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen ahead of the 2021 LCS season. Broxah will be joining CLG in 2021 according to Jacob Wolf, after a decent year with Team Liquid. Broxah joined the team ahead of the 2020 season but had his debut pushed back repeatedly due to visa issues, forcing Liquid to compete without the Danish jungler for …
Nuguri, BeryL released by DAMWON Gaming and become free agents
William Davis
League of Legends
Jang “Nuguri” Ha-gwon and Cho “BeryL” Geon-hee are now free agents, DAMWON Gaming confirmed through Twitter. The 2020 champions are open for contract offers. The top laner and support, who recently raised the Summoner’s Cup in Shanghai, may or may not return to the team where they enjoyed a career season. According to DAMWON, both players have chosen to explore the free agency but are still in talks with 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.
