League of Legends
League of Legends
Cody Sun splits from 100 Thieves ahead of LCS free agency
William Davis
100 Thieves and ADC Cody Sun have parted ways, the organization confirmed on Twitter. Cody Sun won’t be returning to 100 Thieves in 2021 and is officially a free agent ahead of the 2021 season. This is a familiar scenario, since it’s not the first time Cody Sun has broken up with 100 Thieves. Cody Sun was part of the roster that helped 100 Thieves qualify to the 2018 World …
League of Legends
Riot unveils 2020 ranked season reward borders and icons
William Davis
The 2020 League of Legends ranked season is coming to an end and players around the world will be receiving seasonal ranked rewards. Riot has already announced the rewards of the 2020 ranked season, including the new Victorious Lucian skin, chromas, icons, and the standard ranked border for players to flex when they queue up on Summoner’s Rift. The Lucian skin will only be given out to players that have …
League of Legends
Jensen interview hints that Impact might leave Team Liquid
Olivia Richman
When Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen revealed that he was re-signing with Team Liquid, he might have accidentally leaked some unannounced team changes. Team Liquid tweeted a short video of Jensen discussing his plans with Team Liquid after signing a three-year contract. “I’m excited about this because I believe this is the best chance if I want to make it far internationally. When I heard their plans for the 2021 season, it …
News
The biggest League of Legends tournaments left to watch in 2020
William Davis
Even though the 2020 World Championship is over and most professional LoL teams have entered the offseason, there are still some exciting tournaments worth keeping an eye on. Entertaining League of Legends doesn’t have to come from the absolute best teams in the world, which is why it’s time to look at some of the remaining tournaments left in 2020. League of Legends is still being played all around the …
League of Legends
Tyler1 hits 15-game streak in race to Challenger in top lane
William Davis
Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp is fighting to reach Challenger rank on his top lane-only account before season 10 ends. The popular streamer has always been known as a Draven main in the bot lane, but has recently picked up other roles to see if he can reach Challenger. Tyler1 managed to hit Challenger while playing jungle earlier this year after a prolonged grind. WHAT DID I FUCKIN SAY EASIEST ROLE IN …
League of Legends
FlyQuest’s PowerOfEvil becoming free agent for 2021 LCS season
William Davis
FlyQuest mid laner Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage will be a free agent this offseason, according to ESPN’s Jacob Wolf. The German mid laner has reportedly declined his player option and will therefore be a free agent when the player free agency window begins on November 16. There is still a chance that PowerOfEvil will return to FlyQuest but it will require a new deal with the organization. .@PowerOfEvilLoL has declined his …
League of Legends
Afreeca Freecs adds ex-Dignitas jungler Lira as new coach
William Davis
Former Dignitas jungler Nam “Lira” Tae-yoo has joined Afreeca Freecs as its new coach. Lira will be sharing responsibilities with former Dignitas assistant coach Han “Rigby” Earl. Just days after the announcement of the LCK 2021 season franchises, the teams are ready to make moves. Afreeca Freecs took the community by surprise when it confirmed the departure of long-time head coach Choi “iloveoov” Yeon-sung. Iloveoov is a pioneer in the …
News
Big changes coming to Evil Geniuses after adding Peter Dun
William Davis
Evil Geniuses confirmed Peter Dun as its head coach and fans are already speculating about the possible changes he might bring. Back in October, it was reported that Evil Geniuses had its eye on former MAD Lions head of coaching staff Peter Dun. The report also noted that part of Dun’s plan for the team is to build around jungler Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen. With the confirmation of Dun is head …
Team Liquid’s CoreJJ announces marriage to longtime girlfriend
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
League of Legends pro Yongin “CoreJJ” Jo might be married to the game, but not legally. The Team Liquid support announced this morning that he has married his longtime girlfriend. Fans of CoreJJ likely recognize his partner, as the two have been public for a long while. “I’m happy to have someone more precious than myself in my life,” CoreJJ tweeted. We got married!I’m happy to have someone more precious …
When is TFT: Fates’ ranked season ending? When is Set 5 coming?
William Davis
League of Legends
Teamfight Tactics is on its fourth version of the game with TFT: Fates. There’s still a long way to go before the end of TFT: Fates, but it’s never too early to start planning for the next set. The TFT sets and the League of Legends ranked seasons run independently of one another, so each has its own start and end date. TFT: Fates ends on January 18, a little …
Immortals welcomes Guilhoto as new LCS head coach for 2021
William Davis
League of Legends
Immortals has started the offseason by signing André “Guilhoto” Guilhoto as its new head coach for the 2021 LCS season. Forging a foundation for the future of Immortals League of Legends.Welcome our Head Coach, @AndreGuilhoto94.#WEAREIMT pic.twitter.com/ZJtw55DUS4 — Immortals (@Immortals) November 6, 2020 Guilhoto joins the team after almost two years spent at Origen. He didn’t re-sign with the organization when it was rebranded to Astralis. Instead, Guilhoto will be heading …
FlyQuest’s Santorin is exploring options for 2021 LCS season
William Davis
League of Legends
The Danish jungler from FlyQuest Lucas “Santorin” Larsen will be up for grabs in the upcoming free agency window. Santorin recently announced that he has been allowed to explore options for the 2021 LCS season a few days before the player free agency period starts on November 16. The announcement indicates that Santorin will leave FlyQuest and play for another LCS team next year, or maybe even a team in …
T1 has reportedly been sent funeral flower wreaths from furious fans
William Davis
League of Legends
Korean League of Legends fans don’t seem to like the direction that the T1 franchise is heading. Since T1 rebranded from SK Telecom T1 back in February 2019, CEO Joe Marsh has been taking the organization in a new and more commercial direction. The Korean League of Legends fans have not been impressed by this change of pace and have recently shown their frustration through social media, but now also …
K/DA releases first EP with a total of five songs
William Davis
League of Legends
The wait has been long but the virtual League of Legends pop group K/DA has finally released its first EP. We’ve been with THE BADDEST, you got a whole lot MORE, but now it’s time to go #ALLOUT. Available NOW:YouTube: https://t.co/jSLQ2gl6ONSpotify: https://t.co/7M60wuTXfpApple Music: https://t.co/mvp0TkVWLp#KDA #ALLOUT #VILLAIN #DRUMGODUM #ILLSHOWYOU pic.twitter.com/zXe5sgDnA8 — K/DA (@KDA_MUSIC) November 6, 2020 All the songs from the EP ALL OUT are now available on Spotify and Apple …
Why was Voyboy banned from Twitch?
William Davis
League of Legends
League of Legends streamer Joedat “Voyboy” Esfahani has been banned from Twitch. Voyboy was in the middle of his regularly scheduled stream when Twitch hit him with a ban. Voyboy went on Twitter to explain that he doesn’t know the reason for his ban, while Twitch is yet to comment on the situation. By the time of this report, Voyboy had been banned for four hours and counting. Voyboy is …
Ivern’s Brazilian voice actor José Carlos Guerra dies at age 75
William Davis
League of Legends
José Carlos Guerra, who is known in the League of Legends community as the Brazilian voice actor for Ivern, has died at age 75. The Brazilian voice actor died of respiratory failure after battling lung cancer. Guerra was known as one of the best voice actors in Brazil and has most notably been dubbing Commissioner Gordon in the Batman series from 1966. He is also known as the voice behind …
Sjokz looks for CSGO work, contract with Riot “up for the year”
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
LEC host Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere’s contract with Riot Games has ended. Sjokz tweeted that her contract with Riot Games as a host is “up for the year.” Due to the year’s unusual travel concerns, Sjokz added that her plans for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive “fell through” this year as well. With both of her gigs up in the air, Sjokz said that she is looking for more CSGO event work going …
LCS removes spring split, changes academy, adds 2021 tournaments
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
North American League of Legends is set to undergo a significant change in 2021. According to Travis Gafford, the LCS will be restructured for the next season in a number of different ways. This includes a merger of the spring and summer splits, new tournaments, and an expansion of the academy system. The removal of the spring split is the most eye-catching change. The LCS has used a few different …
League of Legends player rankings are dominated by DAMWON Gaming
William Davis
League of Legends
The individual skill level at the 2020 World Championship was insanely high, but the 10 best players have still been crowned for the first WIN.gg LoL player rankings. It’s hard to measure skill between League of Legends players, but the WIN.gg algorithm works to find the aboslute best players in the world. Luckily, most of the best players in the world were gathered at Worlds, competing against each other in …
League of Legends team rankings show DAMWON, LPL on top
William Davis
League of Legends
The 2020 League of Legends season is coming to an end after an incredible 2020 World Championship. On that occasion, it’s time to present the first WIN.gg LoL rankings for the 10 best teams in the world. The rankings are based on a lot of factors through our proprietary algorithmic method that helps to identify who the best teams in the world currently are. The recent World Championship has made …
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.
