League of Legends
League of Legends
Tyler1 gets upset at a fake Korean fan after signing to T1
Olivia Richman
Streamer Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp signed with T1 as an official content creator last week, and it didn’t take long for this move to make an impact. According to the Korean organization, Tyler1 already has a lot of fun content in the works to help T1 gain an audience in the United States. Currently, T1 is a big name particluarly in South Korea, in part thanks to veteran League of Legends …
League of Legends
Will Aphelios return to power after patch 10.21?
William Davis
League of Legends went back on the heavy nerfs to Aphelios and injected some life back into this marksman with patch 10.21. After being out of the meta for five patches, it seems like the Weapon of the Faithful got some ammunition back. Aphelios is the most recent victim of the League of Legends balance team. Every time Riot Games deploys a new champion, it tends to be overpowered, players …
League of Legends
Where could Alphari end up next season in the LEC?
William Davis
Barney “Alphari” Morris might not stay with Astralis for much longer. The offseason is approaching quickly and lots of rumors about upcoming roster swaps are starting to spread on social media. One of the most discussed players is Astralis top laner Alphari, who has played for the organization since it joined the LEC for the 2019 season, while Astralis was still known as Origen. Even though Origen didn’t manage to …
League of Legends
Out of Cloud9, which LCS team might grab Licorice in 2021?
William Davis
Top laner Eric “Licorice” Ritchie confirmed through Twitter that he won’t be coming back to the Cloud9 starting roster in 2021, so he’s looking for a new team. Licorice joined Cloud9 in November 2017 as the replacement for Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong. Up until that point, Licorice had little professional experience and not many people knew of him. In his debut, Licorice took the LCS by storm and quickly became one …
League of Legends
iG TheShy is unsure if he will play professionally next year
William Davis
Invictus Gaming top laner and former World Champion Kang “ThyShy” Seung-lok said on a recent stream that he isn’t sure if he will be a professional player next year. TheShy were asked on stream when he is leaving Korea to prepare for the upcoming 2021 season. To that, the Korean top laner answered that he still isn’t too sure and will have to think about it. This was mainly due …
League of Legends
230 players still have perfect Pick’Ems after the Worlds 2020 quarterfinals
William Davis
A total of 230 players are still in contention of getting a perfect Pick’Em for the 2020 World Championship going into the semifinals. This year’s Pick’Em competition is different from previous years because a physical prize is on the line for people who score the maximum amount of points. The prize includes not only a rare in-game summoner icon but also an Alienware Aurora battle station. The limit of Alienware …
League of Legends
Worlds 2020 Pick’Em semifinals predictions
William Davis
The 2020 World Championship is coming to an end. Only four teams remain in the race for the Summoner’s Cup. It’s time for Worlds Pick’Em one more time, as viewers get to pick their favorites to win in semifinals. This year, players get to pick the teams advancing to finals and then get to choose the World Champion. Each stage of pick’em grants different points. Predicting the winner of the …
League of Legends
G2 Esports beats Gen.G, keeps European hopes alive at Worlds 2020
William Davis
G2 Esports is the only western team in the 2020 League of Legends World Championship semifinals after taking down Gen.G. G2 had to fight against Gen.G for the last spot in the Worlds semifinals. Gen.G topped its group after solid performances, while G2 had to go through a tiebreaker for first place in their group. G2 fell short against Suning but still ended up getting a playoffs draw with good …
Gamsu retires from Overwatch, plans return to League of Legends
Nina Forneloza
League of Legends
Yeong-Jin “Gamsu” Noh, who most recently played for the Dallas Fuel in the Overwatch League, is returning to League of Legends. Before his days in the OWL, Gamsu was a top laner for Fnatic in LoL. He last played competitive LoL in 2016 with Fnatic and found some success with the team, most notably finishing second place in IEM Katowice behind SK Telecom T1. Prior to OWL’s first season, Gamsu …
Tyler1 officially signs with T1 as a content creator, streamer
Olivia Richman
News
Streamer Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp was just signed to T1 as a content creator. In a video announcing the signing, Tyler1 had to choose between a blue and red door. The red door offered an “uncertain” and “chaotic” journey. But the option also offered Tyler1 “eternal greatness.” “Come on T! Make the right choice! Don’t make the easy choice! Get over here! Let’s move it!” Tyler1’s conscience exclaimed from atop the …
Seraphine can build longer range than turrets with her autos
William Davis
League of Legends
It’s rarely seen that a champion can out-range turrets in League of Legends, but Seraphine is not a typical champion. The game’s newest champion Seraphine is available on the Public Beta Environment (PBE) for testing and players have already figured out how to build an incredible auto-attack range through her Stage Presence (P). Seraphine’s passive allows her to fire an empowered basic attack that deals additional damage and has increased …
Top Esports pulls off first reverse sweep in Worlds history against Fnatic
William Davis
League of Legends
Fnatic fell short against Top Esports at the 2020 League of Legends Worlds Championship in the first reverse sweep in Worlds history. The battle between the Chinese champions and one of the most legendary European organizations unfolded at the Worlds quarterfinals, but with a big edge to the tournament favorites, Top Esports. Both teams impressed during the group stage, but Fnatic still had a lot to prove if they wanted …
G2 Esports vs. Gen.G: Worlds 2020 betting analysis
William Davis
League of Legends
It will most likely be a close fight when G2 Esports clashes with Gen.G in the 2020 League of Legends World Championship quarterfinals. G2 entered the tournament as a dark horse despite their dominant performance at last year’s international events. Even though G2 picked up both LEC trophies this year, they have been looking weaker and definitely beatable this year. G2 is still very experienced and knows how to handle …
Riot nerfs Seraphine on PBE almost immediately after release
William Davis
League of Legends
It didn’t take Seraphine more than a couple of days on the Public Beta Environment (PBE) before Riot realized that she was too strong and needed to be nerfed. The nerfs are mainly targeting Seraphine’s damage, but are also toning down her general utility. Three of her abilities have received a nerf to their AP ratios, indicating that her numbers were a bit too high initially. Q – High Note …
Suning breaks losing streak versus JD Gaming in Worlds 2020
William Davis
League of Legends
Suning pulled off a major upset over JD Gaming in the 2020 World Championship, securing a spot in semifinals. Suning has defeated JD Gaming for the first time since 2018. The LPL third seed finally broke its losing streak versus JDG when it mattered the most. Suning is advancing and will face the winner between Fnatic and TOP Esports. If there’s one team no one believed could make it past …
Riot is about to buff Annie and Brand in new patch 10.22
William Davis
League of Legends
The first sneak peeks of LoL patch 10.22 were recently presented by lead gameplay designer Mark “Scuffy” Yetter, and will include adjustments to five champions including Annie and Brand. According to Scuffy, the adjustments will hopefully help some champions to climb back into the League of Legends meta. Annie and Brand especially are in focus, getting some adjustments that will open them up to be viable in more roles around …
Fnatic vs. Top Esports: Worlds 2020 betting analysis
William Davis
League of Legends
Fnatic will take on tournament favorite Top Esports in the quarterfinals at the 2020 League of Legends World Championship. Fnatic did a great job in the group stage by taking games from LGD Gaming, Gen.G, and Team SoloMid. The European squad almost took the top seed in the group but fell short to Gen.G on the final day. A second seed is still acceptable for Fnatic, especially considering the very …
Riot addresses problematic Umbral Glaive bug at Worlds 2020
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Riot Games developers have finally confirmed a fix for a potentially game-breaking bug fans discovered while watching the group stage at Worlds 2020. Developer Mark “Scruffy” Yetter posted the update on Twitter, stating that the League of Legends team had shipped out a “micropatch” that fixed the Umbral Glaive bug. “This is going into the Worlds build for the rest of the tournament,” Scruffy said. We just shipped out a …
MAD Lions reportedly looking to grab Turkish top laner Armut
William Davis
League of Legends
Papara SuperMassive top laner İrfan “Armut” Tükek may be joining MAD Lions for the 2021 season, according to Turkish Invade Esports. The rumors about the Turkish star top laner were further reported by Esporin, which is one of the biggest Turkish esports news sites. According to sources, the negotiations are now in their final stages. If the rumors are true, the Turkish star top laner will replace Andrei “Orome” Popa …
DAMWON coach Zefa on facing G2: “I want my revenge.”
William Davis
League of Legends
DAMWON Gaming’s head coach Lee “Zefa” Jae-min wants to get his revenge over G2 Esports. In the post-match press conference, coach Zefa made it clear that while it might be easier to face Gen.G, he wants to face G2 for a chance at redemption. “Either opponent can be an interesting story. With Gen.G, one of the final slots will be guaranteed to LCK. For G2, we would get revenge from …
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.
