League of Legends
League of Legends
Will Perkz and G2 Esports reach the Worlds final again in 2020?
William Davis
G2 Esports is looking to play in back-to-back Worlds finals, but is it even realistic considering the team’s performance thus far? G2 has been a bit shaky throughout the group stage at Worlds 2020 and didn’t manage to advance to the playoffs as the first seed. Alongside Suning, Team Liquid, and Machi Esports, group A was considered the “group of life,” and there was no doubt that G2 had to …
League of Legends
Deficio will be the new director of Misfits Gaming Europe
William Davis
Misfits Gaming Group (MGG) recently announced that Martin “Deficio” Lynge will be its new director of Misfits Gaming Europe. The former League of Legends color casters and general manager for Origen will be responsible for strategic growth and development of the LoL department at Misfits. He will also be responsible for identifying future opportunities for the EU team, according to the organization. Welcome to Misfits, @Deficiolol!2021 is going to be …
League of Legends
Suning vs. JD Gaming: 2020 World Championship betting analysis
William Davis
Suning and JD Gaming are meeting in the quarterfinals at the 2020 World Championship. The dream of two Chinese teams in the finals is dead. All three squads that made it out of groups were seeded into the same side of the bracket, and one of them is going home early. Suning and JDG will play in quarterfinals, and only one can make it through. The LPL follows a single …
League of Legends
League of Legends Wild Rift coming to iOS, revealed by Apple
William Davis
League of Legends Wild Rift will be coming to iOS, as Apple revealed during a recent iPhone 12 event. It came as a surprise to many fans when Wild Rift was featured on the official Apple event stream during the announcement of the new iPhone 12. During the short sequence, it was announced that Wild Rift will be available on iOS, while the iPhone 12 will run the game with …
League of Legends
The LEC fines Astralis in surprise competitive ruling
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Astralis isn’t off to a good start in the League of Legends world. The LEC has handed down a competitive ruling stating the organization broke multiple offenses, news that came soon after Astralis announced the Origen rebrand. While League of Legends fans were excited to see Astralis join the LEC under a new name, today it turned out the organization isn’t ready or healthy enough for this esports scene. The …
League of Legends
League of Legends fans notice bug during Worlds 2020 matches
Olivia Richman
A Worlds 2020 viewer noticed something concerning while watching matches in groups. League of Legends players are now calling on Riot to fix a bug before the quarterfinals begin. One viewer noticed that when players attack a jungle plant using the Umbral Glaive item, the plant won’t respawn. This immediately concerned the LoL community because that allows the red side to have blast cone access to the dragon pit much …
League of Legends
Is Senna best played as an ADC or as a support?
William Davis
Senna was Riot’s first attempt at a support marksman when she was released in November 2019. But should she only be considered for the bot lane carry position now? Senna has been a good meta pick since her release, but has mostly been succeeding in the bot lane position. Players created the “fasting Senna” strategy, where she plays alongside a farming support that takes all the lane’s gold while she …
League of Legends
After first look at Seraphine’s abilities, fans are not happy
William Davis
With the newest League of Legends champion Seraphine hitting the Public Beta Environment (PBE) soon, fans have gotten a first look at her new abilities. Seraphine has been teased over the past few months through social media and has been known to be the next champion for a while now. She is expected to be a new mage support, with a music theme very similar to Sona. Seraphine has also …
Riot Games reveals this year’s Season 10 ranked rewards
William Davis
League of Legends
Riot Games recently gave a look into this season’s League of Legends ranked rewards, including Victorious Lucian, loot capsules, and more. The current ranked season will end on November 10 at 07:59 GMT, according to Riot. The ranked rewards will afterward be distributed within two weeks to all players that have unlocked ranked rewards throughout the year. Season 2020 ends November 9th! And (as if you needed more reasons to …
Ex-Griffin jungler Tarzan will move to the LPL for 2021 season
William Davis
League of Legends
Former Griffin jungler Lee “Tarzan” Seung-Yong announced on social media that he will be playing in the LPL starting next season. Tarzan @Tarzan_0823 is headed to #LPL.In a heartfelt letter, he announces he will be playing at @lplenglish starting from 2021. He will be pausing his personal stream to focus on team practices. (cont) pic.twitter.com/GAjriKIigo — Ashley Kang #Worlds2020 (@AshleyKang) October 12, 2020 Tarzan has been taking a break from …
Only 3,050 viewers perfect in Worlds 2020 group stage Pick’Ems
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
It’s safe to say that the 2020 League of Legends World Championship hasn’t gone as expected so far. At the end of group stage, only 3,050 viewers who participated in the Pick’em accurately predicted the final standings of the 16 teams. With 3.2 million Pick’em participants, that’s only 0.095% of League of Legends fans who made accurate predictions. This year’s Pick’em participants probably had a tough time due to the …
K/DA ALL OUT skin line revealed, includes new champion Seraphine
William Davis
League of Legends
The anticipated new K/DA skin line has finally been announced by Riot Games and will include a new skin for all members of the virtual pop group, including the upcoming champion Seraphine. K/DA’s going ALL OUT. Become a superfan with special events across League of Legends, Legends of Runeterra, and Teamfight Tactics. Return to the stage with K/DA ALL OUT Akali, Evelynn, Ahri, and Kai’Sa—and get ready to meet their …
Worlds 2020 playoffs schedule
William Davis
League of Legends
With the 2020 League of Legends World Championship group stage in the books, it’s time to look ahead at the upcoming playoffs where the eight best teams will compete for the Summoner’s Cup. The next stage of the tournament will consist of four exciting quarterfinals, where eight teams will be cut down to just four. The knockout stage has a great lineup of teams, so take a look at the …
Top Esports tops group D despite losing to FlyQuest
William Davis
League of Legends
Top Esports secures the first seed in group D after taking down DragonX at the last game of the 2020 League of Legends World Championship group stage. The top-two seeds in group D had to be decided in the very last game of the day. Top Esports has been the clear favorites all along until they stumbled against FlyQuest. The LCS third seed managed to take down the tournament favorites …
These are the teams eliminated from Worlds 2020
William Davis
League of Legends
The 2020 League of Legends World Championship group stage has concluded and eight teams didn’t manage to qualify for the playoffs stage. Some teams were expected not to advance from the group stage, while others didn’t live up to fans’ and experts’ expectations. It’s worth taking a look at some of the biggest teams that have left the tournament and what they could have done differently. Team Liquid had a …
Worlds 2020 Pick’Em quarterfinals predictions
William Davis
League of Legends
Everything is ready for the next stage in the 2020 World Championship. Sixteen teams battled in the group stage, but only eight made it to the Knock-out stage. In this stage, all series are best-of-five with only one team advancing. Losers don’t get a second chance. I’s do or die at Worlds for all the teams. The #Worlds2020 Quarterfinals! pic.twitter.com/siNgYglCP1 — LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 11, 2020 TOP Esports came …
As FlyQuest leaves Worlds 2020, what went wrong for the LCS?
William Davis
League of Legends
With the loss against DragonX at the 2020 League of Legends World Championship group stage, FlyQuest is out of contention and will leave the tournament as the third and last team from the LCS. FlyQuest was placed in a tough group with two potential tournament favorites, forcing the team to bring something completely new to the table for a chance to advance. Taking on Top Esports and DRX was too …
2020 Worlds final will have a live crowd of over 6,000 people
William Davis
News
It was a delight for many fans and players alike when the LPL announced that over 6,000 people will be able to attend the 2020 League of Legends World Championship final live at the Pudong Football Stadium in Shanghai. Worlds final will have a live audience in the stadium! And the ticket is free! 6312 audience will have the chance to go into the venue and witness the birth of …
Fnatic advance from Worlds 2020 groups, are they the best LEC team?
William Davis
League of Legends
Fnatic lost the first-place decider at the 2020 League of Legends World Championship group stage against Gen.G but the team is still ready for the knock-out stage. Despite a very competitive group, Fnatic is ready for the Worlds quarterfinals after playing impressive League of Legends throughout the whole group stage. The European squad will be the second LEC team in the quarterfinals, but might actually be considered the strongest LEC …
TSM goes winless at Worlds 2020
William Davis
League of Legends
Team SoloMid lost their sixth and final game at the 2020 League of Legends World Championship to LGD Gaming. Both teams went into the match without anything but pride to play for. TSM got knocked out of contention earlier by Fnatic. LGD had the same fate. LGD has been playing fairly well throughout the group stage, but have needed the last marginals to win more games. Against TSM, the Chinese …
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.
