League of Legends
League of Legends
PSG Talon shows how to defeat JD Gaming in Worlds 2020
William Davis
PSG Talon pulled off the biggest upset of 2020 World Championship by taking down JD Gaming, but it was too little too late. PSG Talon went out of the tournament with a bang. The PCS got disqualified early after losing versus DAMWON Gaming, yet the squad made every match count. Unlike some teams that might take this as an opportunity to play “troll” compositions, PSG Talon took every minute of …
League of Legends
TL Tactical proves that young NA talent is worth investing in
William Davis
Team Liquid got knocked out of the 2020 League of Legends World Championship despite a great effort which almost resulted in a comeback performance. Liquid has been exceeding expectations at Worlds ever since the play-in stage, where they qualified directly to the main event. While Liquid didn’t get the result that fans had hoped for, one player in particular has truly proven himself. Bot laner Edward “Tactical” Ra had a …
League of Legends
Lack of NA amateur development blamed for poor Worlds performance
Nicholas James
As LCS teams again perform poorly at the 2020 World Championships, fans and analysts look to find factors to blame or to rationalize the results. Complaints from years past include high ping on the North American server, a general streaming culture, and the smaller player base of the region. One other reason that has also been used previously, and is being echoed again this year, is the lack of a …
League of Legends
The best composition to help you win your Clash Worlds Cup
William Davis
Clash is back with the Worlds Cup, a tournament to give every player a chance to feel like the pros competing in Shanghai. Clash will start on October 10 when the teams are competing in the group stage of the tournament. All teams need to be locked up before that date. Players that don’t have a full team can offer their services as free agents. Players that opt to enter …
League of Legends
Suning vs. G2 Esports: betting analysis at Worlds 2020
William Davis
G2 Esports and Suning are closing group A in the 2020 World Championship in a match that might decide the entire group. G2 started its Worlds run as the favorite to dominate group A. The European squad stumbled against Team Liquid, while Suning gained momentum and picked up key victories. At this point it’s fair to assume that Suning is warmed up and ready to fight for first place, while …
League of Legends
Hashinshin says he was investigated by FBI, claims innocence
Olivia Richman
League of Legends content creator Robert “Hashinshin” Brotz has been permanently banned from Twitch, but he’s still using YouTube to speak out against grooming accusations made against him this year. Recently, Hashinshin posted a YouTube video claiming that he was investigated by the FBI. He also claims that they found him to have been innocent. In the video, Hashinshin went over the timeline of events involved in the accusations against …
League of Legends
These are the best performing players in Worlds 2020’s groups
William Davis
All teams at the 2020 League of Legends World Championship main event have played its first three games. But which players have been the most dominant so far? The first round-robin of the Worlds group stage has been concluded and teams are now entering the final days where all four groups will be settled. Some players have come out of the first games with a lot of confidence, while some …
League of Legends
Riot kills Pantheon support, nerfs new champion Samira again
William Davis
While the 2020 World Championship is booming in Shanghai, Riot Games still has to keep the game fresh and exciting. Lead gameplay designer Mark “Scuffy” Yetter recently presented a look at the upcoming patch 10.21 and what it has in store for players. 10.21 Patch Preview with changes. Not 100% locked down but almost finalized. pic.twitter.com/5GkNJE36jW — Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) October 6, 2020 The patch will not affect the 2020 …
Riot Games shuts down the Oceanic Pro League
William Davis
League of Legends
Riot Games has announced that the Oceanic Pro League (OPL) and Riot’s Sydney office will be shutting down. The OPL started five years ago with a goal to build a competitive and sustainable league to drive both commercial growth and fan engagement in the region. Sadly, the OPL never turned into the league that Riot had hoped for and will now be shutting down after not meeting its goals. An …
What is ability haste in League of Legends and how does it work?
William Davis
League of Legends
As part of the 2021 preseason item overhaul, Riot is getting rid of the cooldown reduction (CDR) stat and replacing it with the new ability haste. Riot’s goal for Season 11 is to enable greater flexibility in how players cast their abilities more often and to give clearer build options. To avoid unnecessary confusion, Riot has chosen to rename cooldown reduction to ability haste. The rework has still left people …
TSM is still without wins at Worlds 2020 and it may stay that way
William Davis
League of Legends
LGD Gaming sent Team SoloMid to the bottom of group C after beating them at the 2020 League of Legends World Championship. TSM needed a win against LGD after losing its first two games at Worlds. Going down 0-3 in groups is almost impossible to come back from, so TSM had to showcase their absolute best play. Unfortunately for TSM, LGD was not an easy opponent after they beat Fnatic …
Fnatic hands Gen.G first loss at Worlds 2020, exploits weaknesses
William Davis
League of Legends
Fnatic handed Gen.G its first loss at the 2020 League of Legends World Championship group stage after an impressive team effort. Gen.G has been succeeding with its controlled late game play style so far at Worlds. But against Fnatic, they tried something new. Instead of a team fight oriented composition, Gen.G went for the Nidalee in the jungle and Renekton on top. The duo is known to be very strong …
FlyQuest needs upset at Worlds 2020 to advance from groups
William Davis
League of Legends
FlyQuest lost its second game at the 2020 League of Legends World Championship group stage after falling short against DragonX. The loss to DRX makes it difficult for FlyQuest to advance from the group, with only three games left to play. It seems likely that the LCS underdogs will have to make an upset against either Top Esports or DRX to have a chance at securing a top-two seed in …
Suning and G2 in first, Team Liquid has a chance to advance in Worlds 2020
William Davis
League of Legends
Suning tied for first place with G2 Esports after a dominant victory over Machi Esports in the 2020 World Championship. Things are getting interesting in group A at Worlds. Suning and G2 are currently tied in the first place with two victories and one defeat. Team Liquid is tied with Machi with one win and two losses. Group A is looking closer than ever ahead of the second half of round …
Team Liquid breaks G2 Esports undefeated record in Worlds 2020
William Davis
League of Legends
Team Liquid broke G2 Esports’ perfect record in the 2020 World Championship, but it’s too soon for North American fans to celebrate. Team Liquid secured its first victory in the main event against no other than G2. The North American squad is finally showing signs of life after two defeats against Machi Esports and Suning. While the victory comes when the team needed it the most, it’s too early to …
Top Esports hands Korea its first loss at Worlds 2020 group stage with Nocturne
William Davis
League of Legends
Top Esports took down DragonX in an intense game at the 2020 League of Legends World Championship group stage. The battle for first place in group D included tournament favorites Top Esports and the Korean jokers from DRX. Both teams dominated its opening game of the group stage, so this match was going to decide a lot. DRX went with a ballsy draft by picking Quinn for the top lane …
FlyQuest roster proves to be the best NA team at Worlds 2020 with win over UoL
William Davis
League of Legends
FlyQuest secured North America its first win at the 2020 League of Legends World Championship group stage after a hectic win over Unicorns of Love. After a poor start to the group stage for both teams, it was time for one of them to pick up a win. FlyQuest was looking to get the LCS its first win at the group stage, while UoL was trying to prove that wildcard …
Team Liquid in big trouble at Worlds 2020 after loss to Suning
William Davis
League of Legends
Team Liquid took another tough loss in the 2020 League of Legends World Championship after getting run down by Suning. .@suning_gaming beat @TeamLiquidLoL and pick up their first win! #Worlds2020 pic.twitter.com/ARqifx7HPU — LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 5, 2020 With all LCS teams still being winless at Worlds going into day three, it was up to Liquid to finally get a win for the region. Suning, who almost managed to take …
G2 Esports looks ready for LPL teams at Worlds 2020 with 2-0 start
William Davis
League of Legends
G2 Esports continues to be undefeated in the 2020 League of Legends World Championship and already has its eyes on the next stage of the tournament. The LEC’s finest took down Machi Esports and secured its second victory at Worlds. The European squad remains undefeated and is already thinking about the knock-out stage. Despite a couple of missteps in the LEC, G2 is showing up when it matters most and …
LGD Gaming beats Fnatic to shake off ugly Worlds 2020 play-in stage
William Davis
News
LGD Gaming took its first victory in the 2020 League of Legends World Championship group stage by beating Fnatic. .@LGDgaming take down @FNATIC! #Worlds2020 pic.twitter.com/poJvvsRFpC — LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 4, 2020 Fnatic got off to a great start in the Worlds group stage by beating North American rivals Team SoloMid, but LGD seems to be a higher caliber. LGD had some shaky performances in the play-in stage, but managed …
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.
