League of Legends
League of Legends
The best picks for Worlds 2023 Play-In Pick’Ems
Nicholas James
Worlds 2023 Play-In Stage is nearly upon us, so here are our best Worlds 2023 Pick ‘Ems for the Play-In Stage and Worlds Qualifier Series. The format of Worlds has changed this year, and that means Pick’Ems have too. As always, there are some amazing prizes if you have a perfect Worlds prediction record, and bragging rights if you best your friends. Hopefully, we’re here to help you get both …
League of Legends
JD Gaming full schedule at Worlds 2023
William Davis
JD Gaming is the LPL’s first seed and overall favorite to win Worlds 2023. Follow JDG’s schedule closely as they are close to making history. In a competitive year, there are four possible titles for a team to win. Two domestic titles, Spring and Summer, the Mid-Season Invitational, and Worlds. JDG has three in the bag and is going for the biggest one yet. JDG is regarded as one of, …
League of Legends
When does Gen.G play next?
William Davis
Gen.G is LCK’s number one seed at Worlds 2023. Want to watch them compete? When does Gen.G play? Here is the full schedule. Gen.G qualified for Worlds 2023 as the first seed from the LCK after defeating T1 in the Summer Season finals. In 2023, Gen.G won back-to-back domestic titles and qualified for both Worlds 2023 and MSI 2023. At MSI 2023, Gen.G had an underwhelming performance. Gen.G struggled against …
League of Legends
South Korea wins gold medal at 2022 Asian Games
William Davis
South Korea earned the gold medal in the 2022 Asian Games after defeating Chinese Taipei. This victory has major implications for all the players involved. South Korea finished its participation in the 2022 Asian Games and is taking home the gold. The squad defeated Chinese Taipei and ended the tournament undefeated after not losing a single game. South Korea’s fate was decided on Thursday when the team defeated China. Playing …
League of Legends
South Korea undefeated in 2022 Asian Games group stage
William Davis
South Korea national team dominated the group stage in the 2022 Asian Games and is advancing to the knockout stage. South Korea finished day one of the tournament undefeated. The team faced Hong Kong and Kazakhstan in Group A, defeating both of them. In game one, South Korea started Gen.G’s mid laner Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon in the match against Hong Kong. In the second match of the day, Lee “Faker” …
League of Legends
Shopify Rebellion replaces TSM in LCS
William Davis
Shopify Rebellion is joining the LCS after completing the acquisition of TSM’s slot in the competition. Shopify Rebellion is the newest team in the LCS, the organization confirmed through social media. “Entering League of Legends – one of the largest esports titles, with a rich competitive history – felt like an obvious next step for us as we continue to grow our presence in esports,” said Dario “TLO” Wünsch, esports …
League of Legends
Faker benched in first 2022 Asian Games pre-evaluation
William Davis
Three time Worlds Champion Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok was benched in South Korea’s first match against Vietnam ahead of the 2022 Asian Games. Team South Korea played the first round of evaluation matches ahead of the 2022 Asian Games, and one important face was missing from the lineup. Against Vietnam, team South Korea started Gen.G’s mid laner and current LCK champion Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoonk, leaving Faker on the bench. The rest …
League of Legends
G2 Esports is the LEC 2023 Season Finals champion
William Davis
G2 Esports is the LEC 2023 Season Finals champion after defeating Fnatic and has secured the LEC first seed ahead of Worlds 2023. G2 is the undisputed LEC Season champion. After the format changes in the LEC, the year was divided into three seasons: Winter, Spring, and Summer. The LEC 2023 Season Finals is the year’s culmination, with the champions from each season. Other teams qualified for the finals based …
Who is Team Whales?
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
A new Vietnamese League of Legends team is going to the 2023 League of Legends World Championship. If you’ve never heard of Team Whales, here’s why. Since 2019, there’s only been two teams that have been representing Vietnam at international League of Legends tournaments. GAM Esports and Saigon Buffalo have been the two VCS teams that have had time on larger, international stages like the Mid-Season Invitational and the World …
An interview with Mikyx, G2 esports’ support at LEC
Fariha Bhatti
League of Legends
After securing their third LEC title of the season in the Summer playoffs, G2 Esports continued their good form by opening their Summer finals campaign a 3-1 win over Team BDS. The victory sees them progress through the finals’ upper bracket while also securing a place at this year’s World Championship. We spoke with their support Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle following the win. WIN.gg: What were your general thoughts on how …
Leaked splash art for Briar shows LoL’s first vampire champ
Fariha Bhatti
League of Legends
Splash art of League of Legends’ next skirmish-oriented champion, Briar, has slipped through the cracks, and it’s bone-chilling scary. In a dev blog post, Riot confirmed four champions for 2023, of which Nafiri and Milio have already joined the roster. Now, LoL leaker Big Bad Bear has dug out the first look at Briar, the vampire entity. It’s tough to say if it’s the official art for Briar, but it …
NRG is your 2023 LCS Summer champion
William Davis
League of Legends
NRG is the 2023 LCS Summer champion after pulling off a major upset against Cloud9. NRG is closing its first season in the LCS with a title. The team achieved what many believed impossible and denied Cloud9 its third consecutive championship. NRG started its finals weekend with a hard-earned victory against Team Liquid in a series that went the distance. The semifinal series was the perfect warmup for NRG. In …
Disguised Toast to host first-ever NA Legends Invitational
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Riot has just announced its first-ever NA Legends Invitational. Earlier today, the LCS introduced the NA Legends Invitational, hosted by Jeremy “Disguised Toast” Wang. The collaboration is the “first of its kind,” bringing together pros and streamers alike for a special event. Disguised Toast has been making waves in the League of Legends esports scene after his team Disguised won the NACL Summer Split. This was after the passionate streamer …
MAD Elyoya: “We didn’t find our identity”
Tokoni Uti
League of Legends
MAD Lion’s 9-game loss streak finally came to an end as they dispatched Excel 3-0 in the opening series of the LEC Sumer Finals. The win secured a Worlds spot for MAD and they’ll face the winner of G2 and Team BDS next. Following the victory over Excel, WIN.gg spoke with MAD jungler Javier “Elyoya” Prades Batalla. WIN.gg: You said in your post-game interview on the broadcast that you expected …
Gen.G is your 2023 LCK Summer champion
William Davis
League of Legends
Gen.G is the 2023 LCK Summer Season after defeating T1. Gen.G has now earned its third consecutive domestic title. Gen.G added yet another trophy to its case. The team secured a clean 3-0 victory over T1 in the 2023 LCK Summer Season finals. Once again, Gen.G denies T1 the title and the number one seed at an international event. It is becoming a pattern for T1 to be dominant throughout …
Faker receives death threat, police looking for individual
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
It’s been confirmed that the legendary Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok has received death threats earlier this week. Local police in Seoul responded to death threats against T1’s mid laner and vehicles were spotted outside the organization’s headquarters. A report confirmed that the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency is investigating a threat that was made against Faker’s life. It was reported that an individual posted online that he planned to go to the …
Another team is reportedly leaving LCS
Tokoni Uti
League of Legends
An additional organization has reportedly sold its slot in the League of Legends Championship Series in North America, according to host and commentator Daniel “dGon” Gonzales. During an episode of the Facecheck League of Legends podcast between content creators dGon, Christian “IWillDominate” Rivera, and Nick “LS” De Cesare, it was revealed that an unnamed team had left the LCS alongside TSM, the latter of which confirmed its departure in May. …
Worlds 2023 schedule, format, and qualified teams
William Davis
League of Legends
The 2023 League of Legends World Championship is the biggest and final event of the year in professional play. 22 teams from all over the world will compete for the trophy every League of Legends player dreams about, the Summoner’s Cup. No matter the team or the region, they all share the common goal of winning Worlds. For all the qualified teams, it is the culmination of a year’s worth …
JDG is your 2023 LPL Summer Split champion
William Davis
League of Legends
JDG is the 2023 LPL Summer Split Champion. The MSI champion has secured its third title of the year and is heading to Worlds, where it is hoping to get a fourth. JDG is one step closer to making history and completing the grand slam. JDG could become the first team to win both regional seasons, MSI, and Worlds in the same year. JDG defeated LNG Esports in a series …
Project L review at Evo 2023: Powerful, dynamic, and promising
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Project L is a heavily anticipated fighting game that the competitive FGC has been waiting for. Not only does the game have visually stunning and dynamic gameplay, but the fighting community is hoping for support from Riot Games to help expand the grassroots scene. I had the chance to play Project L at Evo 2023, and it truly did feel like the new beginning that the FGC is looking for. …
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.
