League of Legends
League of Legends
Team SoloMid vs. Fnatic LoL Worlds 2020 betting analysis
William Davis
The first day of the 2020 League of Legends World Championship main event will include a highly anticipated match between western giants Fnatic and Team SoloMid. The two fan favorites will be jockeying for position, likely battling for second place as Korea’s Gen.G stands as the clear favorite in the group. That makes this a critical match for both teams as they look to gain an early edge on the …
League of Legends
New Odyssey, Halloween skins set to arrive in League of Legends
William Davis
The Odyssey skin line is making its return to League of Legends with five new intergalactic skins. In the latest Public Beta Environment preview, five new skins were revealed for the popular Odyssey skin line. Champions set to receive a fresh new look include Kha’Zix, Aatrox, Sivir, Twisted Fate, and Karma. PBE Preview: Odyssey’s back! ???? ???? Odyssey Kha’Zix???? ???? Odyssey Aatrox⭐ ???? Odyssey Sivir⭐ ???? Odyssey Twisted Fate⭐ ???? …
League of Legends
Sneaky’s crazy new catgirl outfit is his big return to cosplay
Olivia Richman
Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi’s cosplays have been a bit minimal lately, like his recent e-girls and gamer girl-inspired looks, but that just changed. The former League of Legends pro revealed an elaborate, adorable, anime-themed cosplay on Twitter. With a long, white wig, cat ears, and a black and blue maid mini-skirt, Sneaky completely embodied Vanilla from Nekopara in her Race Queen getup. Sneaky’s cosplay was complete with a cat tail. Vanilla …
League of Legends
Uniboy speaks on PSG Talon’s shock Play-Ins run at Worlds 2020
Jared Wynne
PSG Talon is heading to the main event group stage at the 2020 World Championship despite having to play through the Play-Ins stage with multiple substitues, including Chen “Uniboy” Chang-Chu. Coming over from ahq Esports Club along with teammate Hsiao “Kongyue” Jen-Tso, mid laner Uniboy not only proved an effective substitute for PSG, he showed himself to be one of the team’s most reliable carries during a successful Play-Ins …
League of Legends
This is why Ornn is such a strong champion pick at Worlds 2020
Tokoni Uti
While a number of champions such as Graves and Orianna having thus far looked great in the Worlds 2020 Play-In stage, top laner Ornn has arguably been the most dominant in shaping the tournament meta. So important is the champion that Legacy Esports top laner Kim “Topoon” Ji-hoon advised that “whoever picks Ornn first is going to win” when asked for his thoughts ahead of his side’s tiebreaker game with …
League of Legends
Riot is making some changes to the jungle for 2021 preseason
William Davis
Lead gameplay designer Mark “Scuffy” Yetter revealed information regarding jungle changes in the 2021 preseason just a few days before the big update will hit the Public Beta Environment (PBE). Fans of League of Legends have experienced a lot of jungle changes throughout the years, and even though this preseason won’t be heavily focused on the jungle, Riot still has some changes in store. One last Preseason Preview before PBE: …
League of Legends
How will Team Liquid do in the 2020 World Championship main event?
William Davis
Team Liquid has secured a direct seed to the 2020 World Championship main event. Team Liquid qualified to Worlds’ main event by securing first place in Play-Ins. On a surprising turn of events, Liquid dropped a game against the winless INTZ. That result forced Liquid into a tiebreaker against Legacy Esports where the North American representative outclassed the opponent. Heading to Worlds, there were many questions about Liquid and how …
League of Legends
MAD Lions flopping in Worlds 2020 due to lack of leadership
William Davis
MAD Lions finished the play-in group stage with a 1-3 record and now has its hopes of qualifying for the 2020 League of Legends World Championship main event hanging on best-of-five eliminators. That’s assuming the team doesn’t get outright eliminated. MAD Lions has been struggling to find its momentum during the play-in stage. But why is it that a talented LEC team hasn’t been able to keep up against opponents …
Kai’Sa’s childhood revealed in the latest K/DA comic
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Ever since K/DA released their new hit single “THE BADDEST” last month, fans have been curious about the all-female singing sensations. Now the League of Legends community has the opportunity to get some insight into member Kai’Sa in the newest issue of a comic series called “K/DA: Harmonies.” Explore Kai’Sa’s world in the newest chapter of K/DA: Harmonies, the official K/DA comic!Read Episode 4: Kai’Sa now: https://t.co/ikQ4Y1Bpyc#KDA #KDAHARMONIES #COMIC #KAISA …
Samira is among most banned LoL champions despite low win rate
William Davis
League of Legends
New League of Legends marksman Samira has had a hectic debut in the game, making her one of the most banned champions in solo queue New champions are always heavily contested in solo queue, which often results in players removing them completely to avoid playing against something new. Samira is no different, especially since she was released with a very overtuned kit. Her strong power on release made Riot act …
PSG Talon’s substitutes advance the team to main Worlds event
William Davis
League of Legends
PSG Talon advances to the 2020 League of Legends World Championship main event after topping its play-in group with a win against Unicorns of Love in the tiebreaker. It has been an unexpected journey for PSG Talon, who entered the tournament with three substitutes due to travel restrictions and visa issues. The fact that PSG Talon could not play with its main line-up for the play-in stage, resulted in lowered …
LGD has been the biggest letdown of the 2020 Worlds play-in stage
William Davis
League of Legends
LGD Gaming takes its third loss at the 2020 World Championship play-in stage after getting decimated by Unicorns of Love. LGD was the clear favorite going into this year’s play-in stage, but had a horrible start to the tournament. With two losses throughout the first two days, LGD was forced to perform for the last few best-of-one games. The biggest hurdle for LGD has been their lack of coordination, but …
Team Liquid defeats Legacy Esports, continues Worlds 2020 dominance
William Davis
League of Legends
The second day of play-ins at the 2020 League of Legends World Championship ended with a dominant win from Team Liquid over Legacy Esports. 2-0 for @TeamLiquidLoL! #Worlds2020 pic.twitter.com/uk9nAtoCsW — LoL Esports (@lolesports) September 26, 2020 Both teams had a perfect start to the play-ins, with one win each going into this match. Liquid played a fairly clean match against MAD Lions, where they managed to take them down with …
LGD Gaming gets upset by Rainbow7 in 2020 World Championship
William Davis
League of Legends
LGD Gaming finished day two of the 2020 World Championship with no wins after a surprising loss against Rainbow7. LGD fans are having 2015 flashbacks after the team was defeated by LLA’s Rainbow7. LGD, one of the favorites to advance from Play-Ins, is having a difficult time finding its footing in the tournament. So far, the team has accumulated two defeats and is looking like the weakest team in Group …
Worlds set new viewership record in the first day of play-ins
William Davis
League of Legends
It didn’t take more than one day of the 2020 League of Legends World Championship play-in stage until the viewership record of a Worlds play-in game was beaten by Team Liquid and MAD Lions. Team Liquid vs. MAD Lions peaked at 1,155,657 viewers according to Echarts and is therefore the most-watched play-in game up to now. The start of this year’s Worlds was heavily anticipated by fans who were all …
MAD Lions Shad0w on jungle Evelynn and his goals at Worlds
Jared Wynne
League of Legends
MAD Lions had a mixed first day at the 2020 World Championship. The team found victory versus Brazil’s INTZ of the CBLOL, but the win wasn’t as clean as some had expected. This would prove a grim omen for later in the day, as MAD Lions fell to Team Liquid in closing out the first day of competition. The team is still very much in the running to advance …
LGD vs. Unicorns of Love: Worlds play-in betting analysis
William Davis
League of Legends
The LPL fourth seed LGD Gaming will take on the kings of the LCL, Unicorns of Love, in the 2020 World Championship play-in stage. It will be a match between teams that would usually never face off against each other on Summoner’s Rift, but this is Worlds, where fans are treated with such rare matchups. Both sides know how to play aggressively, so fans might be in for a real …
Team Liquid runs over MAD Lions in Worlds 2020 EU vs. NA matchup
William Davis
League of Legends
Team Liquid beat MAD Lions in a confident fashion in the first EU vs. NA matchup of the 2020 League of Legends World Championship. The rivalry between North America and Europe started out with a clash between the LEC’s MAD Lions and LCS’ Team Liquid. MAD Lions went into the matchup as a favorite, with Liquid attempting to prove that LCS can play at a high level. They most definitely …
PSG Talon pulls off massive upset over LGD Gaming at Worlds 2020
William Davis
League of Legends
PSG Talon beat group favorites LGD Gaming in the first big upset of the 2020 League of Legends World Championship play-in stage. LGD were the clear favorites going into the match, as they are considered the best team in play-ins by many fans and experts. Despite all expectations, PSG Talon came out swinging with a great composition and took down the fourth seed from the LPL. What is even more …
Legacy Esports vs. INTZ is Worlds 2020’s first nailbiter
William Davis
League of Legends
Legacy Esports took down INTZ in the first real nailbiter at the 2020 League of Legends World Championship play-in stage. A game between the two little-known teams ended up becoming an intense, 40-minute battle that fans will remember. Plenty of kills, back and forth play, and intense team fights were on the menu but in the end, it was Legacy Esports who had the endurance to close it out. .@LegacyOCE …
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.
