League of Legends
League of Legends
Riot teases Dr. Mundo rework, 3 new champions in champion roadmap
William Davis
Riot has just released the last champion roadmap of 2020, teasing the new Dr. Mundo visual and gameplay update and some new upcoming champions. Pssstt! Want a sneak peek at the new champs and VGUs we’re cooking on? We’ve got a: ???? ️ Iron-willed criminal???? Rising star???? Possessive junglerAnd Mundo’s VGU goes where it pleases! Check out the newest Champion Roadmap ???? https://t.co/zgwsO9RoqL pic.twitter.com/kwAjv93FMi — League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) September …
News
MAD Lions vs. Team Liquid: Worlds 2020 play-in betting analysis
William Davis
The first match between North American and European teams at the 2020 World Championship will be between Team Liquid and MAD Lions on the first day of the play-in stage. Both teams have been performing well throughout the summer split and will now write the first chapter of the regional rivalry in 2020. Liquid qualified as the LCS third seed, while MAD Lions took the new fourth spot for the …
League of Legends
Doublelift roasted by LPL teams ahead of 2020 World Championship
William Davis
Team SoloMid’ Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng got completely owned by the LPL teams in a trash talk video promoting the event. The LPL teams released a video roasting their competitor at the 2020 World Championship and Doublelift received a personal message. “Doublelift, the only game you have left might be your trash talk game,” TOP Esports jungler Hung “Karsa” Hao-Hsuan said on the video. “Wait, you’re even wearing the trash you …
League of Legends
Jungle gap might be biggest challenge for G2, Fnatic at Worlds
William Davis
The League of Legends 2020 World Championship is almost here and all eyes are on the LEC and LPL teams, the two best-performing regions internationally in the past couple of years. For years, the LCK was considered the best regional league in the world. That perception changed in 2018 when a European team faced a Chinese squad in finals. Invictus Gaming versus Fnatic would only be the beginning of the …
Riot wants Sion and Urgot to become junglers in patch 10.20
William Davis
League of Legends
A detailed preview for the upcoming patch 10.20 has been revealed by lead gameplay designer Mark “Scuffy” Yetter, where Sion and Urgot are getting some buffs in the jungle. The patch doesn’t include many huge changes but is instead targeting some off-meta champions that might make their return to the meta soon. In the nerf section, strong picks such as Katarina and Karthus are getting some attention. 10.20 Patch preview …
FlyQuest introduces WorldQuest for the 2020 World Championship
William Davis
League of Legends
FlyQuest is heading to its first world championship and the organization is going to make the most of it with the introduction of WorldQuest. For the trees AND the seas! ???? ???? Introducing our #Worlds2020 campaign, WorldQuest! Let’s #ShowcaseGreatness together!???? : https://t.co/VwRspP8TOP pic.twitter.com/czSPPGnWvq — WorldQuest (@FlyQuest) September 23, 2020 FlyQuest is going to plant trees and replenish corals throughout the 2020 League of Legends World Championship. FlyQuest will be basing …
Riot sees big increase in viewership for 2020 LCS Summer Split
William Davis
League of Legends
Even though the 2020 LCS Summer Split was played out remotely, the viewership was at its highest since 2016 according to Riot Games’ recent viewer update. Behind the Numbers: A Record-Breaking 2020 #LCS Summer Split???? : https://t.co/uJfNTAUDgS pic.twitter.com/0X8kEmfwLn — LCS (@LCSOfficial) September 22, 2020 Riot has been generally transparent with the viewership numbers for the LCS and LEC throughout the year, and it may be because it has been going …
Riot plans to have a limited live audience at Worlds 2020
Olivia Richman
News
It’s been a tough year for live events in esports, but Riot Games is hoping to bring a live audience to what is likely to be the most-watched esports tournament of the year. Despite the year’s events creating new and unforeseen obstacles for tournament organizers and game developers alike, Riot has been trying to maintain a relatively normal season across its competitive landscape for League of Legends. Even though most …
New champion Samira gets nerfed just one day after release
William Davis
League of Legends
It didn’t take long before Riot Games stepped in to deliver a hotfix nerf to new marksman Samira. Samira made her debut in League of Legends recently, but despite being tested on the Public Beta Environment (PBE), she was way too strong on release. The new marksman is a mix between a ranged and melee champion, with a lot of mobility and damage available in her kit. Players quickly realized …
Riot hotfixes game-breaking Rek’Sai bug with new update
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Riot Games developers have quickly fixed a game-breaking bug on League of Legends jungle champion Rek’Sai. The League of Legends champion became the worst jungler in the game thanks to a bug introduced by patch 10.19. Even though developers meant to fix her in the patch, Rek’Sai was left even worse off than before the update. A glitch that made her cooldown for the “unborrowed” ability not tick down was …
This is the best build for new marksman champion Samira
William Davis
League of Legends
The newest addition to League of Legends, the gun-toting Samira, has recently hit live servers and now players are starting to figure out the most optimal builds for her. While Samira is a fairly complex and innovative champion on Summoner’s Rift, her builds seem to be straightforward. The new marksman scales very well with flat attack damage, which is why her build follows a very damage-heavy path. Her runes can …
New K/DA Song announced for Worlds with Seraphine
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Riot Games has announced that K/DA, the League of Legends K-pop group, will debut a new song on stage for the 2020 World Championship. In the Worlds 2020 Media Preview, Riot said that the group will perform the new song with its latest collaborator, Seraphine. Seraphine is K/DA’s newest collaborator and is rumored to be the next champion in the League of Legends roster. The new Riot Games character has …
Cabochard is exploring new options for the 2021 season
William Davis
League of Legends
Vitality top laner Lucas “Cabochard” Simon-Meslet recently announced that he will be exploring new options for the 2021 season despite still being contracted through November. The veteran top laner will possibly be looking for new career options after playing on Vitality for almost five years. Cabochard has been with the team since its debut on the biggest European League of Legends stage in the 2016 spring split. Vitality acquired Gambit …
These are the best champions for solo queue in LoL patch 10.19
William Davis
League of Legends
Patch 10.19 has hit the live servers and players are already grinding solo queue. But which champions are the best to climb with? The Worlds patch brought changes to many high-impact champions for competitive play, but not many big changes that will impact the state of solo queue. Champions such as Azir, Twisted Fate, and Caitlyn got some nerfs to ensure they won’t dominate at Worlds, while Aphelios, Irelia, and …
Riot reveals info on 2020 Worlds Pick’em with a new prize
William Davis
League of Legends
With the 2020 World Championship right around the corner, Riot Games has finally revealed information about the upcoming Pick’em competition and all types of rewards fans can earn throughout the tournament by watching and making predictions. This year, new special rewards will be given to people who manage to get all of their Pick’ems correct. This means that you have to predict the outcomes of the group stage and all …
Kanavi, Loken renew contracts with JD Gaming ahead of Worlds 2020
William Davis
League of Legends
JD Gaming jungler Seo “Kanavi” Jin-hyeok and bot laner Lee “LokeN” Dong-wook have extended their contracts ahead of the 2020 World Championship according to a post on the Chinese site Weibo. The two South Korean stars will extend their contracts with JD Gaming after a successful year in the LPL. Together with teammates Zhang “Zoom” Xing-Ran, Zeng “Yagao” Qi, and Zuo “LvMao” Ming-Hao, they are one of the favorites to …
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.
League of Legends
League of Legends
League of Legends
League of Legends
