League of Legends
League of Legends
Who is Team Whales?
Olivia Richman
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 …
League of Legends
An interview with Mikyx, G2 esports’ support at LEC
Fariha Bhatti
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 …
League of Legends
Leaked splash art for Briar shows LoL’s first vampire champ
Fariha Bhatti
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 …
League of Legends
NRG is your 2023 LCS Summer champion
William Davis
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 …
League of Legends
Faker receives death threat, police looking for individual
Olivia Richman
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 …
League of Legends
Another team is reportedly leaving LCS
Tokoni Uti
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. …
League of Legends
Worlds 2023 schedule, format, and qualified teams
William Davis
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 …
League of Legends
JDG is your 2023 LPL Summer Split champion
William Davis
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. …
Yasuo coming to LoL fighting game Project L
Nicholas James
League of Legends
The latest champion to come to Project L has been revealed. Yasuo, The Unforgiven will be the fourth champion seeing his debut at EVO this weekend. Riot Games, the developers of League of Legends, Legends of Runeterra, Teamfight Tactics, and Valorant, has been drumming up hype for the upcoming fighting game. This game, dubbed Project L, is set in the League of Legends universe and features the same champions. The …
Team Liquid Yeon wins LCS Rookie of the Year
William Davis
League of Legends
Team Liquid’s bot laner Sean “Yeon” Sung has been named Rookie of the Year in the LCS. It is a good season for North American talent. Yeon received the Rookie of the Year award just days before Team Liquid plays its potential final match of the season. In contention for the title was Yeon’s teammate, Eain “APA” Stearns. The Rookie of the Year is decided through a voting process that …
LCS unveils 2023 Summer Split All-Pro Team
William Davis
League of Legends
The LCS has chosen its All-Pro team with North American players as the majority. All-Pro Teams are a tradition near the end of the regular season. Professional players, casters, coaches, and journalists get to pick the best players of the season. In the 2023 Summer Split, three out of the five spots have gone to North American players. It sparked, once again, the conversation about North American Talent. The 2023 …
How to beat every Tournament of Souls champion
Nicholas James
League of Legends
The new Tournament of Souls mode is one of the features added to League of Legends for the Soul Fighter event, and we’ve compiled how to beat every single champion in the game mode. The Tournament of Souls mini-game is inside of the League of Legends client, and it’s essentially a Flash-style fighting mini-game. You play Soul Fighter Samira on her journey to dethrone Viego and become the best fighter …
What is the LoL Tournament of Souls?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
The new Soul Fighter event has brought lots of new features to League of Legends, including the Tournament of Souls, which we’ll break down here. Soul Fighter is an event that spans across every single one of Riot Games’ major titles associated with League of Legends. LoL itself, Legends of Runeterra, Wild Rift, and Teamfight Tactics are all getting new features and flashy bits to celebrate the event. On the …
Humanoid: “This split we are all comfortable playing 5v5 together”
Tokoni Uti
League of Legends
Following a 2-0 LEC summer group stage win over MAD Lions, we spoke with Fnatic mid laner Marek “Humanoid” Brázda. The former MAD player particularly stood out in the series’ second match, claiming a ridiculous 17 kills on Jayce and was voted player of the series. He discussed the series, looked ahead to a rematch with SK, and gave his thoughts as to why Fnatic looks so much better this …
Everything behind the Fnatic Reptile drama
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Last week, Fnatic’s REL team, Fnatic TQ, announced that it had parted ways with jungler Reptile over an inappropriate account name. Here’s what went down in the Fnatic Reptile drama. Fnatic Reptile was the AD Carry player for Fnatic TQ, Fnatic’s REL team in the Spanish region. He was decently well-known in the community for his presence on Reddit and other social media platforms for meta-related posts and discussion. During …
Doublelift hospitalized, leaving fans worried about LCS star
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
League of Legends veteran Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng is currently in the hospital, leaving fans worried for his health. The 100 Thieves star has won the LCS eight times during his long career in pro League of Legends. Since he joined the LCS in 2011, Doublelift has gone through a lot of career changes, including switching teams, drama with teammates, and debating streaming over competitive play. Through it all, Doublelift has …
All of the Soul Fighter TFT Quests and how to beat them
Nicholas James
League of Legends
The new Soul Fighter event is hitting League of Legends’ live servers, so here are all of the Soul Fighter TFT Quests and how to complete them. There are four legends, each of which has four different tasks that they need you to complete. These tend to be absolute hits with the TF T community, granting free rewards to TFT players all over. The event is centered around the new …
T1 Faker is back to individual practice, may return sooner than expected
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok had the League of Legends community worried when it was announced he was taking a break due to an arm injury. But it’s now been confirmed that Faker is returning to the LCK. T1 benched Faker in early July after he reported feeling pain in his right arm and hand. At the time, he went to get evaluated by a doctor, and Yoon “Poby” Sung-won was put …
Everything about the TFT: Soul Brawl game mode
Nicholas James
League of Legends
A new game mode for Riot Games’ auto battler has been announced to coincide with the Soul Fighter Event, this is what we know about TFT: Soul Brawl and the amazingly named Choncc Dome. There’s been a mysterious button on the Teamfight Tactics tab in the League of Legends client for a week now, advertising a coming event. “Coming Soon: The Choncc Dome” it reads, with a picture of Choncc, …
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.
