League of Legends
League of Legends
How to beat every Tournament of Souls champion
Nicholas James
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 …
League of Legends
What is the LoL Tournament of Souls?
Nicholas James
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 …
League of Legends
Humanoid: “This split we are all comfortable playing 5v5 together”
Tokoni Uti
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 …
League of Legends
Everything behind the Fnatic Reptile drama
Nicholas James
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 …
League of Legends
Everything about the TFT: Soul Brawl game mode
Nicholas James
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
The LoL Arena tier list for every champion
Nicholas James
The new League of Legends game mode is here, so we’ve put together a LoL Arena tier list that covers every single champion in the game. The New League of Legends game mode is a 2v2v2v2 deathmatch mode. You’ll play with a teammate and fight other duos in varying rounds of combat. If you want to learn more about the mode itself, check out our complete guide to the new …
League of Legends
T1 Faker benched due to health issues
William Davis
T1 mid laner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok will be benched for at least two weeks, the organization confirmed. On July 5, T1 fans were surprised to see rookie mid laner Yoon “Poby” Sung-won in the starting lineup against DRX. Moments before the match, the team shared that Faker would be stepping down for the foreseeable future. The decision came days after Faker shared that he wasn’t feeling well and was working …
League of Legends
How tall is Naafiri? The Shurima huntress explained
Nicholas James
The new Darkin hound assassin is full of mysteries, but there’s one question that many fans want the answer to: How tall is Naafiri? Naafiri was a Shuriman Ascended God-Warrior, imbued with the power of the sun through the Sun Disc. After the war in Icathia and the assumed death of her emperor, Azir, Naafiri was driven mad like all the other Darkin. Traumatized by her fight against the void …
Interview with MAD Hylissang: “We’re overwhelmed with emotions”
Tokoni Uti
League of Legends
Despite coming out swinging with a 4-0 start to the LEC summer 2023 regular season, Spring champions MAD Lions limped through to the group stage after losing the last five games on the bounce. Following the loss to Team BDS in MAD’s final regular season match, we spoke with support Zdravets “Hylissang” Galabov to get his thoughts on the downturn in fortunes and look ahead to the remainder of the …
When is Soul Fighter coming out?
William Davis
League of Legends
When is Soul Fighter coming out? The big summer event for League of Legends already has its release date. League of Legends has a way to make the summer events special. Every year, Riot Games delivers a unique experience for players across multiple titles. Previous summer events included Spirit Blossom and Star Guardians, which featured interactive storylines. In 2023, the summer event, Soul Fighter, promises to be bigger and better …
All League of Legends skins in new Soul Fighter line
William Davis
League of Legends
Soul Fighter is the upcoming summer event for League of Legends. The event, spawning four games, will see the debut of the Soul Fighter skins line. Summer events are, historically, the biggest events in League of Legends. These events introduce new game modes, skins, and feature more new content than any other event of the year. Ahead of summer, League of Legends revealed Soul Fighter. The Soul Fighter event will …
Former T1 jungler Clid accused of sexual misconduct
William Davis
League of Legends
Former T1 player Kim “Clid” Tae-min has been benched by Hanwha Life Esports after reports of sexual misconduct. Earlier this week, screenshots of an alleged conversation between the player and a minor started circulating on Twitter. The victim shared that she was approached by Clid, who then proceeded to sexually harass her through Kakao Talk. According to the victim, she cut off all contact with Clid after his violent remarks. …
All the Soul Fighter game mode details
Nicholas James
League of Legends
The Soul Fighter event is coming to League of Legends, Wild Rift, Legends of Runeterra, and Teamfight Tactics, and we’ve got all of the rewards and options consolidated in one place. The Soul Fighter event is one of Riot’s separate universe events, introducing a new skin line with its very own story and lore. This event is spreading to all of the League of Legends-adjacent titles in Riot’s roster. The …
How to play the new jungler Naafiri in League of Legends
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Naafiri is the new Darkin jungler coming to League of Legends, and we’ve got your guide for how to best use her. Naafiri will be making her way onto PBE this week, but luckily we already have tons of information about what the new Darkin will need to succeed. She’s an Assassin, a burst-focused melee character who focuses on dealing enormous bursts of damage to exposed and vulnerable enemies. Her …
Naafiri abilities revealed ahead of PBE release
William Davis
League of Legends
We are getting closer to Naafiri’s release date as the new League of Legends champion. The Naafiri abilities rundown is now available ahead of the PBE release. Naafiri is the 164th champion in League of Legends, a Darkin assassin that has possessed a pack of Shuriman hounds. In League of Legends, Naafiri is meant to be an assassin, used as a jungler. Passive – We Are More Naafiri spawns Packmates …
All of the TFT Legends and their Augments
Nicholas James
League of Legends
The new Teamfight Tactics set has brought a brand new mechanic to the game, Legends, here is a complete breakdown of all the TFT Legends Augments. Teamfight Tactics has been finding ways to keep the gameplay fresh and exciting for players. The new Legends system allows players to customize what Augments they are offered at different stages of the game. If you like early win streaking with strong units, there’s …
New 2v2v2v2 LoL game mode coming July 20
Nicholas James
League of Legends
The new 2v2v2v2 LoL game mode has gotten a trailer, and it revealed that it’s coming to League of Legends very soon with its very own skin line. League of Legends is a game with very few game modes. There’s Summoner’s Rift, All Random All Mid, and anything you can put together in a custom lobby. Previous game modes like Dominion, Nexus Blitz, and rotating seasonal content like Poro King, …
Valorant agent Deadlock is similar to this League of Legends champion
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant Agent 23 release date is merely days away, and leaks are picking pace. We now know the icy nature of her toolkit, thanks to League of Legends. Valorant Episode 7 is slated for June 28. The upcoming act will mark the entrance of brand new Agent 23, battle pass, team deathmatch, and a wealth of new content. So far, not much is known about the new agent, but Leakers …
BrokenBlade: “The tier list is really not accurate at all”
Tokoni Uti
League of Legends
WIN.gg spoke with G2 Esports top laner Sergen “BrokenBlade” Çelik after his side’s opening victory over Team BDS in the LEC Summer split. He gave his thoughts on the break between MSI and LEC, starting later than other leagues, and beating “S-tier” squad BDS. WIN.gg: The LEC’s tier list by Drakos, Dagda and Caedrel had BDS as the only S-tier team, ahead of G2. Was that a good win to …
Razork on LEC game against Excel: “We’re going to stomp them”
Tokoni Uti
League of Legends
After taking down Astralis in their opening game of the 2023 LEC Summer split, we spoke with Fnatic jungler Iván “Razork” Martín Díaz to get his thoughts on the upcoming split, the additions of Noah and Trymbi, and his personal opinion on his mid/jungle synergy with Humanoid. WIN.gg: How important was it to start the split with a win, given the short regular season turnaround? Razork: The goal right now …
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.
