League of Legends
League of Legends
AOC says League of Legends has prepared her for internet trolls
Olivia Richman
While United States President Donald Trump has at times sought to blame societal ills on video games, house representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is looking to further embrace them. AOC took to Twitter to let her 7.5 million followers know that she reached rank Silver 3 in League of Legends during the quarantine. My small quarantine accomplishment: made it to Silver III ???? — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 14, 2020 At the …
League of Legends
Origen adds former Vitality player Jactroll, replaces Destiny
William Davis
Origen is adding a new face to their roster for week 5 of the 2020 LEC Summer Split, following a shaky start to the split. The team has acquired Jakub “Jactroll” Skurzyński to replace Mitchell “Destiny” Shaw in the support position. The move comes after a lackluster performance from Origen, who currently sit at fifth place in the LEC. We are pleased to welcome @Jactroll as a 6th member of …
League of Legends
Official Yone splash art leaked just before its official release
William Davis
The official splash art for Yone, the 150th League of Legends champion, has been leaked and it’s already being compared to an existing champion. Seven days after the leak of Yone’s Spirit Blossom skin art, the official splash art found its way to Reddit. The image shows a long-haired Yone covered in bandages and carrying two swords. This version of Yone is very different from the image shown on Legends …
League of Legends
Here are the most banned LoL champions in patch 10.14
William Davis
The ban rates in solo queue tell a compelling story, as they reveal which champions are considered OP and which champion players are just plain sick of dealing with. The list of most banned LoL champions changes with every patch. Priorities change and champions get nerfed into oblivion. But one sure thing is that someone will always want to ban Yasuo. At lower elo ratings, typically condiered platinum and below, …
League of Legends
What is the player count in League of Legends in 2020?
William Davis
League of Legends is considered one of the top titles in the video game industry. Developed by California studio Riot Games and released in 2009, League of Legends is now looking stronger than ever before more than a decade into its existence. League of Legends is consistently growing and every year it attracts more players. Despite having a considerable learning curve, LoL could be considered easier to pick up than …
League of Legends
Cloud9 vs. TSM: 2020 LCS Summer Split betting analysis
William Davis
Team SoloMid will look to break Cloud9’s perfect record in week five of the 2020 LCS Summer Split. C9 is looking scarier than ever. The spring champion is having the summer of a lifetime to this point. No one in the LCS has come even close to taking down C9 and TSM wants to put an end to that. TSM is having a consistent season with good performances from all …
League of Legends
Riot says that Yuumi is good for the game, even if you disagree
William Davis
Riot Games has finally spoken out on the effect that Yuumi has on League of Legends, and developers have confirmed that they won’t be deleting Yuumi no matter how many times players ask. Yuumi joined the game in May 2019 and it took her less than a year to become the most-hated champion in the game. Even more hated than Teemo, with casual players and professionals alike asking for Yuumi’s …
League of Legends
League patch 10.14 finally gives Varus the nerfs he deserves
William Davis
League of Legends has deployed patch 10.14, the most recent update for the game that brings new changes to affect the global meta. In season 10, the meta has fallen into a point where teams are either going all-in with dives or poking the enemies from a distance. In pro play, we see the same champions over and over with little innovation. Patch 10.14 hopes to move the meta forward, …
Riot Games is considering adopting a bubble system for Worlds 2020
William Davis
League of Legends
The 2020 League of Legends World Championship might still take place in China. Earlier today, it was reported that the Chinese government has canceled all sporting events for the remainder of the year. Despite speculation that this could force Worlds to be rescheduled or scrapped entirely, the restriction won’t affect the event after all thanks to the fact that China does not officially recognize esports as a sport. According to …
LoL Worlds 2020 won’t happen in Shanghai, China, future unknown
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
The 2020 League of Legends World Championship will not be taking place in Shanghai this year. The national government of China has cancelled all international sporting events scheduled for the country through the end of 2020. This includes Worlds 2020, leaving the fate of the largest League event of the year uncertain. This follows claims from Riot Games parent company Tencent Holdings stating that the event was still scheduled to …
Sneaky, Dyrus, OddOne, and more make comeback for C9 TSM showmatch
William Davis
League of Legends
The LCS has revealed the rosters for the “Classic Showmatch” featuring Cloud9 and Team SoloMid. Ten players will return to the stage for the ultimate LCS rivalry. On Cloud9’s side is the roster that played for the organization between 2013 and 2015. The players returning are: Top lane: An “BalIs” Van Le Jungle: William “Meteos” Hartman Mid lane: Hai “Hai” Du Lam ADC: Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi Support: Daerek “LemonNation” Hart …
The first images of new LoL champion Yone just leaked
William Davis
League of Legends
The first images of the 150th League of Legends champion have been leaked on Reddit and the hero looks to be an interesting addition to League of Legends. The first look at Spirit Blossom Yone surfaced on Reddit, confirming Yone as the 150th champion to join Summoner’s Rift. Yone is the second champion revealed for the Spirit Blossom summer event. Earlier this year, Riot Games hinted that one of the …
New LoL champion Lillia revealed, Spirit Blossom event detailed
William Davis
League of Legends
League of Legends has revealed its 149th champion, who will be part of the Spirit Blossom event this summer. Lillia, the Bashful Bloom, is the newest champion to join Summoner’s Rift coming from Ionia. Over the weekend, an early look at the champion got leaked online. Fans started comparing Lillia with Neeko because of her innocent looks. Others called it a mix between Neeko and Hecarim. Lillia is a jungler …
League of Legends is raising the price of RP in some regions
William Davis
League of Legends
Riot Games is updating the prices of RP on July 15, and the change will affect several regions. Riot is increasing the global pricing of RP to account for tax laws, inflation, and other related issues. This update usually comes at the beginning of the year, but the developer decided to postpone it due to ongoing economic slowdows across the world. The regions that will see a straight increase in …
Licorice on C9: “We’re better in lane, more prepared…more skills”
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Very few were surprised when Cloud9 came out victorious against Dignitas today. Cloud9 proved themselves to be unstoppable in the Spring Split and this season appears to be no different. But Eric “Licorice” Ritchie is still not thinking about Worlds. Not even the Summer Split Playoffs. He told WIN.gg that they are currently focused on just getting even better. How does it feel to come into the Summer Split and …
FlyQuest vs. Team Liquid: 2020 LCS Summer Split betting analysis
William Davis
League of Legends
FlyQuest and Team Liquid are meeting on Sunday in a battle for second place in the 2020 LCS Summer Split. Four weeks into the split, things are heating up the LCS. Right now, four teams are tied in second place with a 4-2 record. The frontrunner, to no one’s surprise, is a Cloud9 roster that remains undefeated. While Cloud9 has sole possession of the top spot, seven teams are in …
G2 Esports vs Misfits Gaming: 2020 LEC Summer betting analysis
William Davis
League of Legends
The battle for third place is heating up in the 2020 LEC Summer Split, as Misfits Gaming and G2 Esports will battle to break the tie in week four. Four weeks into summer, someone other than G2 has sole control of first. MAD Lions is the best performing team in the league with only one defeat in seven matches. Misfits and G2 are in a four-way tie for third place …
How to place vision wards like a pro in League of Legends
William Davis
League of Legends
The goal in League of Legends is very simple: Storm into the enemy’s base and destroy their nexus. Things start getting more complicated when players have to deal with wave management, map rotations, and vision control. Placing wards is not just something you always have to consider if your lane is being camped by an enemy jungler. No, vision control is a necessary skill for every player on the map. …
You won’t believe your eyes when you see Sneaky’s new cosplay
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Cloud9 is already hot and bothered over Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi’s newest cosplay. The veteran AD Carry may no longer be on Cloud9’s roster, but he is still clearly on the organization’s mind thanks to his increasingly sultry cosplays. The top LCS team shot its traditional “you’re so hot brother” tweet at Sneaky after he posted two eye-popping photos of his most recent cosplay. Sporting a bubble gum pink wig, a …
Is Team Liquid better now that Doublelift is off to TSM?
William Davis
News
Three weeks into the 2020 LCS Summer Split, it’s time to make a balance of Team Liquid’s season and how the team is faring without Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng. On April 26, Team SoloMid confirmed that Doublelift would be rejoining the organization as the starting ADC. It wasn’t a surprise, the rumors about this move started flying around by the end of spring’s regular season where Liquid finished ninth. Losing Doublelift …
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.
