League of Legends
League of Legends
JD Gaming wins 2020 LPL Spring Split by defeating Top Esports
William Davis
JD Gaming is the 2020 LPL Spring Split champion. JDG took down Top Esports to claim its first-ever LPL title. It was a hard-fought battle between two young organizations that are looking to start their legacy in the LPL. JDG took the series in game five with a stellar performance from top laner Zhang “Zoom” Xing-Ran, support Zuo “LvMao” Ming-Hao, and MVP jungler Seo “Kanavi” Jin-hyeok. Kanavi made history as …
League of Legends
C9 Sneaky just took his wild cosplays to a whole new level
Olivia Richman
Cloud9 streamer and content creator Zach “Sneaky” Scuderi has been keeping very busy after stepping away from pro League of Legends. The former AD Carry veteran has been giving his fans a lot of reasons to stay inside thanks to a couple sexy cosplays. His most recent is called “Lingerie Snacky,” a revealing look made of black leather lingerie, a neon pink wig, and thigh-high stockings. Despite some drama between …
League of Legends
Uzi is now a free agent after Royal Never Give Up contract expires
Olivia Richman
An update to Riot’s Esports Global Contract Database has revealed that Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao is now a free agent. The talented veteran’s contract with Royal Never Give Up expired today and there’s been no public announcement regarding an extension. For now, Uzi is a free agent, and he has yet to come forward with any statement on future plans. Uzi has long been one of the best AD Carries in …
League of Legends
Doublelift is sticking with TSM, contract extends through 2021
Olivia Richman
TSM seems very confident in their decision to purchase Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng’s contract from Team Liquid. Doublelift’s new team has extended his contract through November 16, 2021, according to the Riot Games Global Contract Database. The database was last updated on April 29, 2020, bringing some changes to the listings, Doublelift’s contract extension included. After Team Liquid failed to make it to the LCS’ Spring Split playoffs, Doublelift’s contract was …
League of Legends
Griffin relegated from LCK after poor performance in Spring Split
Olivia Richman
After a harsh loss to Sandbox Gaming in the lower brackets of LCK’s summer promotion series, Griffin has been eliminated from the LCK. The team was relegated after losing back-to-back matches, first to Korea Challenger team Seorabeol and then to Sandbox Gaming, in the summer promotion tournament. This means that they won’t be competing in the Summer Split. This is a harsh wake up call for Griffin, who also finished …
League of Legends
Faker ice cream is now available, comes in three godly flavors
Olivia Richman
T1’s popular mid laner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok now has his face on ice cream treats in Korea. It’s been a good year for Faker. His team won its 9th LCK championship after beating Gen.G in the Spring Split finals. And now the Esports Hall of Famer with multiple World Championship titles to his name has been selected as Lotte Confectionery’s World Con Model. The Unkillable Demon King has his face …
League of Legends
The real reason why JackeyLove almost missed the LPL Spring Split
William Davis
New information about Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo and why he missed the first half of the LPL Spring Split has surfaced through Weibo. Former World Champion JackeyLove was one of the biggest names coming to the free agency by the end of 2019. Every team in China had its eye on a player who’s considered one of the best ADC players in the region, if not the world. The community was …
League of Legends
LoL patch 10.9 buffs Gnar, nerfs Nami, adds FPX Championship skins
William Davis
Patch 10.9 is here, bringing more power to the top lane and the anticipated FunPlus Phoenix Championship skins. Earlier this month, Riot Games revealed the FPX Championship skins receiving mixed reactions from the community. The set will be available on April 30 in two versions: the regular red version and a special black chroma. Patch 10.9 is the shortest patch of the year thus far, as the list of champions …
TL coach Dodo says Doublelift spread false information about team
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
After quite the dramatic and disappointing Spring Split, Team Liquid parted ways with star player Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng due to his poor performance and bad attitude. After his move to TSM became public, Doublelift decided to clear the air about his reasons for leaving TL and why he appeared to have such a negative outlook throughout the entire split. In a candid video, Doublelift accused the Team Liquid coaching staff …
Start dates for 2020 LEC, LCS Summer Splits announced by Riot
William Davis
News
The 2020 LEC Summer Split will begin on June 12, the league announced on Twitter. Following the cancellation of the 2020 Mid-Season Invitational, regional League of Legends leagues are finalizing new plans for their summer seasons. The LEC will return on June 12 with a superweek that will run from Friday through Sunday. Each day will feature five matches. The season is starting with a clash between Spring champions G2 …
Doublelift explains his move from Team Liquid to TSM
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Now that Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng’s move to TSM is official, the outspoken League of Legends pro decided to upload a video detailing his experience at Team Liquid and what exactly led to his dramatic antics and poor performance throughout the Spring Split. The talented AD Carry also wanted to clear up some rumors about his move back to TSM. The video started out with Doublelift discussing last year’s disappointing performance …
Doublelift officially rejoins TSM after two years with Team Liquid
William Davis
League of Legends
Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng has officially rejoined Team SoloMid ahead of the 2020 LCS Summer Split. TSM has confirmed the transfer of former Team Liquid ADC Doublelift who rejoins the organization after two years. On April 21, it was reported that TSM was in negotiation with Liquid to complete the trade. According to the original report by ESPN’s Jacob Wolf, Doublelift picked this contract out of the options presented to him …
LCK 2020 Spring Split finals peaks at over 1 million viewers
Olivia Richman
News
The 2020 LCK Spring Split finals had over 1 million viewers today at its peak. According to Esports Charts, 1,074,561 peak concurrent viewers watched the match between Gen.G and T1, one of the most anticipated battles in the entirety of the competitive League of Legends. An average of 225,000 fans were tuned in throughout the broadcast, which saw T1 sweep Gen.G to take their third consecutive LCK title. It was …
T1 wins 9th LCK championship, beats Gen.G in LCK 2020 Spring finals
William Davis
League of Legends
T1 won the 2020 LCK Spring Split championship. T1 destroyed Gen.G in the finals to take home its ninth LCK title. With this victory, T1 extends its record for team with the most LCK titles and takes home the top prize in the region for the third split in a row, having won both the spring and summer splits in 2019. We came, we saw, we conquered.WE ARE THE CHAMPION …
League of Legends champions could be coming to Smash Bros Ultimate
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Earlier this year, an anonymous 4chan account made some bold predictions for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. They predicted that a Hollow Knight Mii Sword Fighter was coming and that spirits from Seiken Densetsu 3, also known as Trials of Mana 3, were in the works. They also revealed that a League of Legends champion would be joining the roster as part of the second Fighter Pass. Well, that was back …
Is ADC now the worst role in League of Legends?
William Davis
League of Legends
In League of Legends, the meta for the ADC has changed through the years. Right now, solo queue players claim that the role is unplayable. While it’s a bit of an exaggeration, players have reason to complain about the current state of the role. According to the League of Legends wiki, marksmen are “ranged champions whose power almost exclusively revolves around their basic attacks: using their reach to land massive …
FunPlus Phoenix vs. EDward Gaming in 2020 LPL Spring playoffs betting analysis
William Davis
League of Legends
2019 World Champion FunPlus Phoenix is facing Edward Gaming in the 2020 LPL Spring Split playoffs. This match will decide who’s advancing in the bracket to face JD Gaming in semifinals. FPX are the unlikely heroes of the LPL, as they redefined what teamwork really means and earned a World Championship title by playing a unique style. EDG is trying to go back to its former glory and another LPL …
Team Liquid set to return Doublelift to Team SoloMid in huge LCS trade
William Davis
League of Legends
Team Liquid is about to close a deal that will see bottom laner Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng return to Team SoloMid, ESPN’s Jacob Wolf reported. Earlier this month, it transpired that Team Liquid put Doublelift’s contract up for trade ahead of the 2020 LCS Summer Split. According to the report by ESPN, multiple teams were interested in the contract, but Doublelift himself ultimately chose to go back to TSM. This has …
Riot Games is reportedly canceling the 2020 Mid-Season Invitational
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
There’s a rumor going around that this year’s Mid-Summer Invitational won’t be happening after all. On an episode of Hotline League, esports personality Mark “MarkZ” Zimmerman, Cloud9 midlaner Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer, and League of Legends journalist Travis Gafford were discussing the crazy LCS spring season when Gafford dropped quite a bombshell on his co-hosts. “I’m going to drop a rumor here. This will come as no surprise to anybody. The rumor, I’m …
T1 favored vs. DragonX in 2020 LCK spring semifinals match predictions
William Davis
League of Legends
T1 and DragonX will clash in round three of the playoffs in the 2020 LCK Spring split. The LCK still uses a single-elimination format, so teams only get one chance to advance in the bracket. The winner from this round is advancing to finals, where Gen.G has been waiting since the end of the regular season. Kim “Canna” Chang-dong Moon “Cuzz” Woo-chan – Choi “Ellim” El-lim Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok Park …
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
Vivo Keyd versus KaBum!: CBLOL 2020 Split 1 semifinal betting analysis
By
William Davis
League of Legends
JD Gaming versus Top Esports: 2020 LPL Spring finals betting analysis
By
William Davis
League of Legends
Fnatic drops strategic coach Veigar v2 for sexual comments to minor
By
Olivia Richman
