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League of Legends Explained

League of Legends, also known as LoL by its millions of fans around the world, is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game, played on a PC or console.

In a League of Legends match, two teams of five players each occupy opposite ends of the map, which is called Summoner’s Rift.

Each team starts the game within their stronghold at the Spawning Pool, which is also home to their crucial, most important structure – the Nexus.

The two teams then set out to destroy each other’s Nexus, in order to win the game. However, to do this, they must overcome obstacles such as neutral monsters and turrets, as well as defensive structures set up by their opposing team.

Each player chooses from 138 characters – referred to as champions – which are a mixture of fantastical and human-like figures.

Champions’ overall abilities start off as fairly weak, however, as they overcome obstacles gaining experience and accumulating gold, they grow in strength, agility, and intelligence.

The team strategically decides what areas of the map on Summoner’s Rift their players will try to control, based on their individual skill sets.

To control the map, champions must complete a variety of tasks, such as demolishing turrets (which are the opposing team’s defense towers), destroying enemy champions, and collecting computer-controlled minions, which don’t fight for any side.

The gold earned from the challenges is used to power up their champions and buy weapons so that they can increase their control of the game.

By utilizing their gold effectively, teams are able to inch towards the enemies’ stronghold to destroy the Nexus and win the game.

How is League of Legends Played?

The only way a team can win League of Legends is to destroy the opposing team’s Nexus, which sits in the enemy’s stronghold.

The variety of champions, monsters, and weapons are what has made this game so popular and compelling to watch.

In this section, we give a simplistic breakdown on how League of Legend is played by covering the following:

League of Legends Map

There are actually three maps that are played in League of Legends; Summoner’s Rift, Twisted Treeline, and Howling Abyss.

However, Summoner’s rift is the only map that is played competitively in tournaments. You are, therefore, unlikely to come across the other two unless you play League of Legends yourself.

On Summoner’s Rift, there are two teams, the Red team, who occupy the stronghold in the upper right of the map, and the Blue team, whose base is down the lower-left corner of the map.

Each team must attack the opposing team’s base to destroy the Nexus, whilst defending their own base from an attack.

The map is split down the middle by a river that runs from the northwest to the southeast corners and is surrounded by jungle on both sides.

In this section, we’re going to dig deeper into the lanes, jungle, river, and monsters.

Lanes

The enemy base can be reached by going down the three highlighted lanes, conveniently named top, middle, and bottom.

It’s not as simple as just walking down the lane to reach the base, though, these lanes are guarded by turrets that must be destroyed in successive order to go past them and take down the next one.

The champions’ objective is to control the lanes, and to keep the enemy from destroying your turrets. Let’s look at each lane individually and find out which champions occupy them.

You can find out more about the Champion Types a bit further down:

Top Lane

The top lane is a long lane, a side lane, and solo lane all rolled into one. The latter means that you only have one champion with no allies to defend it.

However, because you are essentially setting up for a 1v1 with the opposing team’s ‘top laner’ champion selection is open, and the need to counterattack the rival team’s selection is all-important.

We’d suggest trying out a variety of champions in different playstyles, so you can see what you are working with and make more informed choices should the opportunity to counter-pick arise.

Techniques such as warding, trading, wave management, grouping or split-pushing and summoner spell usage can all be employed in the top lane as part of your overall strategy.

Middle Lane

The Middle Lane or Mid Lane as it’s commonly known, can be the hardest lane to play in League of Legends.

As it’s literally in the middle of the map, the Mid Lane is vulnerable to attack from all sides, meaning you must know what is happening across the map at all times.

Bottom Lane

The Bot Lane is a 2v2 lane so you have two champions, usually a carry, and a support, who helps to keep the carry alive while they gain experience and gold to later ‘scale up’ to be a bigger threat later in the game.

Responsibilities include maintaining the lane, ‘farming’ and forcing enemies back, ideally to base, and controlling, or at least keeping a wary eye over the dragon.

River

The river runs diagonally through the middle of Summoner’s Rift. The water is shallow, meaning Champions are able to wade through it in the same way they would when walking on land.

In the river, lives the most powerful creature in the game, the Baron Nashor.

The Nashor is a serpent-like creature with 12 eyes, two mouths, and a long body covered in spiky horns.

Taking on Nashor is a huge challenge, he has many different abilities that he can use to deliver deadly attacks, so a champion taking him on must have immense strength, be highly self-sufficient, and have the ability to deliver a lot of damage.

Jungle

Between the lanes, and on either side of the river, the rest of the map is occupied by jungle, which is filled with many neutral monsters.

These monsters are all are computer operated and have no preference for either side.

Minions

Minions are computer-controlled enemy units that are assigned to each team. They spawn from the team’s Nexus and move along the lanes towards the enemy’s Nexus, attacking any other opposing unit or structure that they come across.

They choose their target based on priority and re-evaluate their target every couple of seconds.

Minions will instantly change their target if they see something of higher priority that needs attacking, such as one of their champions being attacked.

There are five champions in a team, each of whom is controlled by an individual player. Every champion has their own character statistics, special abilities, and damage output.

It is up to the players to pick from the 140 champions options and create a team based on who they think will work best together.

It is important to note the champion positions, as it means you get to build a better picture of the game.

So, when you are looking at team line ups and where on the map that champion is playing, you’ll have an idea of whether their strategy is going to be successful or not.

Officially, there are five positions that can be filled, Top Laner, Middle Laner, Ad Carry, Support, and Jungle.

Below, we’ve summarised each position followed by a breakdown of the different types of champions that play in these positions:

Top Laner

Due to the area’s dimensions, top lane champions are often high-damage champions such as Tanks.

However, because selection is so open, any champion could conceivably be a top laner. High survivability and engages are also desirable traits, so top-laner s could also be Fighters rather than Tanks.

The most selected are: Lulu, Shen, and Fiora.

Middle Laner

Mid Laners are the core of the team and have arguably the most difficult jobs as they must accumulate a significant amount of knowledge and intuition regarding strategy and gameplay.

Mid Laners learn to use the minimap and camera perspectives to arm themselves with this knowledge and must be able to react quickly when the view changes.

Like Top Laners, the most common types of Mid Laners are also Fighters and Tanks.

The most selected champions are: Katarina, Lulu, and Camille.

Ad Carry

An ‘Ad Carry’ is an ‘attack, damage, carry’ champion. They are marksmen who attack from distance so they must have high awareness of the map and their surroundings in order not to stray into the enemy’s firing line.

The most selected champions are: Karthus, Ashe, and Caitlyn.

Support

As you might expect, support provides just that for your other champions. Your Support selection will help determine whether you are able to inflict or heal from maximum damage, or if you are simply going to be an obstacle to defend your glass canon.

The most selected champions are: Lulu, Bard, and Janna.

Jungle

Junglers spend most of the game, unsurprisingly, in the jungle between the lanes, fighting neutral monsters and trying to build up gold.

Due to this combative role, most junglers are stocky Tanks or bruisers, but they also need to be aware of the minimap, to be able to spot any of the team who need assistance.

You also need to keep track of the rival Jungle, making this a complex and diverse role.

The most selected champions are: Kha’Zix, Karthus, and Nunu and Willump.

Available Bets on League of Legends in India

As League of Legends has grown in popularity, with more than 80 million people playing worldwide, there has been a natural progression from those who just liked to watch, who now want to bet on their favourite team.

Just as with regular sports, games such as LoL have fans who avidly support both teams and individual players, watching them play in domestic leagues, and national and international tournaments.

As with sports, increased coverage of these games (usually through Internet streaming in the case of esports) has created a potentially lucrative revenue stream, through sponsorship, and betting.

The prize pool for The International tournament in 2019, was approximately $30 million, which holds the record for an esports competition. It is, therefore, no surprise that the betting market has grown alongside its rise.

In this section, we explain which esports betting types are available in LoL, giving you some examples so you know exactly what you are looking at when you are ready to place a bet.

Match Bet

The most common type of bet on LoL is betting on the outcome of the match. This is a simple outright bet where you’re betting on who will win the match.

This is referred to as a moneyline bet by bookmakers and can differ between matches, based on varying factors such as the players’ skill set.

All matches are listed alongside betting odds, so that you are able to see how much a winning wager would pay out if you chose to bet on them.

For example, looking at the below betting slip, team Reality Rift have odds of 1/1 and Team Neon Esports have odds of 7/1. If Reality Rift claim victory, then you win your bet.

Map Betting

Every game that is played on both a best-of-three or a best-of-five is called a Map. You can bet on which Team you think will win the map, in the example below we have put £50 on Team Neon Sports to win Map 1, if they do then we win the bet.

Outright Betting

Map betting is listed as its own unique event as it gives fans the opportunity to use their knowledge of teams to see if it pays off.

Outright bets are also available on all of the major championships, This bet is placed on the outcome of an entire league or championship, as opposed to an individual match or map bet.

Outright bets are often placed before the tournament, but can also be placed throughout. Betting on ‘The International’ is hugely popular in LoL, with teams often succumbing to the pressure and the underdogs with greater odds claiming victory.

Handicap Betting

Handicap betting in LoL is also very popular and works just the same way as it would for regular sports, such as football, the handicap simply represents the game score in a best of series.

For example, Team CR4ZY are playing Team Thunder Predator, you’ve bet in Team CR4ZY with +1.5 handicap bet. Team Thunder Predator beats Team CR4ZY 2-1 when playing best of three matches.

This means 1.5+1 =2.5 which is great than the 2 of Team Thunder Predator, therefore you win the bet. If Team CR4ZY had failed to win a single match meaning the overall score was 0+1.5=1.5 which is less than 2, so you wouldn’t have won anything.

The same applies in negative handicap betting. For example, if you bet on Team Ocean with a -1.5 handicap and they beat Team Keen Gaming 2-1 then you would lost the bet as 2-1.5=0.5 which is lower than 1. However, if they were to win 2-0 then you would win as 2-1.5=0.5 as it is higher than 0.

Betting Specials on League of Legends

Many LoL fans like to bet on specialist markets to test out their knowledge of the teams’ heroes.

This can be things like, which team to score the most kills, map times, the first team to take down a hero, the first team to deliver the first blow to the Ancient etc.

Given how complex LoL and its strategies can be, bettors who take the time to study teams and their techniques can hone in on specific aspects of the game to take advantage of on the betting board.

How to Place a Winning Bet on LoL

There are three main things that you should consider before betting on a certain team. Dedicated LoL punters will develop their own strategies as they find what works for them and what doesn’t.

However, here’s our strategy and tips to get you started:

5 Top Tips to Give You an Edge when Betting on LOL

1. Look Up the Team’s Recent Match History

Go Su Gamers is a really useful website to check team ranks and match history.

Their history may show if they have a change of player roster, have not been doing enough practice, or are adapting to a new patch.

A patch is an update to the game, it can fix bugs, add new features, new items, characters etc.

You can also see if the match is important to them or not, as they may play more relaxed or test new strategies if the match doesn’t influence their tournament position.

2. Check for Changes to the Teams’ Rosters and Schedules

LoL teams swap players yearly (usually), this means the team have enough time to learn how each individual plays to build a stronger strategy.

It also means by swapping players they are getting new ideas and experience making their gameplay less predictable.

Remember, it is also difficult for teams to play multiple series in one day, so it is a good idea to look at what their schedule is like.

3. Current Form

Like all of us, esports players are susceptible to loss of confidence, injury, and psychological issues.

Check out recent results and compare them to a team or player’s average, and look out for news of disputes, injuries, or other personal issues that could affect player and/or team performance.

4. Team Strategy

Some teams focus on pushing early, others build their team around hard carry heroes, while some adopt a mixed strategy.

If you know your teams and their strategies well, you will be able to weigh up how one strategy is likely to succeed against another.

5. Competitive scene

One of the most important things is to know is which teams are the strongest in the current Meta.

You should always know that Europe and China are the most successful regions, but sometimes these teams have a really bad season.

You might also want to look at other popular and competitive esports odds on the market, such as:

• PUBG
• CS: GO
• Call of Duty
• Fortnite
• StarCraft 2

Legality status of online gambling in India

League of Legends Tournaments

At the time of writing, there are 12 League of Legends professional leagues. These leagues are divided into Tiers 1, 2 and lower with the top teams from each being allocated spots in various tournaments, according to their world standing.

Including league finals, the major LoL tournaments are as follows:

• World Championship
• Mid Seasonal Invitational
• All-Star
• LCL Spring
• CBLOL Summer
• European Championship
• Golden League
• Pacific Championship Series
• LCS Spring
• LCK Spring
• UltraLigia
• LPL Spring
• KeSPA Cup
• Circuito Tormenta
• EU Masters
• LJL Summer
• KeG Championship
• NCL Fall Open
• Campionato Piazza
• Prime League Final
• Twitch Rivals
• GG Series
• El Nexo
• Road to Gamepolis
• Vietnam Championship Series
• Turkish Championship League

Best League of Legends Teams

As in any sports, world ranking of both LoL teams and players fluctuates according to wins and performances in major tournaments, as well as roster changes between the teams.

You can keep up-to-date with a site such as Go Su Gamers.

Currently, the top 10 LoL teams are as follows:

1. DragonX (Republic of Korea)
2. DAMWON Gaming (Republic of Korea)
3. Top Esports (China)
4. G2 Esports (Germany)
5. Gen. G (Republic of Korea)
6. JD Gaming (China)
7. T1 Gaming (Republic of Korea)
8. FunPlus Phoenix (China)
9. Cloud 9 (USA)
10. Fnatic (Europe)

History Around League of Legends

League of Legends was created by Riot Games in 2009, becoming the studio’s flagship game.

Riot Games was formed in 2006 by Los Angeles-based duo Marc Merrill and Brandon Beck. The pair met as business students at the University of Southern California, where they were roommates, and bonded over a shared love of video games.

However, both felt frustrated that video game producers weren’t listening to fans, and came up with the novel idea of releasing one game which they would then continue to develop and improve after its release, as opposed to simply releasing new games.

This was a complete deviation from the status quo, where producers would rapidly move onto their next game title, often leaving fans of each game behind.

Merrill and Beck wanted to retain these fans, and build on the communities which these kinds of games inspired, and provide them with regular updates and improvements to one game, vastly extending its shelf life and keeping the fans happy.

Not only did they see this as better approach from a fan’s perspective, they believed it was a viable business. They were right.

Seeking funding from family and angel investors, they raised US$1.5 million and, in 2006, opened their first office in an old, converted machine shop in Santa Monica.

Shrewd recruitment such as Dota developer Steve “Guinsoo” Feak and a business plan focused on e-commerce gaming led to more investment ($8 million) including from the Benchmark and First Mark Capital venture capital firms, as well as Chinese holding company Tencent, who would later become League of Legends’ distributor in China.

League of Legends was launched as a free-to-play game on October 27, 2009, following six months of beta testing and was well-received. Players and critics were quick to praise its production values, character design and overall artistic merit, but Riot Games didn’t rest on their laurels,

As players began to play, the developers encouraged feedback across online esports games forums and continued to adjust and improve elements based on this feedback.

This strategy paid off, and in July 2012, League of Legends became the most played PC game in North America and Europe in terms of the number of hours played.

With advances in streaming technology and dedicated channels on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch, the appetite for LoL has only grown.

In September 2019, Riot Games reported almost eight million peak concurrent users per day for League of Legends.

Today, Legend of Legends’ popularity show no signs of waning with an upcoming animated Netflix series the latest in a long line of merchandise and tie-ins for fans of the game.