League of Legends is without a doubt, the largest most successful Esports title in the world. Rivaling the likes of Football and Baseball, each week during the season, leagues compete in nearly every region of the world including North America, Europe, Oceania, and China. While it’ll take YEARS to understand League of Legends at a high level, we’re hoping that this quick intro alongside our professional recommendations each week, will help you rack up the wins and the cash.

League 101

League of Legends is a 5v5 MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena). Effectively, each team of five players will control individual characters called champions with an overall goal of destroying the other team's base. Throughout the game, players earn gold, take down objectives, and purchase items to give themselves an advantage over the other team.

While the map never changes, the way it's played changes with every single game. The map, called Summoners Rift, features three lanes and a jungle. Each lane has its own responsibility which fits into a bigger picture of teamplay. During laning phase, members of each team play to their respective lanes in 1v1s or 2v2s against their opponents. After killing an opponent, the dead player will respawn after a death timer that grows in duration as the game goes on.

Eventually, players will move out of the “laning phase” and start to control the map as a single cohesive unit. As they continue to take down turrets, dragons, rift herald's and barons, they’ll build a stronger economy which they’ll use to purchase items. Once a team has a strong enough advantage, they’ll have opportunities to push down the opponent’s base, typically when the enemy is dead.
Let's take a look at the roles used throughout a game:

Top Lane: Typically, bruisers, tanks, and fighters. They’re the front line of the team.

Mid Lane: Mid Laners are usually called “AP Carries” or “Ability Power Carries”. They’re spell casters, mages, assassins, and are usually one of the two main sources of damage. Games can be won or lost through mid-lane.

Marksman: These are your “AD Carries” or “Attack Damage Carry”. These heavy hitters rely on basic attacks, have little mobility, and need protection throughout the game.

Support: Pretty self-explanatory here. The support of the team. Primarily they’ll play around the Marksman early, but will transition towards more of a team player later on.

Jungler: This unique role is designed to be the “helping hand” of the team. They’ll roam the map looking to create opportunities for their teammates as the game progresses. They’re typically fighters, tanks, and have some form of crowd control.

Some Other Helpful Terminology

Turrets: Each lane has three turrets that offer defense for a base. Turrets must be taken down before progressing towards the next turret in that lane.

Dragons: Dragons spawn incrementally throughout the game and offer various buffs to members of the team that are able to kill it. After killing four dragons, a team unlocks the Dragon Soul giving them a significantly superior buff.

Elder Dragon: The “end game” dragon. Only attainable after the Dragon Soul has been captured, this dragon rarely makes appearances in professional play. Killing this dragon is almost a guaranteed win. Upon lowering an enemy to a certain amount of Health, the Elder Dragon will execute your opponents automatically.

Rift Herald: A monster captured within the first twenty minutes of the game that when summoned, will charge head first into opponent’s turrets dealing massive damage.

Baron: After Rift Herald, the Baron will spawn in the same location. The Baron provides a large buff to all members alive when it falls and will grant a buff to minions to assist in pushing the enemy base.

Inhibitors: Upon reaching the enemy base, you’ll find three inhibitors. Slaying an inhibitor in a lane will grant the team “super minions” which will push harder and faster.

Creep Score: Refers to “minions killed” throughout the game. Each player will have their own creep score.

Scoring: DraftKings Scoring looks like this:

Be sure to catch the action each week Friday – Sunday for the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) here! https://watch.lolesports.com/! We’ll be coming out with articles each week breaking down every days’ worth of action so be sure to check back in soon!

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