Esports 🇺🇸United States21st century

League of Legends

Free-to-play 5v5 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) in which two teams of five champions each fight to destroy the opposing team's Nexus at the base of a three-lane map called Summoner's Rift.

📐Summoner's Rift⏱~30 min🌤indoor

Photo · Wikipedia

What is League of Legends?

League of Legends is a 5v5 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game developed and published by Riot Games. It was released in October 2009 and has grown to become one of the most-played PC games in the world, with 150+ million monthly active players. Two teams of five players, each controlling a unique 'champion' (from a pool of 160+), face off on a three-lane map called Summoner's Rift. Each player earns gold and experience by killing enemy minions, jungle monsters, and champions, then spends gold on items that make their champion stronger. The team that destroys the enemy team's Nexus first wins. LoL is the top-grossing esport in history — the annual World Championship (Worlds) has been played since 2011, awarding a Summoner's Cup and multi-million-dollar prize pools. The 2022 Worlds final in San Francisco averaged 4+ million concurrent viewers.

Quick facts

How it works

Objective

Destroy the enemy team's Nexus by pushing through 3 lanes of turrets and inhibitors, working with your team of 5.

Match structure

Champion select: teams draft/ban champions in a specific order (bans → picks → bans → picks). Match begins with all 10 champions in their base. Players buy starting items, walk to lane assignments (top, jungle, mid, bot lane with ADC + Support), and farm minions and jungle camps for gold. As the game progresses, teams contest objectives (Dragons for buffs, Baron for empowered minions, Rift Herald), take turrets, and eventually push into the enemy base to destroy the Nexus.

Rules

Basic rules

5v5 team match
Two teams of 5 unique champions face off on Summoner's Rift.
Destroy the Nexus
Push through 3 turrets in a lane, destroy the inhibitor, then break the Nexus turrets and the Nexus itself.
Farm minions and jungle monsters
Kill last-hit minions and jungle monsters for gold and experience.
Buy items
Return to base (recall) to spend gold on items that increase your champion's power.
Objectives
Contest Dragons, Rift Herald, and Baron Nashor for temporary team-wide buffs.
Runes and summoner spells
Pre-match, players choose runes (permanent buffs) and 2 summoner spells (Flash, Ignite, Teleport, etc.).
Champion mastery
160+ champions, each with 4-5 abilities and a unique passive. Meta champions rotate each patch.

Advanced rules

Draft phase (ranked/pro)
6 bans per team (10 total). Draft picks alternate: 1 blue → 2 red → 2 blue → 2 red → 2 blue → 1 red. Counter-picks vital.
Dragon soul
First team to slay 4 dragons of any element earns the permanent 'Dragon Soul' buff plus stat boosts based on element (infernal, mountain, cloud, ocean, hextech, chemtech).
Elder Dragon
Spawns 6 min after 4th dragon. Grants execute-damage buff for 2.5 min — often winning-team-only.
Baron Nashor
Spawns at 20 min. Grants Hand of Baron buff for 3 min: strong minion push and stats — often used to close a game.
Turret plates
First 14 min: turrets have 5 plates each worth 160 gold. Diving under-turret is deterred by plate damage.
Vision and wards
Wards give vision. Trinket (yellow ward, 90s), Control Ward (denies vision), Sweeper (removes ward).
Role composition
Standard: Top (bruiser/tank), Jungle (initiator/carry), Mid (mage/assassin), ADC (marksman), Support (utility/enchanter/engage).

Scoring

Only match objective is destroying the enemy Nexus. Ranked ladder uses LP (League Points) and a 9-tier ranking system.

Action	Points
Kill / assist	Grants gold and XP
Structure gold	Turret 100+ gold (team share), inhibitor 200 gold
Dragon / Baron	Team-wide gold and buff
Ranked win/loss	±LP; 100 LP promotes divisions (Iron → Bronze → Silver → Gold → Platinum → Emerald → Diamond → Master → GM → Challenger)

Win condition · Destroy the enemy Nexus. In professional Bo3/Bo5, best of 3 or 5 games decides series.

Playing area

Called

Summoner's Rift

Dimensions

Rectangular 3-lane map (~1400 × 1400 game units). Top, mid, bottom lanes; jungle areas between; each team's base in opposite corners.

Three lanes (top, mid, bot) connect the two bases (Nexuses). Each lane has 3 turrets, 2 inhibitors, and a Nexus at each end. Between lanes is the 'jungle' with neutral monsters (buffs, dragons, Baron Nashor) providing resources and objectives.

Equipment

PC (Windows/Mac)
Client is free; minimum specs are modest (Intel HD 4000-level GPU). Pro tournaments use ~240 Hz monitors.
Keyboard and mouse
Fast keys and precise mouse required; gaming peripherals standard at pro level.
Riot Client
Free game client; ~20 GB installation.
RP (Riot Points)
Premium currency for cosmetic skins; game-changing items are earned in-match.

Positions & roles

Top Laner
×1
Solo top lane; usually a tanky bruiser or split-pusher.
Jungler
×1
Kills jungle monsters, ganks lanes, controls objectives (dragon/baron).
Mid Laner
×1
Solo mid lane; usually a mage or assassin; roams to influence sidelanes.
Bot Laner / ADC
×1
Ranged marksman; scales into late-game damage carry.
Support
×1
Protects ADC bot lane, sets up ganks, provides vision, engages fights.

Officiating

LAN pro matches have on-site refs handling pause and cheat calls. Online cheat-detection via Riot Vanguard runs at kernel level.

Match Referees (LCK, LEC, LCS, LPL)
Riot Tournament Ops
Anti-Cheat System (Vanguard)

Strategies

Wave control
Managing minion waves (freezing, slow-pushing, hard-shoving) to deny XP/gold to opponent or set up ganks.
Vision game
Ward key jungle entrances and objectives; deny enemy vision with sweeper + control wards before dragon/baron.
Objective priority
Trade a tower for a dragon early; grab Rift Herald for tower plate gold; save Baron for level-3 dragon soul window.
Composition types
Choose comp with clear win condition: engage (Malphite Kennen), poke (Xerath Varus), split-push (Tryndamere), 1-3-1, or protect-the-carry.
Mid-late game tempo
Elite teams play 'macro' — always doing SOMETHING (pressuring lane, warding, taking objective) rather than sitting still.

Terminology

CS (Creep Score): Number of minions/monsters last-hit; primary gold source.
Gank: Jungler entering a lane to help take down enemy laners (usually via a flank).
Farm: Killing minions and jungle camps for gold/XP; 'farming safely' means avoiding fights while building income.
Roam: Leaving your lane to help teammates elsewhere.
Trade: Short exchange of damage between champions; positive trades take less damage than opponent.
Poke: Long-range abilities that chip HP without committing.
Engage / Initiate: Starting a team fight with a hard CC ability (e.g., Malphite ult).
Peel: Protecting a squishy carry from divers with CC and body-blocking.
ADC (AD Carry): Attack Damage Carry — bot lane marksman who scales into main late-game damage.
Support: Bot lane partner; provides utility, vision, and engage/peel.
Jungle: Non-laned player who kills jungle monsters and roams to gank lanes.
Baron: Baron Nashor — 20-min jungle boss granting team-wide buff.
Drake / Dragon: Elemental drakes at bot side jungle granting permanent stat buffs; 4 = Soul.
Recall (B): Teleport back to base to heal/shop (with 8-sec channel).
Flash: Summoner spell — 5m instant teleport; most-used spell in the game.
Ward: Visible item placed to reveal an area of the map.
Ace: Killing all 5 members of the enemy team.

Major competitions

League of Legends World Championship (Worlds)
annual (Oct-Nov) · rotating worldwide · since 2011
Mid-Season Invitational (MSI)
annual (May) · worldwide · since 2015
LCK (Korea)
spring + summer split · South Korea · since 2015
LPL (China)
spring + summer split · China · since 2013
LEC (Europe)
spring + summer + winter split · Europe · since 2013
LCS (North America)
spring + summer split · North America · since 2013

Where it is played

Governing bodies

Riot Games (developer, publisher, esports operator)
Founded 2006 · Los Angeles, USA
Official site ↗

Famous names & records

Famous athletes

Lee 'Faker' Sang-hyeok (South Korea) — 4× World Champion (2013, 2015, 2016, 2023); T1 mid laner; GOAT of LoL
Jian 'Uzi' Zi-Hao (China) — legendary ADC; MSI 2018 champion
Lee 'Deft' Hyuk-kyu (South Korea) — 2022 World Champion; ADC across 10-year career
Choi 'Zeus' Woo-je (South Korea) — 2023 World Champion top laner
Bengi (Bae Seong-woong, South Korea) — 3× World Champion jungler (SKT T1)
MadLife (Hong Min-gi, South Korea) — pioneering support; legendary Blitzcrank hook artist
Doublelift (Yiliang Peng, USA) — most-decorated NA ADC; 8× LCS champion
Caps (Rasmus Winther, Denmark) — G2/Fnatic mid laner; MSI 2019 champion
Perkz (Luka Perković, Croatia) — G2 legend, MSI 2019 champion

Records

Most World Championships
Faker (T1) — 4 (2013, 2015, 2016, 2023) (2023)
Peak Worlds finals viewership
2022 Worlds Final DRX vs T1 — 5.14M average concurrent (excl. China) (2022)
Peak concurrent viewers (all-time)
2020 Worlds Final DAMWON vs Suning — 45.9M peak (incl. China) (2020)
Longest professional match
Various — 1h 34min (2019, LCK Summer Playoff) (2019)
Fastest professional victory
Team Liquid vs 100 Thieves — 17:45 (LCS 2019) (2019)

Learn this sport

beginner

1
Pick a role and 3 champions
Choose your preferred role (Top/Jungle/Mid/ADC/Support) and stick to 3 champions to learn deeply.
2
Learn 20-min basics
Farm minions to 100 CS at 20 min; don't die; ward river.
3
Runes and items
Follow recommended rune pages and item paths on U.GG or OP.GG until you understand alternatives.
4
Bot / co-op vs AI
Learn abilities and combos against bots before ranked queue.

intermediate

1
Wave management
Learn to freeze, slow-push, and hard-shove waves to control tempo.
2
Jungle timing
Know spawn times: dragon 5 min, respawn 5 min; Baron 20 min, respawn 6 min; Herald 8 min.
3
Ranked ladder
Play 20 placement games; climb through Iron → Silver → Gold → Platinum with focused practice.
4
Objective priority
Always know: is our team taking dragon, or splitting to sidelane, or grouping mid?

advanced

1
Champion pool expansion
Learn 3-5 champions per role for flexibility in draft and matchup coverage.
2
VOD review
Watch pro streams (Faker, Doublelift, Caps) and review your own losses for macro mistakes.
3
Communication (5-stack)
Play scrims with coaches; learn shot-calling and role-swap coordination.
4
Physical/mental training
Elite pros train 8-12 hours/day + scrims; sleep, diet, hand health matter as much as game time.

Frequently asked

Is League of Legends free?+

Yes — the game and champions are earned free via play. Cosmetic skins and RP (Riot Points) are premium purchases; nothing pay-to-win exists.

Who is Faker?+

Lee 'Faker' Sang-hyeok is a Korean mid laner for T1. Widely considered the greatest LoL player of all time, he has won 4 World Championships (2013, 2015, 2016, 2023) — more than any other player.

How long is a LoL match?+

Typical Solo Queue match: 25-40 minutes. Faster stomps end in 20 min; longer games can reach 60 min. Professional Bo5 series can last 3-4 hours.

What's the difference between LoL and Dota 2?+

Both are 5v5 MOBAs derived from DotA mod. LoL is faster, more mechanics-focused, with 160+ champions and shorter matches. Dota 2 has denying, more items, hero-comp complexity, and longer matches.

How many champions are there?+

165+ as of 2024. Riot releases ~4-6 new champions per year.

What's Wild Rift?+

Wild Rift is a mobile version of LoL for iOS/Android — same MOBA formula but shorter (15-20 min) matches, simplified UI, and touch/joystick controls.

Sources & provenance

Wikipedia — League of Legends— Wikipedia
Riot Games — League of Legends— Riot Games
LoL Esports— Riot Games

Last verified 2026-08-24.community