Esports: League of Legends

League, as it is commonly referred to, is a player vs. player game, with two teams of five players each competing against each other with their own ‘champion’.

Is League of Legends free to play?

One of the most asked questions about LoL is if it's free to play, and the answer to that question is yes, League of Legends is free to play on Windows and MacOS.

One of the reasons for the soaring popularity of the game is that it has been free to play since its inception and will remain that way in the future as well. However, not everything in the game is free. Paid users can get access to exclusive skins and playable characters called ‘champions’.

How to play League of Legends

League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game, which allows players to control an in-game character called a ‘champion’. Every player can choose their own ‘champion’ with a unique skill.

As of 2021, the game has 157 playable ‘champions’. The players collect experience points and items to defeat the other team. Each team consists of five players and is supposed to defend half of the turf from the enemy team.

The flagship game mode, known as Summoner’s Rift, is won by pushing through the opposite team’s base and destroying their ‘Nexus’. The prominent competitive mode is played in an arena where you have two team bases separated by respective jungles (top jungle and bottom jungle) and connected by three lanes. Namely, the top lane, bottom lane, and middle lane.

Apart from the players, the competitive game also includes non-playable characters (NPCs) who are found inside the jungles and the rivers separating the bases. The NPCs can differ from side-taking minions to jungle monsters and river monsters.

Killing these monsters gives XP (experience points) and gold to purchase items. The river monsters are different kinds of monsters, that provide special abilities when killed and require multiple players to conquer.

The competitive game mode involves a matchmaking system that matches players with others of their skill level.

There are nine tiers in the game:

• Iron
• Bronze
• Silver
• Gold
• Platinum
• Diamond
• Master
• Grandmaster
• Challenger

The Iron, Bronze, and Silver ranked players are beginners with low skill, whereas the players with a Master, Grandmaster, or Challenger rank are the most experienced and highly skilled players of the game.

A world leader in esports, the game has an international competitive scene comprising 12 leagues. In League of Legends, these leagues culminate in the annual World Championship.

Online streaming of domestic and international events of League of Legends is available on Twitch and YouTube.