Before the millions of players and billions in revenue, before the esports tournaments that draw 100 million spectators, League of Legends was more an idea than a game. In the year leading up to its 2009 launch, Riot Games co-founder Marc Merrill and a small team were working on what would become the world's most popular video game—and one of its most complicated.

Throughout this class, students will examine League of Legends through a variety of lenses—including gameplay, eSports, psychology, and game design. Each week, students will analyze professional-level League of Legends matches in class and then use their understanding of the competitive scene to improve their own gameplay at home through weekly homework assignments.

To understand how a game like League of Legends works, it's helpful to break the game down into three phases: the early game, mid-game, and late game. In the early game, champions are weak and vulnerable but can still win a game if they stick around and take advantage of opportunities. In the middle game, champions gradually get stronger over time as they gain experience and buy items. This process is called "scaling."

The late game is the most crucial phase, as it's when teams are able to start pushing enemy turrets and inhibitors. To maximize the chance of winning a match, it's important to understand how to make smart item choices and what role each type of player plays in the lane. For example, some champions are designed to be powerful in the early game and then fade as the match goes on, while others are designed to be strong in the late game and then spike when they buy a lot of items.롤대리