Identifying strategies of eSports players at various proficiency: the case of League of Legends.

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20416819

Developing effective strategies in esports is paramount for top tier playing. However, despite being core to gaming proficiency, strategy development for competitive gaming has been under represented in esports research. Here, I look at strategy development in esports by considering the specific case of League of Legends (LoL). Specifically, I identify strategies used by LoL players at various degrees of proficiency (i.e., from top tier to low tier) by analyzing 20 YouTube videos of professional LoL tournaments and regular ladder games. Through content and thematic analysis, I identify multiple strategies in LoL that include (1) team composition (hero selection for each team), (2) summoner spells used, (3) champion abilities, and systematically analyze how they are used by competitive gamers, as well as the techniques used to deploy these strategies (e.g., wave clearing or split pushing). Results from the analysis show that players tend to play more aggressive and look to make more offensive plays versus playing defensive. I conclude by discussing what implications these results have in advancing the scientific understanding of phenomena related to esports.--Author's abstract