League of Legends really has secured its position as the biggest and most influential MOBA on the planet, as well as one of the biggest video games in the world full stop.
The 2025 World Championships has just drawn to a close, as the greatest player in the game's history, Faker, won his sixth title, with seemingly no plans to stop going after them any time soon.
If you managed to tune in, it would be totally understandable if it made you want to login and give it a go for yourself. Unfortunately, at the time of writing the game is currently down for many people, after Cloudflare experienced an outage that has affected a ton of net-dependent sites and games.
As such, we though it would be helpful if we wrote some recommendations for alternatives (even when normal service is resumed), with games that touch upon everything from League's highly competitive nature, to its unique art style.
Heroes of the Storm
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If you've ever been into the cast of characters that Blizzard has put together over the years, then Heroes of the Storm is a great option. As is the case with League, it is a straight up 5v5 MOBA in which teams compete to be the first to destroy their opponent's core (again the same as the Nexus in League). As is seemingly the case with all of the games of this ilk, it was directly inspired by the Warcraft III community mod Defense of the Ancients, and it's arguably more obvious here than in any of the other examples.
The very competitive side of the game has fallen by the wayside a bit over the years, but the removal of that pressure is quite nice when you're actively looking for an alternative to League. It has all of the same familiar bells and whistles, like hero-specific abilities and experience systems, but with some fun additions like the ability to use mounts. It still receives regular updates and balancing patches as well, even if it isn't first on the developers list of priorities across a very wide portfolio.
Dota 2
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League of Legends' original greatest rival is still a very good MOBA in its own right and one that's well worth trying if you haven't given it a go yet somehow. The setup for the game is almost exactly the same, hence why it is so often compared, but if you actually sit down to play, you'll quickly realise how different it is to play. Valve's answer to Riot's behemoth has an enormous champion pool for players to take advantage of, meaning having fun is just as much about finding who suits your preferred playstyle as much as anything else.
Now, there are a lot of people out there who who will tell you that you either need to be a Dota 2 fan or a League fan, but I'm not really sure why that is. Sure, if you wanted to play both at the highest level, you just wouldn't have the time (or possibly the skill) to make that a reality. But if you're just looking for a couple of games to roll into your regular roster, there's no reason you can't make room for both, if you so choose.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
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Originally releasing back in 2016 as Mobile Legends: 5v5 MOBA, it's difficult to overstate quite how massive this mobile game is in certain parts of the world. The World Championships (which have relatively recently been through their third iteration) draw in huge audiences online, hitting a peak viewership of 3.8 million last time out, breaking a ton of records and even beating League of Legends audience figures in the process.
If you aren't usually into mobile games, try not to let that put you off in the first instance. Mobile Legends is one of the best examples of the potential of the platform, with brilliantly tuned control systems and a seamless transition for what is a very complicated and involved genre. It's also the entry on this list that's probably the most similar to LoL on the face of it, so much so that the developer actually ended up getting quite a lot of criticism when the game first launched.
Smite 2
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Switching our perspective slightly for a minute, we're moving across to Smite, a third-person MOBA that draws on the pantheon of mythological gods and creatures from across the world to create its pool of champions. The original game was an impressive attempt at translating the genre to a slightly counter-intuitive gameplay view, and the sequel is currently in Early Access on Steam and consoles, entirely free-to-play for those who want to log-in and give it a go.
Gameplay feels different whilst you get used to looking at your character from behind, but fundamentally, it remains similar to the other giants in the MOBA genre. There are a ton of abilities to learn and characters to get used to, as well as macro elements and map management, all of which are important building blocks to your eventual success. If you do go an play Smite 2, it's also cool to be involved at the stage where the game is still very much being fully formed, possibly allowing you just a smidge of influence over the end product.
Teamfight Tactics
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If you like the champions featured in League of Legends but want to play them in another setting, then Teamfight Tactics is the first of two great options. The game is essentially an auto-battler where you need to use all of your strategic nouse to come out on top against seven real-world opponents. Looking at it for the first time, it might come across a bit like a board game, and that's quite a healthy way to think about it, with the game itself being based on a mod for Dota 2 called Dota Auto Chess.
Before each round, you play your cast of champions on hexagons (again strategically) to give them the best chance possible of beating your opponent. The round then plays out automatically, with one side emerging on top. Each full game is divided into stages, which are further divided into rounds, with some played against computer opponents to earn loot. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it's a well-rounded and highly active game, though it will also be down for as long as Cloudflare is.
Legends of Runeterra
Sticking with Riot's official roster of champions and lesser characters for a minute, we have Legends of Runeterra, a strategy card game of a similar ilk to Blizzard's Hearthstone. Interest has obviously grown significantly in the wider lore and world of League of Legends, particularly following the release of Netflix's now-beloved animated series Arkane, which was based around many of the game's most famous heroes and villains. The inspiration for the game actually comes from Magic: The Gathering, so if you've ever played that, you'll know what to expect here.
Cards come from one of ten regions, the ten regions of the continent of Runeterra, and you're allowed to use up to two in any given deck. In recent times, the focus has noticeably shifted away from the competitive, with the PvP side of things now discontinued. That said, the PvE elements are very strong, and well worth pursuing if you're a fan of the lore.
Overwatch 2
Heading back over to Blizzard, we have free-to-play, team-based action sequel Overwatch 2. Set up as a similar hero shooter to the first, you're once again split into teams of five characters, with a roster of 40 available to choose from in total. Each character has their own unique set of skills, designed to slot them into one of the designated roles that you'll be familiar with if you've played similar games, inclduing Tank, Healer and DPS.
If you're a fan of the competitive side of League of Legends, then there's more than enough of that here to keep you going.
As with several other entries on this list, having fun is all about finding the heroes and roles you gel with the most. We wouldn't really recommend playing with a ton of different characters at the same time, because you'll likely not make too much of an impact. Instead, find those sweet two or three who you can really rely on, and watch the good times roll in.
Marvel Rivals
NetEase enter the game with their officially licensed Marvel super hero team-based PVP shooter Marvel Rivals. The game really did seemingly take the world by storm when it launched at the end of 2024 and, though the player base has dropped off significantly in the meantime, it still has one of the healthiest communities out there. Again, you'll be dropped into very intense 5v5 matches against some of the best known characters from the Marvel franchise, including all of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four and a ton of other very well known faces.
It is very similar to Overwatch in terms of how the rounds are setup, though there is definitely more going on here, so if you aren't into a lot of chaos then this may not be the game for you. That said, if you can get a handle on it, it's a very exciting and fast-paced experience with plenty of ongoing events and activities for players to jump into.
Counter-Strike 2
Still the record holder for the most players ever logging into a game at the same time on Steam, Counter-Strike 2 is still the absolute king when it comes to competitive shooters. Now obviously running around and firing guns is a very different proposition to what you'll get in League of Legends, but the competitive nature of the game should evoke pretty similar feelings once you really get into the thick of things.
You'll likely have seen clips of the game everywhere over the last couple of decades, so we won't go into too much detail about what it offers, but if you're looking for a tight and finely tuned gameplay experience that you can sink hundreds of hours into, then you'll be hard pushed to find anything better.
World of Warcraft
The grandaddy of all MMOs is the final entry on this list and we've included it here for several reasons, even if the direct comparisons with League aren't immediately obvious. WoW features a highly competitive Arena and PvP scene that rewards hyper-fast reactions and class knowledge. If you're a fan of the higher end of the League of Legends experience, then you should find that you can get into WoW PvP in a similar way, with plenty of features to learn, as well as relying on your instincts as a player.
Outside of that, there are some very tough PvE features that only the hardiest of players can get through unscathed, from Mythic Raiding to pushing high keys in dungeons. Of all the time sinks in the world, there are probably none more gigantic and absorbing than the World of Warcraft, so if you're looking for something to while away all of your time on, then definitely take the leap.
That's our list! There's plenty more games out there to jump on if you're a fan of League of Legends, but we think this is a solid set of places to start, so make sure to let us know how you get on.
Topics: League Of Legends