Why You Should Make 2019 the Year You Finally Get Good at "League of Legends"

League of Legends is the 2019 life companion you need.

This post is presented in partnership with RIOT Games.

Do you ever wish there existed a program that'll teach you mad life skills, win you university scholarships, help you make friends and even earn you cold, hard cash?

What if we told you it actually already existed and it was in the form of a popular online game?

Before you laugh us off as a bunch of fools, hear us out.

League of Legends is exactly that and it's why 2019 is the year you should set some time aside to master it.

If you've never heard of LoL, it's basically an online multiplayer game wherein two teams fight, aiming to destroy the other's base tower. Sounds simple enough, but once you get a glance at it, you'll understand why some who've never played it, think it looks super complex.

Don't fear. After all, the quick and easy opening tutorials definitely help out. And underneath all the strange terminology, mystical characters and fanciful design is a game that's designed to make you your best self.

"How?" you might be thinking. Well, take Google, for example. The seven top characteristics sought by their employers are soft skills like critical thinking, empathy and problem-solving; all things you can learn in a 20-minute game of LoL.

Let us explain the benefits in more detail...

You'll make friends.

Whether they're exclusively online friends or mates you've met in real life, you're bound to make a few friends when you play LoL. Despite not always being with them physically, you'll need to be in constant contact to ensure you're all on the same page when attacking the opposing team.

In between all that strategising, there'll surely be some idle chit chat. Boom.

It'll help you learn teamwork.

Y'know those teammates you're working with to defeat the common enemy? You'll need to coordinate who's attacking whom and when. You'll need to help them out when they're getting slammed and give them a virtual slap on the back when they've broken through the enemy's defences.

So, you may as well pop it on your resume right now because you just learned teamwork and how to be supportive; invaluable skills in the future workforce.

Opportunities abound.

Institutions are finally recognising that eSports fall under the bracket of traditional sports and treating them accordingly. One university, Queensland University of Technology, has even started offering scholarships for exceptional LoL players. It's because they recognise that eSports help you learn the same soft skills you would in traditional sports; skills like listening, interpreting and communicating.

So, if you're not likely to win any scholarships for traditional sports, why not start training nightly on the computer?

You can make some sweet cash.

Have you suddenly become a pro or just feel like you could give it a shot? Consider entering an eSport league, because there's plenty of money to be made. Don't believe us? Here are a few figures to whet your appetite.

Last year, the League of Legends World Championships had a prize pool of $US6.45 million (or about $AUD9 million), and the previous two years' pools were only a little lower than that figure. So yeah, you could say there's some cash to be won.

It's just really fun.

Have we not mentioned this already? After a long day of learning and studying, one of the best ways to unwind is by transporting yourself to a land of mages and assassins. Aside from all the real-life soft skills you can attain from playing a few rounds a week of LoL, it also doubles as a good way to de-stress. After you've nailed your 30-min tutorial and started your first match, you'll see what we mean.

You're learning and having fun. Isn't that the dream?