Zooming in on decision making in esports: Exploring the perceptions of expert players and coaches

This study explored how expert League of Legends (LoL) players and coaches understand decision making in elite esports. Based on semi-structured interviews with five expert players and three coaches competing in the League of Legends European Championship, the study examined the cognitive and motor processes involved in making decisions under complex, fast-changing, and high-pressure demands of professional play. The findings identified four central themes, first decision making in LoL follows a chronological structure, beginning with static decisions before the game, such as champion selection, runes, summoners spells, and early-game plans, and moving into dynamic in-game decisions that unfold across the early, mid, and late game. Second, players and coaches described decision making as something developed through repeated practice, game reviews, VOD analysis, pattern recognition, experience, and intuition. Third, the study highlighted the importance of individual fine-motor execution, showing that good decisions must be translated into precise keyboard and mouse actions under time pressure. Fourth, the findings emphasized the interaction between game knowledge and cognitive functions such as working memory, cognitive flexibility, fast information processing, and adaptation to constant game updates. 

The article concludes that decision making in elite esports is not only about choosing what to do, but also about executing decisions quickly and accurately within a dynamic environment. In LoL, superior performance appears to depend on the integration of strategic knowledge, cognitive processing, intuition, role-specific demands, and fine-motor skill. The study offers a foundation for future esports research by distinguishing static and dynamic decisions, highlighting the role of environmental constraints such as time pressure and limited information, and encouraging the use of game data, eye tracking, keyboard and mouse tracking, and psychophysiological measures to better understand decision making in esports.

Citation: Pedraza-Ramirez, I., Musculus-Schönenborn, L., Raab, M., Ramaker, B., & Laborde, S. (2025). Zooming in on decision making in esports: Exploring the perceptions of expert players and coaches. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 14(2), 335–351. https://doi.org/10.1037/spy0000382

Link: https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fspy0000382