The grinding for blue essence is revolting....

I've been playing League since season 2. Never before has the grinding for what used to be IP been so... grindy. Winning games is so unrewarding, as you only earn blue essence when you level up, and that itself takes a long while. Unless I win 8 games in a row, I'm not gonna earn any blue essence anytime soon to unlock new champs. And even when you finally do level up to earn that sweet sweet blue essence, it's not nearly as much as deserved. Anyone have any way to bypass this that doesn't end in Riot trying to shove microtransactions down my throat?