Why Climbing is Unfair In League Of Legends 2023

The eSports world often revolves around games that involve strategy, skill, and an intensive understanding of gameplay dynamics. Among these games, League of Legends has become one of the most popular and competitive ones, boasting a vast player base. This competitive nature is reflected in the game’s ranked mode, where players aim to climb the ladder, striving for the highest possible rank. However, climbing this ladder often feels like an arduous, and at times, unfair task for many players.

Toxicity and Trolls

The words “AFK”, “rager”, “troll”, “smurf” and “scripter” are well known by every League of Legends player, as most of them had already experienced a unfair game with one of these type of players in their ally team or in the enemy team.

There is no way possible to escape from playing with these players as most of the time you don’t know they are gonna make you lose on purpose, get mad in the middle of the game, or get to play against a smurf in the enemy team. And even if you know that you’ve got them in champion select, you’ll lose from 3 to 10 LP after dodging the game.

We know that mathematically speaking, there are more chances to get ragers, trolls and AFK on the enemy team than on ours as there’s only 4 random players, however, this doesn’t apply for smurfs and scripters, as the enemy team has 5 random players instead of 4.

Not only that, after Riot Games started giving heavier penalties to players who leave their games, the number of AFK players has dropped by a huge amount. There are also tons of smurfs nowadays, especially after players realized that they can get another account with better LP gains to achieve higher rankings.

With this being said, even though the enemy team has more trolls,afks and ragers than ours, there are more smurfs and scripters as well, and those will win almost every single game, making it unfair for us.

The best way to dodge this system is to duo with a higher ranking player, such as a booster, because you’ll always get a better player in your team than in the enemy’s and improve faster, making yourself a smurf in your elo.

Teammate Skill Variance

One of the key factors making climbing appear unfair is the variance in teammate skills. Despite the game’s matchmaking system designed to pair players of similar skill levels, it often feels like there is a wide range of skills in a single match. This disparity can result in one or more teammates underperforming, making the game difficult to carry single-handedly and adding a level of unpredictability to each match.

Balance of Roles and Champions

Depending on the current meta, certain roles or champions may have more influence over the outcome of a game. If a player’s preferred role or champion isn’t particularly strong in the current meta, they may feel at a disadvantage. This imbalance contributes to the perceived unfairness of the climbing process.

Win Streaks and Loss Streaks

The matchmaking rating (MMR) system can sometimes work against players by placing them in more challenging matches after a series of wins. This increase in difficulty can end a player’s win streak abruptly and may make climbing seem unfair. Conversely, enduring a loss streak can demotivate players and negatively affect their subsequent performance.

Despite these challenges, it’s important to remember that these factors impact all players to a degree, and the ranked ladder is designed to measure and reflect a player’s skill over many games. Therefore, even though individual matches can sometimes feel unfair, consistent performance and improvement should, over time, result in climbing. It’s a game of patience, perseverance, and continuous learning. At the end of the day, while striving for that rank-up, remember that League of Legends is a game meant to be enjoyed, even amidst the climb.

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