League of Legends Reddit reacts as Riot keeps sending returning players to "Smurf Queue"

Most League of Legends players are aware of the existence of smurfs in the community. This phrase refers to players who are accustomed to the game and register fresh accounts in order to participate in ranked matches.

This results in a situation where their level is significantly greater than other players who may have only recently begun their League of Legends journey.

Smurfs occasionally log onto new accounts to create challenges that involve earning a higher division rapidly (for example, in two weeks) or simply raising their coworkers' profiles.

There are several such examples, which makes it challenging to categorize this phenomenon. While there isn't a clear definition of a smurf, almost every player in League of Legends is aware of who it refers to.

Riot has developed a Smurf Queue system; it is not immediately available for solo/duo or flex. This is because many individuals open new accounts, putting them ahead of beginners in terms of skills and game knowledge.

It was designed to bring together more experienced players and ease some of the pressure off newcomers. This was done as they would likely rapidly lose interest in competing in rated games if they faced up against much stronger opponents.

However, many players expressed their dissatisfaction with their ranked match experience on Reddit. The reason for this is that the gaming system continually adds them to the Smurf Queue.

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League of Legends Redditors express their annoyance with Smurf Queue

Redditors are disappointed with Riot for the latter's ignorance about the smurf issue (Image via Riot Games)

Reddit user "Mazuruu" stated that even if certain players are not smurfs, they are nonetheless put in the queue. In his view, such errors shouldn't occur. The user acknowledged that his experience effectively killed his enjoyment of the game and made him feel helpless.

The player seemed pretty disappointed with Riot and complained that the organization doesn't want faithful players to return to League of Legends. Mazuruu's entire post goes like this,

Although the player acknowledged the benefits of Smurf Queue's existence in League of Legends, he claimed to object to Riot's policy of sending every returning player there without any defined logic.

According to him, if returning players are low in skill, they can do nothing but compete against accounts possessingto Riot's 90% winrate every game. The issue might be with Riot's loopholes in matchmaking codes that require humongous efforts to fix.

According to Redditors, this particular issue has been prevalent in League of Legends for the past two years, but Riot seems to be unbothered. Some also claimed smurfs to be "pointless."

Players also started considering that Smurf Queue doesn't "technically" exist in the game. However, over the last two years, there has been a matchmaking system that matches players based on both MMR and Rank, and not just MMR. While there is no direct Smurf Queue, this has the side effects of creating one.

Redditor "The_Sabretooth" commented:

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'ARAM came out as a savior': Players are frustrated with Summoner's Rift's "toxic" experience

An ongoing ARAM combat in League of Legends (Screengrab via Riot Games)

Many claimed that this particular issue with smurfs keeps recurring and happens to be one of the main reasons for Summoner's Rift faithful to shift to the ARAM (All Random, All Mid) mode in League of Legends.

Although Riot is aware of the entire scenario, they are yet to make an official statement regarding the issue. The community, however, hopes that the developers will get the message and address the issue in forthcoming updates.