@Riot. Your matchmaking system breeds frustration. Especially in conjunction with the promo system.

I hope someone at Riot will read this. I find myself getting frustrated with the matchmaking system Riot has implemented, particularly when I have to beat players two divisions or more higher than my own division in order to succeed in my promotion series. Attached is the matchmaking I played just a moment ago. I wish this was an aberration or deviation from the norm, but it is not in my own experience playing promotion series. I understand that matchmaking matches you with players of similar skill level regardless of their league/division standing. However, I should not be expected to play someone an entire 5 tiers above me (Gold 2) to advance to Silver 1, nor should I be expected to play a team made up almost entirely of Gold players to advance WITHIN Silver league. I can sort of understand the logic behind being matched with Gold players if I'm attempting to get from Silver league to Gold league.

If I am being matched with players close to my skill level, this would logically suggest that I would have around a 50% chance of winning each match. However, this seems to stand in direct conflict with the promotion system that expects players to advance with a higher than 50% win rate in the promotion series. This expectation only makes sense if I am in a league where I am playing players below my skill level and thus moving to the next tier (meaning I am progressing beyond Silver II skill to Silver I skill and so on). This is equivalent to a star college quarterback, who has a skill level on par with the NFL (next competitive tier), making it to the Championship game only to be told by BCS officials that because they felt the opposing team's quarterback did not possess a similar skill level, they were going to substitute in Peyton Manning as the opposing team's quarterback. Imagine how that might feel to the star college quarterback.

Furthermore, one should not underestimate the intangible or unquantifiable experience gained by playing in a higher league. Playing against players from a higher league who constantly hone their skills against other players in that higher league means I am playing against players with a higher experience level even if the skill level is similar. This means we truly aren't on an equal playing field. And before anyone comes at this with some Elitist B.S. about anything below Diamond 5 50+ LP being trash and all the same, numerous posts on reddit and these boards have demonstrated that each league has different mechanical and tactical skill levels, with higher cs, higher warding, and better rotations at each successive league. At the end of the day, it often feels like my games are decided by which team has the higher ranked players. It doesn't even feel good to win when I'm matched with more Gold players. Where's the learning, challenge, and feeling of accomplishment in that?

Riot staff have repeatedly affirmed their commitment to making their game feel good to play and a positive experience for their playerbase. From champion skill readability to increasing counterplay to implementing the league system itself (as an attempt to improve upon the previous system), Riot has shown that they care about the player experience. I love the game you've created Riot. You're a great company as far as interacting with your userbase. It's surprising to me that so little has been said by Rioters about why this system as it stands now is perfectly suitable and acceptable from a player experience standpoint.