Results Of My Experiment - Some Helpful Advice If You're Climbing
I know most of you guys hate smurfing. I'm guilty of a little smurfing myself, but sometimes people smurfing have some reasons for smurfing outside of wanting to "stomp" people in a lower elo than ours or boosting. I did this as a social experiment, and mostly to prove a point (to a friend telling me I only made it out of Silver because I'm lucky enough to get good teammates).
Now, onto the results and advice:
Account 1: Duoing predominately with a low silver player from Silver 5 - Gold 5
*Wins: 40
*Losses: 30
*Total Games: 70
*Winrate: 57%
Photo Proof: http://i.imgur.com/WgtBfMr.png
Account 2: Solo Silver 5 - Gold 5
*Wins: 27
*Losses: 9
*Total Games: 36
*Winrate: 75%
Photo Proof: http://i.imgur.com/hHNXe9q.png
Of course, for obvious reasons, I won't be listing these account names. Onto the advice part.
Should I Duo or Solo?
That depends entirely up to you and how you prefer to play the game. If, and I do mean if, you can find someone that really accentuates your play style you guys can climb faster and more efficiently than you can by playing solo. Having 2 carries in a game increases your chances of victory exponentially than having 1 carry. However, if you feel like your duo partner is dragging you down, then it is better to play solo or look for another duo partner. You will not BOTH carry every game, however, having that one person to cover for you when you do bad is better than having no one to rely on.
The Problem With Duoing
You're stuck with a static skill set. If your duo partner isn't up to par with you, you'll be dragged down. What this basically means is that you have less chances of finding other people with differing skill sets and you're forced into a "same pattern play" kind of ordeal. The enemy team also, most times, get better skill rating players to offset the fact that 2 people are grouped together and possibly have communications. This means that most of your games will, undeniably, be harder than if you were playing solo. There are chances of also going against another duo, but chances are not as high as you'd think. You'll probably run into another duo 1 out of every 5 games. This means that 4 of 5 of your games will have increasingly harder opponents (if you're all the same skill ranking). You are also more likely to be even more frustrated if both you and your duo are not calm and collective people. It's important to keep toxicity at it's lowest when you're duoing. Why I'm saying this is because it'll have twice the affect if you both end up being toxic and will hinder you and your teammates even more. I wouldn't recommend duoing with someone considerably worst than you or trying to "help/boost" someone when you yourself are the same skill level as that person. Even I, myself, couldn't exactly help my friend get gold, even though I hit gold myself. The reason being that he played games without me, duo'd with other people and eventually ended up losing everything I helped him gain. He did, however, hit gold himself after my endless rants of what he should and shouldn't be doing in games, and also who he should and shouldn't be duoing with.
My point on that matter is, if you decide to Duo with someone, stick with that person. Don't go hopping from duo to duo like some cheap skank. It can and probably will be counter-productive.
The Pros of Duoing
As stated above, duoing gives you that reliability factor. If you've found someone you can trust and you play to each others strengths and weaknesses, it can definitely be a good way to climb. It's also important to note that duoing within certain roles have little(or less) impact with one another than some others -- IE: adc/support duo doesn't have as much impact on the game as a jg/mid or jg/top duo. If both of you are good, but in the same lane, chances are still 1/3 better than being 2/3rds better. So if you want a list of best dynamic duo roles (this is my personal opinion by the way, not a fact. It's also taken over the course of a small sample of games played, so be generous) :
Top/Jg (best results) Mid/Jg Mid/Top Adc/Mid Adc/Jg Top/Adc Mid/Support Jg/Support Top/Support Adc/support
Sorry support players! It's very hard to gauge your impact on the game based on the fact that you have to babysit your adc (so your worth depends on how well the adc will screw you over or not). But don't worry! As my results have shown and been tested, it's still impactful so long as if your adc is bad, you survive the laning phase and play the mid game exceptionally well with your carry!
SoloQ
Maybe you're a big boy(or girl). You don't need anyone to walk side by side with you. You're completely fine on your own. Study shows (my rather small sample study, of course) that this is the best way to go! Being a loner has many upsides, with just a few downsides! Soloing gives you access to a wide variety of play styles. You won't always get that boosted Riven top lane who just split pushes 24/7. Some times you'll get a super tank who bursts open the gates with you in those teamfights. Maybe you won't always get that Rengar jg who only power farms. Some games it'll be an Udyr. Some games it'll be a Yi. Heck, you might even get a Nunu here and there. Either way, it keeps things fresh and frustrating on all kinds of different levels! This allows you to be more flexible in what you do and games are played differently almost exclusively when you solo. Will you have a higher chance of getting boosted teammates? Well, doing is 3/5 chance while soloing is 4/5 -- so the answer? Most definitely. Does it matter? Not really. As long as you play consistently well, you will climb regardless of how many boosted teammates you get.
Is consistency the best way to climb? Yes! Chances are, your consistent plays give rise to consistency in your team. The reason half of my games look like my teammates are "good" is because I make them look good (not praising myself). I play consistent enough, help enough that my teammates don't have the chance to feed. As long as you keep playing consistently, you'll feel like you have better teammates more games!
Cons Of SoloQ
You don't have that reliability factor, obviously. You don't have anyone to take over when you make a mistake -- or at the very least, you feel like you don't. The problem with SoloQ is the fact that you don't have the verbal communication that you normally do with a DuoQ. This creates some mistrust issues where if you don't carry, or start carrying, you feel like you automatically lose the game. This is actually incorrect. What makes you think there isn't someone else out there that's equally as good if not better than you? SoloQ puts you in a mindset that's, while not completely wrong, fundamentally bad. You will have bad teammates. You will get tilted. You will be frustrated. That's SoloQ. You will also have good games as well as bad games. It's simply important to stay as consistent as possible with your better games. As I said though, very little cons with soloing. Being a loner is the best way to go!
Conclusion
If you're really good at communicating and shot calling you should considering duoing -- especially if teamfighting is your strong point. However, you need a duo partner that also excels in teamfighting, but has that early game mechanics to back it up. If you prefer to split off to the sides and completely stomp lane, then soloQ might be better for you.
I am an emotional player( I play by feel, not calculations) so if there are other players out there that play like me, I will make a youtube video explaining smaller details that normally get skimped on. Some people prefer learning through visual and audio, and if you do -- I got you! Just gimme'(give me) like a week and I promise to have something up for you. Also, I'm pretty shit at math, so if any of you mathematical profs out there are triggered by any numbers, let me know and I will change it (because i can guarantee those some of those numbers are probably incorrect).
That's all I got! Hope this help -- and as always, Good Luck On Your Climbing Adventures!
