It makes me sad, but goodbye league

Downvote me if you wish, I really don't care.

When league announced that solo queue was officially never coming back today, I thought well maybe they'll make some changes that will help the competitive integrity a bit in some other way. after reading its clear as hell that the only thing they are trying to do is "appease" the higher elos while making dynamic queue run smoothly for the majority of people.

you see, here's my story. I got introduced to this game mid season 4. I fell in love immediately as it was VERY difficult to play and there are SO many aspects to learn. and the better you get the more nuanced the skill differences become but the gap gets larger. the difference between a guy who knows wave management top vs an average player is huge. the difference between a person who knows how to trade vs someone who only knows the basics of trading is massive. mechanical play is so big in league. it felt good. so I told myself "i'm going to be great at this game".

and for the past year and a half or so I've played this game religiously, non stop, and poured more than a thousand bucks into the game and literally over 4000 hours of my time. thats insane. but I don't regret it. it was fun. and I felt like I was working towards a goal, towards something. but now the game has changed. the game is no longer about the competitive aspect. Riot is slowly killing it. you won't see it immediatley, but it will happen. Dynamic queue is not as "bad" as its made out to be as it works for most people. but this season I finally hit another breakthrough with plat. I got to plat 4 but as I climbed I noticed something happening. my queue times were atrocious and the quality of games were decreasing. I am not at an "unplayable" point but I asked myself a few things.

Why am I being punished for being good at this game? the better I get the harder it is to play because of the new matchmaking and when I do get games you get premades of 3 or more on enemy team and if you don't you are basically fucked. they are trying so hard to remedy this, but solo queue this season is not about individual skill. they are emphasizing team play but you can't even play as 5 once you hit diamond and above so what is the point? you can't play as an individual at the highest level and you can't play as a competitive player (team play) at the highest level. how is any new blood every going to get into competitive league of legends? there's no point in trying to get THAT good.

sure, if your goals are maybe diamond 5, (and then stop), platinum, or anything else the game is in an ok state right now. the balancing is getting better with marksman rework, and mage update as well as all the new features. gameplay wise the game is great. and I have no issues with it. but that is why I'm sad. matchmaking the higher up you get is awful. I don't even want to try to get higher. why bother? I won't even get to play the game anymore and where's the fun in that? Riot killed a beautiful aspect of league to push the benefit of another, casual play.

Slowly over time it will be harder for new players to get into the competitive scene. I think competitive league will always be a thing, but it will slowly get more and more watered down because of dynamic queue. it will take a long time for this to happen, but in the end thats where it will go. I think league will remain popular, but it will become more casual and not for the competitive nature of people.

so between lack of competitiveness, the toxicity of the community, and other things I'm just done. it makes me sad, but good bye league. I may play a casual game if a friend bugs me enough here or there, but I'm not going to sign in unless bothered and I'm definitely not bothering with ranked anymore.

and riot, please consider how important the highest elos of your community are. I know they are a small fraction, but their drive is what drives the competitive scene which drive so much of league's popularity. you are going to kill your game by your stubbornness.