I just beat a gold player who was on a smurf!

{quoted}

It doesnt mean youre "good" but it definitely could mean you deserve a higher rank. Annies extreme simplicity might also have something to do with it

That's what the enemy team's Vayne said as well :/

Umm no. One game doesn't mean a thing.

{quoted}

First off, he probably wasn't smurfing. 90% of smurfs aren't. Secondly, good luck and I hope you keep climbing but don't take this as a sign that you deserve a higher rank. This will only mess with your gameplay and mind, get you more angry at teams etc.... One game doesn't change much.

He definitely wasn't in bronze league though, he was racking up tons of kills and zoning me hard early on.

{quoted}

Most Bronze smurfs aren't smurfs. If they ended up in Bronze after placements they aren't smurfing

Hmmmm, you're right unless they lost placements on purpose by doing troll picks.