"LOL ARE YOU PLAYING FLEX QUE SERIOUSLY?"

Craft Zeppelin·Apr 25, 2017·74 votes·9,346 views

...dude, I want the double gold tier rewards. And if you dont see the word ranked then dont que for it. If you are making a wierd pick, but are trying to win I encourage that. But if you are planning to go to flex que to just goof around because it is "casual" than ranked (which is not) and more "serious" than normal (which there is no statistic proving this), get reported and stay off this gamemode and get the courage and balls to play ranked solo, or the common sense to play normals.

108 Comments

GrimspeakeApr 25, 201712 votes

You should always be trying to win even if its a normal other your griefing and intentionally helping the other team. I dont care what you play as long as you try to win regardless of the gamemode

Project omenApr 25, 20172 votes

Idk about other people but when I've played like 50 ranked games and then queue up for a normal game I'm gonna be relaxed af, not caring if I win or lose. For me, that's the point of normals. Which means I won't try my best there.

ShinjusukeApr 25, 20173 votes

There's a difference between "trying your best" and "trying to win". As long as you're still trying to win, I don't think anyone is expecting your 100% in a normals game.

Normals are in general more relaxed. That does not give people the right to force their arbitrary "it doesn't matter" viewpoint onto it. If your teammates are trying to win, you need to try to win. Seriously, why is "I'm not the most important creature on the planet" such a hard concept for people to grasp on this game? You're in a game with 4 teammates and 5 opponents, all people with their own lives that are just as important as yours.

Hell, I know a guy who literally only plays Co-Op vs AI. He's got like 2 PvP games on his account and he's level 30. He sucks terribly at the game, but that doesn't mean his gameplay experience is any less important than mine.

Ranked is where people should go if they want to play seriously and give 100%. Normals doesn't require 100%, but you should still try to win regardless, otherwise you should be playing Animal Crossing or something.

Yaśuo MainApr 25, 201710 votes

I have been just playing Solo in Flex Q because I had no idea what the difference was between both ranked and flex.

DrCyanideApr 25, 201714 votes

The only difference I could tell was worse teammates in Solo queue, but I did place Silver 5 in Solo and Gold 3 in Flex. Skipped a tier to Gold 1 in Flex, then I've been stuck grinding Solo Queue to try and get it to Gold 5 before I abandon it.

Honestly, I feel like I should just abandon Solo Queue. It's so tiresome trying to climb in Solo Queue, while I feel pushed as a player in Flex Queue.

Chromatic EagleApr 25, 201711 votes

Weird. I feel like I get worse teammates in flex.

DrCyanideApr 25, 201711 votes

My teammates were hands down better in Flex, in every category from attitude when behind to decision making.

rtbf225618241Apr 25, 20174 votes

Because you got a clean slate in Flex Q. SoloQ has all your past history there and you've been placed accordingly with the teammates you get.

For me, SoloQ is always harder since i play Flex with friends or to practice a champion i know well.

Maddened King Apr 25, 20174 votes

I feel the complete opposite. You are just getting very lucky with premade groups. It is actually very hard to carry in Flex because you can either get a group of good players or a group of bad ones, it is never in-between. You also have to deal with other people having access with Voice comms while you, yourself have none.

SquishieApr 25, 20179 votes

Real men climb in soloq mate. As you mentioned above flex queue is easy and doesn't really teach the game, the only reason they are keeping it imo because some "teams" are used to it and if they switch to soloq they will get wrecked.

DrCyanideApr 25, 201716 votes

From my own personal experiences Solo Queue is like herding cats. You can say "real men herd cats" all you want, but that's not really convincing.

Playing Flex Queue I was frequently matched with and against players who had been Plat the season before, 2 divisions higher than my highest. Being up against that kind of opposition pushed me to play harder, and playing with those teammates meant we could actually make the needed map plays when we did get an advantage. Playing Solo Queue I genuinely feel like I've been getting worse, because I'm not pushed that hard and the team aspects fall apart.

Solo Queue is just a way to get some prize at the end of the season as far as I'm concerned. If your experience is opposite of mine, I'm glad for you, because that means Solo Queue is delivering a meaningful experience for you, but it's not doing that for me.

SquishieApr 25, 20175 votes

First of all, I hope you didn't take my words the wrong way, as my purpose was not to mock flex queue. I honestly play soloq because it's the way pro players learnt the game and got into pro teams, Plus the soloq rank kinda valued more than flexQ for the majority of events, let's say you are joining a tournament with a minimum rank of diamond 5, They won't accept you unless you have d5+ in soloq.

BlåbæretApr 26, 20176 votes

Except that solo q isn't a real solo q since there are premades in every game.

SquishieApr 26, 20172 votes

duo premades are acceptable, they are not frustrating to play vs, something you can't say about 3+ premades. Even if they are laner+jungler and they camp your lane they still can lose. Meanwhile playing vs 3+.. as a solo player is just horrible

BlåbæretApr 26, 20173 votes

{quoted}

duo premades are acceptable, they are not frustrating to play vs, something you can't say about 3+ premades. Even if they are laner+jungler and they camp your lane they still can lose. Meanwhile playing vs 3+.. as a solo player is just horrible

True, but you're still at a disadvantage.

pryda022Apr 26, 20172 votes

{quoted}

From my own personal experiences Solo Queue is like herding cats. You can say "real men herd cats" all you want, but that's not really convincing.

Playing Flex Queue I was frequently matched with and against players who had been Plat the season before, 2 divisions higher than my highest. Being up against that kind of opposition pushed me to play harder, and playing with those teammates meant we could actually make the needed map plays when we did get an advantage. Playing Solo Queue I genuinely feel like I've been getting worse, because I'm not pushed that hard and the team aspects fall apart.

Solo Queue is just a way to get some prize at the end of the season as far as I'm concerned. If your experience is opposite of mine, I'm glad for you, because that means Solo Queue is delivering a meaningful experience for you, but it's not doing that for me.

Let me translate your post------ I play flex because people carry me there. When I play solo I can't even win vs silver players and that makes me sad. Hooray for casual que boo solo que

DrCyanideApr 26, 20172 votes

You couldn't be further from the truth. Read my reply to herefordunpl , it's not the label tied to the rank that matters to me, it's the experience. Solo Queues experience is just less compelling (at least in the mid silver range, it probably gets better higher up).

Samflash3Apr 25, 201710 votes

Real men play what they want and do good at it.

EbonboltApr 26, 20171 votes

Poor little you, held back in silver in solo q by your teammates.And of course flex q reveals your true potential after being hard stuck in silver for 3 seasons :D

DrCyanideApr 26, 20172 votes

It's more I don't care enough about ranked. Both Season 5 and Season 6 I got to Silver 1 right at the end of the Season, when the boosters come out and all the Smurfs decide they want the rewards on their accounts. I'd go on to lose a few games with too little time left in the season to make it to Gold 5. If I spent more time climbing earlier in each Season I'd have likely hit Gold 5 each time.

But regardless, if you're focusing on the rank I obtained you're missing the point. I frankly wouldn't care if the label I have in Flex said Diamond 1 or Bronze 5, the part that makes it so much better for me is the games that come out of it. They felt like games where I had to push myself to do my absolute best, because the game was so close it could be decided by my single mistake. I felt like I could rely on my teammates, not have to doubt them at every turn. And that scenario... That's a League experience unlike anything I've found before or in any other queue. I want that experience for all my Ranked games, and it's that experience I'm disappointed Solo Queue doesn't deliver.

And since having smart teammates is part of that experience, yes, I do feel like my teammates in Solo Queue are holding the experience back. I'll be able to get to Gold 5 after enough games, but trudging through those games won't be enjoyable, and that kinda defeats the point of a game.

SoryInAdvanceApr 26, 20173 votes

Really? I placed bronze 4 in flex because i had 10 games of troll teammates playing braum jungle and leona top and stupid crap like that.

Who is TaliyahApr 25, 20178 votes

I actually don't care about flex queue, but I will use it as normal game queue once riot deletes normal draft.

Craft ZeppelinApr 25, 201712 votes

{quoted}

I actually don't care about flex queue, but I will use it as normal game queue once riot deletes normal draft.

I cant tell if youre "trying" to act cool or dumb or worse both, since your sarcasm is pretty poor. People are trying to achive something here.

The Fuzzy 0neApr 25, 20174 votes

This is so frustrating... Like, I get not taking it as seriously as solo/duo, that's fine,c but if you're going to try something new or mess around then you should be playing a normal. The last flex game I had I don't think my team even got a kill... why? First time syndra mid who didn't know the combo or how to build her, and first time kha jungle who couldn't clear camps. Add in a flaming top to that and yeah that's what makes me hate this mode with a passion

manbearswineApr 25, 20174 votes

Do you forget that part of its purpose is to replace normal draft?

It IS a casual queue mode.

La Belle SauvageApr 25, 20176 votes

It is for team ranked and it was never meant to be casual. (If I missed sarcasm then please disregard).

manbearswineApr 25, 20172 votes

[{quoted}](name=Bello Bagheera,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=T6f1z514,comment-id=000f0000,timestamp=2017-04-25T19:37:51.490+0000)

It is for team ranked

No, that was mostly a rejected concept after all of the complaints about dynamic que, it's a normal-ranked hybrid mostly, it's meant to replace normal draft and allow for teams to play, people don't take it too seriously(I'm not even talking about the people playing it), and matchmaking is all over the place.

and it was never meant to be casual.

It was meant to, though it's perhaps more so than intended.

La Belle SauvageApr 25, 20172 votes

Huh, maybe I misunderstood the notes at the beginning of the season. Regardless I still feel because it's ranked then players shouldn't come to this q to try never before played champs ECT. Go to norms for that.

La Belle SauvageApr 25, 20178 votes

"FLEX QUEUE

The Flex Queue allows up to five players to queue up and compete—a lot like 2016's Dynamic Queue—and those who climb in both will earn extra rewards at the end of the season. If your premade squad wants a serious, competitive game, this is where you play. Or, if you're a solo player who wants to get good in an environment that rewards more team-oriented skills, the Flex Queue is also there for you. Ranked fives will naturally be merged with this queue, and as a result they'll be available 24/7."

I don't see casual mentioned, nor do I see normal ranked hybrid, am I missing something?

MagearnaApr 25, 20173 votes

You're not missing anything, as you're exactly right.

manbearswineApr 26, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=Bello Bagheera,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=T6f1z514,comment-id=000f0000000000000000,timestamp=2017-04-25T20:06:37.664+0000)

"FLEX QUEUE

The Flex Queue allows up to five players to queue up and compete—a lot like 2016's Dynamic Queue—and those who climb in both will earn extra rewards at the end of the season. If your premade squad wants a serious, competitive game, this is where you play. Or, if you're a solo player who wants to get good in an environment that rewards more team-oriented skills, the Flex Queue is also there for you. Ranked fives will naturally be merged with this queue, and as a result they'll be available 24/7."

I don't see casual mentioned, nor do I see normal ranked hybrid, am I missing something?

It's riot you're dealing with, do you really expect them to devalue the "achievements" of people playing flex que by berating it themselves?

Just read between the lines, they disabled normal draft on many of the smaller servers with the addition of this, do you really think that's just random or are they trying to push people who prefer a casual mode into another casual mode?

Either way, it's very clear the mode is not serious, matchmaking is all over the place, every game is a shitfest, challengers and golds in the same game, taking it seriously makes absolutely no sense, it doesn't take itself seriously.

Sinister AnubisApr 26, 20171 votes

They got rid of normal draft because it doesn't make sense to have it anymore. The big difference is before you was able to play normal draft before level 30 now you must be level 30. Its meant to challenge teams and be used for scrims for teams. The made this mode directly so you don't have to waste invites on teams or create new teams to try out new players in a competitive environment. There is nothing causal about this game mode.

manbearswineApr 26, 20172 votes

[{quoted}](name=Master Xayah,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=T6f1z514,comment-id=000f000000000000000000010000,timestamp=2017-04-26T03:47:28.103+0000)

They got rid of normal draft because it doesn't make sense to have it anymore. The big difference is before you was able to play normal draft before level 30 now you must be level 30. Its meant to challenge teams and be used for scrims for teams. The made this mode directly so you don't have to waste invites on teams or create new teams to try out new players in a competitive environment. There is nothing causal about this game mode.

"It doesn't make sense anymore"-> proceeds to give no reason whatsoever as to what changed making it so. The only thing that changed is the addition of another casual mode with heavy overlap as to what it offers.

As far as "challenge teams" goes, that's only "true" if you go as 5, and just so we are clear, if go as 5 you are absolutely allowed to do whatever the fuck you want, because your team is on board(play seriously, casually, hardcore trolling, you can even all run down mid).

If you play outside of a 5 man, it's the same casual mode normal draft was/is, maybe even more so.

Serika ZeroApr 26, 20171 votes

for a long time, eune had (might still have) draft mode disabled by riot on purpose because of that, flex queue became the new "draft mode" for that server

that's what you don't get you don't get it because riot left draft mode for euw and na ;) so, for eune server (and a few more), flex queue literally, has no value

manbearswineApr 26, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=Serika Zero,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=T6f1z514,comment-id=000f00000000000000000002,timestamp=2017-04-26T08:55:02.755+0000)

for a long time, eune had (might still have) draft mode disabled by riot on purpose because of that, flex queue became the new "draft mode" for that server

that's what you don't get you don't get it because riot left draft mode for euw and na ;) so, for eune server (and a few more), flex queue literally, has no value

It's more than that. Dynamic que was heavily complained about because people saw it as meaningless(ranked means nothing cause of boosted animals and what not), flex que is even worse than dynamic que(because the more serious people will go solo/duo), to the community it means even less than old dynamic que, and they were pretty pissed over that.

The moment the community doesn't care for your rank there the mode become casual(not caring for your rank pretty much equals casual anyway), so it's a casual mode no matter what server you're on(even if you take is seriously, the fact most don't makes it casual).

La Belle SauvageApr 25, 20174 votes

Agree 100% tired of people using this q as a good off playground. Excellent post.

NotSpecialDudeApr 25, 20174 votes

I see merit in both queues really. Personally, I'm not as invested into flex as I am in solo, but because of that, I get a kinda of unique perspective of the game that normal doesn't bring. As for which queue is better? Eh...not really applicable. Solo is the way to go to challenge mechanics and Flex is for team dynamics.\

Apples and oranges for me.

Friendly RamApr 25, 20173 votes

What's the duo reward?

EndlessSorcererApr 25, 20173 votes

IIRC, it hasn't been announced yet.

They did say there would be a reward for people who reached Gold+ in both queues.

JustARivenMainApr 25, 20173 votes

It took me 79 wins to get from s4 to G5 in flex and 79 wins to get from b4 - g5 in solo duo... 61 Losses in flex, 57 losses in solo/duo to get to the same place.

Couldn't even blame teammates if i wanted to, had multiple diamonds vs bronzes. I got fucked multiple times by way higher ranks. The skill difference is massive, and pretty easy to see.

OelykApr 25, 20173 votes

Double gold tier rewards?

QuephaApr 26, 20173 votes

riot has said flex queue will have its own set of rewards and there will be something 'special' for players who achieve gold in both queues.

Dextix LTApr 26, 20173 votes

Sorry, but until i have normal DRAFT back, Flex is the normal draft for me.

Talk to Riot and tell them to bring back normal draft if you want me out of your hair.

ThePikolApr 26, 20171 votes

There is normal draft in EUNE for a long time now... Dont try to troll just because you don't know facts

Dextix LTApr 26, 20173 votes

Oh ye, there is, WHEN I CAN'T PLAY IT DUE TO THE TIME IT IS ON!

Sorry, but for ME there is NO Normal draft, so sorry for having a different schedule than 10 years old children.

EndlessSorcererApr 25, 20172 votes

Eh, I should be dropped in Gold after finishing my placements assuming my initial MMR is the same as Solo/Duo Queue.

Even if the other players aren't trying, it can't be worse to play in than low Platinum.

Project omenApr 25, 20172 votes

Well, on the eune server we don't get normal draft pick every day and I don't know when it's available, so if I want to learn a new champ I've no choice but to play flex. Normals with blind pick (or even with draft pick as well) are too much of a clown fiesta for me to learn something.

GrimspeakeApr 25, 20172 votes

Personally i use flex queue to play the champs im not 100% comfortable on but ive grinded some normals on and to see how i play but i always try to win regardless of what gamemode i play, even aram. I dont take joy from losing. I will accept it if im beaten but the whole point of any game is to win. I still take chances in every gamemode and see where my limits are unless its blatantly obvious im just gonna die because learning your/champion limits is what makes you better in the long run but not trying to win is just fucking stupid if i put it bluntly. I dont see any benefit from it.