This season's rank is meaningless.

BluePolarizer·May 18, 2016·196 votes·7,868 views

I only look at loading screen banners. That's what I consider someone's true rank - their solo queue, end of season 5 rank.

Afterwards, nobody knows how you got to your new rank. Nobody knows if you were a premade 4/5 stomping solos, queued with multiple d1/master smurfs, etc. If someone says they're a season 6 plat but I see a silver 2 banner, I consider them a silver.

It shows too. I've seen so many "plats" just get absolutely destroyed both in normals and in ranked by their lane counterparts its not even funny. Sometimes these "plats" are getting destroyed by gold 3's even. They don't even know how to cooperate with the team after laning phase either. In fact, even if they build full tank, they don't even know how to tank properly.

Dynamic queue has destroyed the integrity of ranked.

187 Comments

IceohMay 18, 201639 votes

The ranks never actually matter.

Also, gold 3's taking on plats? Is this a surprise to anyone?

When I was in gold 3 last season, I had a low plat or two in every game. There isn't that big of a skill difference.

Troll for TrumpMay 19, 20164 votes

Even silvers can beat plats now...

ModCaptainMårvelousMay 19, 201616 votes

No, it's just that the rank you have has very little correlation with skill.

Joey376May 19, 20162 votes

Not true your skill is represented by your rank how do you not get that?

UrPalAlMay 19, 201611 votes

It's represented by your MMR, not your rank. There's a huge difference.

Neru84May 19, 20161 votes

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Qiyeanu ReevesMay 19, 201621 votes

are you trollin or did u misread that video's title?

acraftyferretMay 18, 201620 votes

You should try playing jungle where the enemy 4 man constantly invades your shit while your 4 man sits there dying to minions. It's a lot of fun.

Other than that, you do have a point. A lot of the people that climbed to plat this season are frankly unskilled and have no clue what they're doing. It also doesn't help that plat is currently a smurf cesspool.

For ex: this a smurf, and I myself have ran into numerous master/challenger/high diamond players in a "plat 4" game. This isn't including the barrage of silver/gold quality players that got up here via abusing dynamic queue.

combine that with inconsistent balance changes and you basically have a pile of shit game :).

BluePolarizerMay 19, 20164 votes

already had that a few weeks ago. my entire jungle was warded and a Nidalee spear would hit me followed by the entire enemy team collapsing if I even tried to take wolves.

MohawkBirdMay 19, 20162 votes

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BluePolarizerMay 19, 201615 votes

it is not fair for the solos, who are at the mercy of a premade. the difference between a 4 stack and a duo is that the 4 stack can do quite a few more things:

force a surrender
force an open mid
carry you even if you AFK farm a lane (as long as you are clearing minions somewhat effectively)

Duos can't 4 vote a surrender, they can't decide to open mid (because 3v5s still have a remote possibility of winning but 1v5 is zero chance of winning) and they can't carry you alone (they need at least 1 other solo) if all you do is AFK farm and refuse to group.

cuddlykitten4May 18, 201616 votes

Someone's having issues climbing this season and it's making him salty I see

BluePolarizerMay 18, 201619 votes

I was plat last season, still plat (though lower plat) this season, and just finished a game 19-2-10 stomping on the enemy team. Meanwhile my carries were 3-7 and 2-6, doing less damage than support and full tank top.

How is it fun stomping guys who die once to a gank when they farm solo then come back to the exact same spot to farm solo again? Or how is it fun being on the opposite team and getting stomped because your carries were boosted? Or getting stomped in lane but still getting carried and learning nothing?

cuddlykitten4May 18, 20163 votes

Thank you for confirming my statement ^.^

SCApikemanMay 18, 201617 votes

He isn't salty he has a good point and he is still in plat regardless so what is your point?

Serpents EmbraceMay 18, 201610 votes

Cuddlykitten has a really good point, actually. They're making sure you know that they're a child with no conversational or debate skills.

MAGA MAN X 2020May 19, 201612 votes

I forgot, people didn't boost last season.

BluePolarizerMay 19, 201617 votes

direct boosters are detectable and bannable.
duo queuers getting carried can only get carried so high before they become too heavy for one smurf to carry. A single d1 smurf might possibly get a silver to bottom plat (where they'd stay or fall from), but 2 d1 smurfs can get the silver to diamond. That's just 2 d1 smurfs carrying a single silver.

DrCyanideMay 18, 201610 votes

"Ranked Integrity" is something that never existed, not for the masses anyway.

You know what's funny? Every single complaint people have brought up about Dynamic Queue is a problem that has existed in Bronze and Silver for years! Teammates that don't communicate with you? Teammates that ignore pings? Teammates that are significantly worse than you being matched with you? Not being able to carry hard enough to climb?

BluePolarizerMay 19, 20168 votes

that's not the point. Before, there were ragers, people who ignore you and bads, but it was equal probability for everyone. I lost a plat 1 promo game because of a J4 top who stole my blue when he was 1-5. But everyone has cases.

Now not everyone has ragers/bads/no communications guys with equal probability (people play on premades of different size) yet they're ranked on the same ladder.

You thought bronze/silver were bad before? Right now dynamic queue has forced many high elo players to smurf in bronze/silver to play with their friends since ranked 5's were removed. How does THAT feel, to know that more and more games are being decided by who has a gold/plat/diamond smurf in their premade instead of your personal skill?

DrCyanideMay 19, 20165 votes

You thought bronze/silver were bad before? Right now dynamic queue has forced many high elo players to smurf in bronze/silver to play with their friends since ranked 5's were removed. How does THAT feel, to know that more and more games are being decided by who has a gold/plat/diamond smurf in their premade instead of your personal skill?

Honestly? Those smurfs aren't going to be playing without their low-ranked friends, since that's the entire reason they made that smurf account. If they play together with any degree of frequency they're already past me if their overall skill level is greater than mine, and if they're matched with me then it means that as a group they're on par with me.

Most games in Bronze/Silver are decided by which team has the fewest idiots. My individual skill is allowed shine in a team of averagely competent players, but is completely overshadowed idiots. Premades, no matter how uncoordinated or unskilled, have fewer idiots. It's in my best interest to keep the queue where there are fewer idiots. My most one sided losses in there past month or so haven't been because of premades or smurfs, but rather solo players that were idiots.

Maybe when I get to a point where competent solo player allies are the normal thing I will be able to relate to some of the hate on premades, but until then I see them as my best way to get to out of silver will be with Premades, either in them or solo and paired with them. Until then, I've got bigger concerns (like players wanting to play brand new champions in Ranked).

BluePolarizerMay 19, 20166 votes

but then I'm still not going to believe that your gold banner means anything.

And that's what matters. What your peers think.

My plat 1 banner from season 5 is recognized, whether you like me or not, as something that I got alone. I don't know whether you are actually a gold player, even if you get the gold border. You might be a bronze that has multiple diamond buddies.

DrCyanideMay 19, 20163 votes

And that's what matters. What your peers think.

That's where we're just going to have to disagree. What matters far more to me is better quality games, and border color has nothing to do with that.

My plat 1 banner from season 5 is recognized, whether you like me or not, as something that I got alone.

Or with a duo. People act like we actually had a Solo Queue before, which isn't quite true.

BluePolarizerMay 19, 20166 votes

back then you could see who was duo'ed with who. Also, you can check my records on op.gg. no duos.

DrCyanideMay 19, 20163 votes

op.gg shows who you played with in your most recent 20 games only, not all of your ranked history. Someone who alternates playing 19 ARAMs on their own, then 1 Ranked game with a 5 man premade will show up as never having duoed either.

Viewing who was duoing with who died... when, late Season 4? That feature hasn't been available for ages, dying before the Summoners Rift update.

BluePolarizerMay 19, 20166 votes

I also have multiple ranked games on my last 20 played. no duos while on a winning streak.

KVbqbFsC8eMay 18, 201610 votes

{quoted}

Dynamic queue has destroyed the integrity of ranked.

lolptwoMay 18, 20169 votes

To the OP - Some tips after reading some of the comments on here. Sometimes you're just explaining things to children. Don't bother even replying to their garbage. People will try to divert the issue, redirect it to YOUR personal rank etc. Make excuses if they are being carried claiming they deserve to have a Masters on their team even though they are Silver. Regardless any self respecting human being knows this Ranked Dynamic Q is cancer.

Gimpy89May 18, 20168 votes

welcome to boosted que.

option paralysisMay 18, 20168 votes

I saw multiple times people that were gold for 2 SEASONS and they're suddenly climbing in plat ++. Hmm, Idk why right ?? I stopped playing after placements and I don't even have motivation to play that 1 ranked game a month not to decay. Garbage q is so good, amirite.

CodyBear May 19, 20166 votes

It's just dumb and Lyte had to rage quit because of his mistake. LOL

SwiftKitten88May 19, 20166 votes

last season i was ranked up to silver 3 before the season ended, i was planning on hitting gold this season but after the removal of solo que.. i gave up since i never have a duo que partner let alone a full team it took so munch long get to REACH silver this season i said "screw it" and just stopped playing ranked once i reached silver 5. its not worth my time trying to reach gold until solo que comes back.

not when I'm working 12 hours a day 4 days a week.

sure i can still climb.. but it's SOO MUCH slower when your up agianst premades as a solo person

AheadatimeMay 19, 20166 votes

Yeah. Was plat last season, placed gold this season. The 3 or 4 divisions I'd have to climb wouldn't have been a big deal last season. This season, it was a nightmare. I quit playing ranked after ~2 weeks of giving dynamic queue a legit chance. That system is a failure.

The ClapperMay 18, 20165 votes

...So, you know if you're say silver.. you can't queue with platinum+. You know that right?

Hinagiku33May 18, 201619 votes

He is trying to say that just because a player is currently in a division in Season 6, it does not mean they deserve to be in that division.

Skills of a Bronze V, sitting in Gold I because of good friends essentially.

Malix FarwinMay 18, 20164 votes

A. Some people probably did play that much ranked

B. what about the people who made it out of silver without a premade (which is not hard to do).

Dynamic queue does make two things happen i agree. Harder to climb solo and easier to climb with friends but it doesn't make it impossible.

exigentomicMay 18, 20168 votes

[{quoted}](name=Malix Farwin,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=iUNrz6X6,comment-id=0003,timestamp=2016-05-18T19:10:06.270+0000)

A. Some people probably did play that much ranked

B. what about the people who made it out of silver without a premade (which is not hard to do).

Dynamic queue does make two things happen i agree. Harder to climb solo and easier to climb with friends but it doesn't make it impossible.

I think the point is that no one knows if you did it yourself or not. It would be nice if the rankings could be separate for solo play (even if it's still the same dynamic queue).

The Yetii RiderMay 18, 20164 votes

You do know that there are other aspects to League besides individual skill right? So someone gets destroyed in lane. If they are good at roaming or coordinating with their team, or warding or grouping, they may still carry you.

BluePolarizerMay 19, 201619 votes

they don't even know how to tank properly. I get destroyed in lane all the time. The difference is, at least I try to make an impact and help my winning lanes.

You know what my ADC did last game? He AFK froze-farm bot after he tried to solo kill the enemy ADC and failing multiple times. He gets made at the support (LOL in a plat game!) and tells him to "gtfo my lane". OK, np, me top and support carried him.

In the end he does 8000 damage to champs in a 30 minute game. Support did 30000 damage.

My mid had an even worse score, but I don't even blame him. He got destroyed in lane because he was camped 24/7 by the enemy premade jungler. He still made an impact by helping push towers and CCing targets. You think he had fun that game though, when he gets flash ult dived by enemy Vi every few minutes?

Weiner the PoohMay 19, 20163 votes

One thing ive always wondered when people say who knows if you got your rank through a D1 smurfing with you or something similar is that that exact same thing could have happened with the previous system. It still had the option to duo queue and that duo partner could be a diamond smurf, no different than now.

BluePolarizerMay 19, 20166 votes

Let's see. D1 is approximately 2400 MMR (from what I remember; it could be higher). Silver 2 is approximately 1400 MMR. The average MMR is 1900. That's top of plat 2 - their "expected average skill". That means the d1 smurf can reliably boost the silver 2 up to PLAT before losing too much to boost them.

But now let's say you have 2 D1 smurfs. The expected average skill shoots way up to 2067 MMR, which is almost bottom of diamond 5. That's right, 2 D1 smurfs could potentially be carrying silvers to DIAMOND.

Weiner the PoohMay 19, 20161 votes

I meant in the old system a D1 could just smurf on like a SV account and just play with their low elo friends at the same rank and boost them.

BluePolarizerMay 19, 20167 votes

with 2 d1 smurfs, they can boost them even higher with dynamic queue before the silver gets too heavy to carry.. A silver being boosted to gold might still hold their own. You think a silver can hold their own in high plat or diamond?

PiVoRxMay 19, 20163 votes

The only representation of skill in s7 will be pre s6 summoner icons..

chipndip1May 19, 20162 votes

Nobody knows if you were a kid getting carried by a smurf last season either. You think Kaceytron REALLY is a Gold level player when she got carried there at the last second by some Diamond smurf while she trolled and got bodied all game?

You people are full of it.

xxxDogmanxxxMay 19, 20162 votes

I started from scratch on a new level 1 account last December, and I got it to D5 playing entirely on my own. I don't have a border because I got through my placements two days after the end of preseason. Does that mean that I'm only as good as an Unranked or a Bronze? Apparently.

BluePolarizerMay 19, 20163 votes

I don't know how you got d5. Post on your d5 account then. Otherwise nobody knows if you got it by being premade with smurfs or not.

That's the whole point of this post. Your rank is meaningless because you are ranked in the same ladder as premade 3/4/5 who could have been carrying you on your smurf, and if not you, then someone else could've been that way. In aggregate nobody knows how anyone else got to their ranking this season, so the only accurate measure of individual skill is last season's rank.

TallyZrgMay 19, 20162 votes

I'm a season 5 no rank, season 6 no rank because I have ascended above your trivial ranking system. :P

BluePolarizerMay 19, 20164 votes

you are very smart. You recognize that rank is meaningless. Before, it was meaningless too but at least it was accurate. Now it is both meaningless and inaccurate.