Does playing Duo alter your MMR?

Hunkcules·Feb 18, 2016·1 votes·755 views

Hello everybody, last season I finished Gold 2. This season I am currently Gold 5. For the last two week's, I have been playing mostly with a friend who is Silver 5. Well the last two day's, I've been playing solo, and I've noticed that I am now playing with much much lower elo players than what I am... Every match I'm being paired with mid or high silver. Whereas before playing with a lower tier friend I was playing against Low/Mid Gold. So I am curious, does playing with somebody with a lower tier in duo, negatively affect my MMR?

1 Comments

GuiltyGeckoFeb 18, 20162 votes

Playing with another player does affect your MMR, but its more complicated than just saying "negatively" or "positively."

Lets say you are gold MMR, and your friend is silver MMR. You'll be matched against opponents that are inbetween your MMR ranges. If you win, you'll get a little less MMR/LP than if you were solo, and your friend will get a little more MMR/LP than if they were solo. However, if you lose, you'll lose a bit more than normal, but your friend will also lose a bit more because Riot takes into account the fact that you're duo and should have a communication advantage.

That's why duo queuing can be dangerous for your MMR/LP if your partner isn't very good. If you want to climb faster, you may actually be better off solo queuing if duo queuing isn't giving better results.