The myth and reality of elo hell

So a lot of people go back and forth about elo hell. It's real, no it's not, etc. etc. Shut up and L2P n00b. You know the drill. So I thought I'd weigh in with my two cents. First and foremost, you can't win every game. There are even diamond players I've seen who, at least at times, have a less than 50% win rate. That doesn't mean you can't always improve. In every game there's always a play you could have executed better, a mechanic you messed up, a cool down you forget to burn, something. There's always something you could have done to play a better and cleaner game.

That being said, here's the problem. Let's say, for whatever reason, you're having an off day, you're playing when you're really sick (or otherwise in a state where you shouldn't be playing), or maybe you just get really unlucky and go on a massive losing streak. Not because you were a bad player, you just had some rough luck. Maybe they were all really close matches that just didn't fall your way.

Supposedly the games are set up to give each team as close to a 50% chance of winning as possible, so from a probability standpoint, it's completely possible for a 10 game losing streak to have absolutely no bearing on your individual skill. You can actually try this at home. Flip a coin enough times, eventually you WILL get 10 heads in a row. Just over 1000 on average, if you do the math. This means, in a game with millions of people playing, a 10 game losing streak based on 'bad luck' alone is actually fairly common place.

Regardless, I digress. One way or another, something goes wrong and you fall a tier or two.

Enter in the dilemma. Now you're gaining 9-11 points for a win, and losing sometimes well over 20 (24-28) points for a loss. In other words, where a 10 game losing streak dropped you pretty low, a 10 game winning streak won't put you back where you were. In fact, if you're at 0 LP, a 10 game winning streak won't even get you a promo. At this point, you need to average a 75% win rate to even have a prayer of ever climbing back up to where you were. And even then, assuming you can hold that win rate, seeing how you're only averaging 4 points a game, you're going to need to play 25 games just to hit your promo (have to wonder how long it'd take the average player to get those in. Weeks certainly, I'd think). Also, keep in mind, the game is specifically designed to keep each match at a roughly 50% chance of winning for either side. And no matter how good you are, you're still only 1 player in 5. This means there would have to consistently be a MASSIVE difference in skill level between you and everyone else in the game for you to be able to have that dramatic of an affect on the overall games probable outcome.

Or to put things in a slightly different light, you go on a 9 game winning streak. Let's say you end up with 86 points (actual numbers for me recently). 3 losses nearly puts you right back at square one. Doesn't matter how close the games were. Doesn't matter your individual performance. And now, once again, you need another 9 game winning streak to end up in a promo to climb back to the tier you once were.

I was once 1 point away from hitting Silver 3. I got really ill, and stubbornly refused to play ranked. I was bored, I seriously dislike normals because, since there is less incentive to win, people are more likely to do foolish things that make no sense (ie picking up a mid lane champ even after a mid and support champ have been called and picked up, and then, inevitably, refusing to go anywhere but mid). People may rage more in ranked, but I find the skill level is generally higher making for more interesting play, and people seem less likely to troll (and/or do other ridiculous things). People want to win. Long story short, I lost it all and fell to Silver 5. Twice in the last two weeks I've gone on massive winning streaks in ranked, 10 and 9 games respectively, only to fall right back to, or near, 0 LP due to just a few losses.

This is elo hell. This is also I'm absolutely certain why you can find Bronze 3 adc's who are far and away better than some adc's you find in the Silver range. Not necessarily the norm, but I've absolutely seen it.

TLDR: It is very much statistically possible, and even probable, to end up in a so called 'elo hell' through no fault of your own with little to no hope of getting out barring a ridiculous amount of time and effort.