Is Smurfing Bannable?

Megaweed·Feb 19, 2019·1 votes·4,660 views

I am currently a level 28 account and was playing with a level 62 friend and we had a game against a level 39 who's name ( which was Yaaasssuo ) and clan were all themed around the in game character, Yasuo. He was , as you likely guessed, suspiciously good and we were stomped, and so we asked if he was smurfing. He openly said in game chat that he was on a second account and i added him to try persuade him to drop the account. He proceeded to tell me to look at the terms and conditions and that smurfing was fine, and essentially told me to get good. My friend and i also reported him. Looking around, it does seem as though smurfing is a banable offence but i would appreciate if anyone could confirm and even take action against this account.

18 Comments

ModPrandineFeb 19, 20192 votes

Smurfing by itself is not punishable, as there are instances where people have non-malicious reasons for doing so, such as trying out a new champ to avoid tanking their mains mmr/rank or playing with lower skilled teammates. What is punishable however is using it for malicious purposes, such as circumventing punishments to troll others.

Important to note that people who use smurfs to try to stomp only less skilled players will soon find their mmr will eventually match them up with similarly skilled players, making it a pointless endeavor in the end.

MegaweedFeb 19, 20191 votes

Yeah OK, i understand it is an issue with two sides, but in this case, i do personally feel this player should be punished. His toxicity and intent are, in my opinion, banable offences, but that is for riot to dictate.

GatekeeperTDSFeb 20, 20192 votes

Nowhere in your post do you say that he's toxic. You brought up the issue of smurfing as being bannable. It is not.

He proceeded to tell me to look at the terms and conditions and that smurfing was fine, and essentially told me to get good.

"Get good" might be a little snarky, and could push him over if he was in danger of being punished, but you're mixing up two issues here and obfuscating things by bringing up separate things at once. If he was toxic, report him and move on. If you lost and you're pissed that you're lost, move on.

Also -

i added him to try persuade him to drop the account

WHY?????????

MegaweedFeb 20, 20191 votes

I bought up his toxicity to prove he was being toxic in the MMR he shouldn't be in, rather than trying to help new players or being there for friends. I added him too see how he was and if he knew what he was doing was negative, and his response is spoken of above.

Quinn and TonicFeb 23, 20191 votes

{quoted}

Important to note that people who use smurfs to try to stomp only less skilled players will soon find their mmr will eventually match them up with similarly skilled players, making it a pointless endeavor in the end.

Could be wrong but the majority do just want to "stomp". They also just buy new accounts and do it all over again if they get too high.

The idea that people eventually match up with higher mmr is obviously not a deterrent that prevents lower level games being unfairly matched.

VreivaiFeb 23, 20191 votes

{quoted} Important to note that people who use smurfs to try to stomp only less skilled players will soon find their mmr will eventually match them up with similarly skilled players, making it a pointless endeavor in the end.

Unless they're intentionally losing the game, which of course is punishable behavior (though doing something like sandbagging is probably damn near impossible for the algorithm to detect).

FizCapFeb 20, 20192 votes

Smurfing is dishonorable but I see why it's done. For instance my normal mmr is high, so am I going to practice new roles against diamonds or would I rather do it against silvers. That's why I have a second account that I can practice on.

JarodDempseyFeb 19, 20191 votes

it should be, it completely defeats the purpose of the ban system and also ruins the game for new players who get rolled by high ranked smurfs

GatekeeperTDSFeb 19, 20191 votes

Looking around, it does seem as though smurfing is a banable offence

No, it doesn't seem like that at all. Anyone can create an account, anyone can create multiple accounts, and anyone can play as long as they're not violating the rules. Let's say we have someone that picks up the game and is naturally good at it. They're quickly going to get placed in the MMR where they belong. Let's say someone new picks up the game and is terrible at it. They're quickly going to get placed in the MMR where they belong.

Playing with the intent to win is never against the rules. If the Yasuo who stomped your team started a new account and wants to get it to where he belongs, that's not a problem. If he ever loses on purpose to stay around in a lower MMR in order to harm other players, that would be a problem. It's all in the intent.

I'm very sorry you lost a single match to someone who was better. In the long run, it's not going to affect your MMR. I won't give you snarky advice like "Get Good," but my advice is this - play to get better and your MMR will adjust itself accordingly.

MegaweedFeb 20, 20191 votes

I can see what you're saying, but smurfing is unfair for everyone else in that game. If you play the game, play at your MMR not that of those new to the game, and this guy is gonna be better due to the sheer amount of time he's put into the game. And look at this link for where i got the idea of smurfing being banable from https://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/community/q/lets-talk-smurfs-snow-and-bans-ask-riot I understand that as a higher level player, smurfing is no issue for you and you may even do it, but i can assure you that the lower level players who suffer the consequences get stomped and have bad games. He should go and play with the intent to win in his MMR, not in that of players trying to learn the game.

GatekeeperTDSFeb 20, 20191 votes

I'm not a high level player, I'm downright terrible. I did level an alt account once, and I very, very quickly ended up in the same MMR as my main.

MegaweedApr 16, 20191 votes

level 213, and this guy was not at all in the right MMR. 'No, it doesn't seem like that at all' yes, it really does.

GatekeeperTDSApr 16, 20191 votes

Zombie thread, dude. 2 months later? lol

MegaweedApr 16, 20191 votes

Point is?

ModiFeb 20, 20191 votes

Should be. Isn't.

SonicAFFeb 20, 20191 votes

Smurf can be banned if it's caught tanking his mmr. You can't have a really low elo smurf if you don't do it. Riot has no established system to track it for now, so only extreme cases are banned. Manually.

unbannedFoeFeb 21, 20191 votes

bro ur trash for reporting a smurf fr

MegaweedApr 16, 20191 votes

Not really, if he's in an elo he shouldn't be in and being toxic he should be reported, if he's , say, level 100 on his other account and i'm around level 28 (as i was at the time) and he's abusing the games balancing system, he deserves a report