League of Legends: Elo Hell

I’ve only heard of this place in quieted whispers and dreaded tones. The words are rarely sputtered and insinuate what I now know is actually a tenth circle of Hell… something worse than Satan himself, with Brutus, Cassius and Judas in tow.

That’s pretty intense for League of Legends, but Elo Hell… it exists. It’s a real place. And I’m drowning in it.

Recently, Riot put into place their true league system, which works much in the way the Starcraft II ladder works: you play ranked games, gaining or losing points as you complete your matches, and you move up in ranks as you gain points. Once you have 100 of these points, you’re up for promotion to the next division. You must complete a best of three, and then you move up. If you’re moving between leagues, you complete a best of five to move up.

But let’s be honest. What about those people in Bronze V? It’s the lowest division of the lowest league–and after several dozens of games, I realized that I’ve fallen into a very low, dark place. That is impossible to climb out of.

Okay, but really.

After to Season Three, League has essentially removed elo from the game completely, so this actually… isn’t a real place anymore. Or it’s dying out. So in essence, it should be called League hell, given that you’re sitting pretty at the bottom of the lowest skill tier. Which is awful. Everything in competitive LoL is measured now by leagues.

If you’ve never played League, or really haven’t done any ranked games, it may be difficult to understand how this can be a really vicious cycle that can keep you in low division forever. But the header image says it all.

Once in a low division, you’re with a ton of other people who may not be as skilled as you (think you) are. These people may have really shitty attitudes, they may be trolls, they could even be from another (rather infamous) server. You may be a really great player with a positive attitude who is a great community member–it won’t matter. If you get stuck with even one person who afks, sucks, or is an ass, you’re probably going to lose.

Thankfully, you can only fall so far.

As such, here is the question I pose to you: What do you think of League Hell? What would you suggest to players stuck in it? Comment below!