• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 23:20
CEST 05:20
KST 12:20
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
2v2 & SC: Evo Complete: Weekend Double Feature2Team Liquid Map Contest #21 - Presented by Monster Energy8uThermal's 2v2 Tour: $15,000 Main Event17Serral wins EWC 202549Tournament Spotlight: FEL Cracow 202510
Community News
Weekly Cups (Aug 4-10): MaxPax wins a triple6SC2's Safe House 2 - October 18 & 195Weekly Cups (Jul 28-Aug 3): herO doubles up6LiuLi Cup - August 2025 Tournaments7[BSL 2025] H2 - Team Wars, Weeklies & SB Ladder10
StarCraft 2
General
2v2 & SC: Evo Complete: Weekend Double Feature #1: Maru - Greatest Players of All Time Is there a way to see if 2 accounts=1 person? uThermal's 2v2 Tour: $15,000 Main Event RSL Revival patreon money discussion thread
Tourneys
RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series LiuLi Cup - August 2025 Tournaments SEL Masters #5 - Korea vs Russia (SC Evo) Enki Epic Series #5 - TaeJa vs Classic (SC Evo) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament
Strategy
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 486 Watch the Skies Mutation # 485 Death from Below Mutation # 484 Magnetic Pull Mutation #239 Bad Weather
Brood War
General
Soma Explains: JaeDong's Double Muta Micro ASL 20 HYPE VIDEO! BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW AKA finder tool ASL20 Pre-season Tier List ranking!
Tourneys
Cosmonarchy Pro Showmatches KCM 2025 Season 3 [Megathread] Daily Proleagues Small VOD Thread 2.0
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Fighting Spirit mining rates [G] Mineral Boosting Muta micro map competition
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Total Annihilation Server - TAForever Beyond All Reason [MMORPG] Tree of Savior (Successor of Ragnarok)
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
Russo-Ukrainian War Thread US Politics Mega-thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread The Games Industry And ATVI The year 2050
Fan Clubs
INnoVation Fan Club SKT1 Classic Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread Movie Discussion! Korean Music Discussion
Sports
2024 - 2025 Football Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Gtx660 graphics card replacement Installation of Windows 10 suck at "just a moment" Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
TeamLiquid Team Shirt On Sale The Automated Ban List
Blogs
The Biochemical Cost of Gami…
TrAiDoS
[Girl blog} My fema…
artosisisthebest
Sharpening the Filtration…
frozenclaw
ASL S20 English Commentary…
namkraft
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1203 users

5k+ Solo Ranked: The Smurf Hell

Blogs > Ler
Post a Reply
1 2 3 4 5 Next All
Ler
Profile Blog Joined August 2012
Germany543 Posts
October 02 2014 13:57 GMT
#1
Hello Liquiddota,

today I want to write about the problems that come along in the 5k+ MMR Range.
I know many people who set their goal to get to 5000 MMR, but there is a sad truth when you reach it and move further to 6000 MMR.

My own goal was to reach 6000 MMR and to be listed on the EU-Leaderboard. While I speak, I sit at comfortable 5,430~ MMR with a peak at 5,550.

Why did I want to get to 6k MMR at the first place?
I had hope for better pubs, I mean, I really had. Higher skill level, advanced tactical behavior - Just better games in general. That applies to some of the games, but in general there is a big problem that ruins many of the top tier games with average MMR of 5,5-5,9k.

The Smurfs
Lets talk about the problem which destroys most of the high level games by default: Smurf Accounts. I really do not know if people played the accounts themselves or just bought 'em on ebay. But there is one thing that share most of 'em: They play really bad. If we assume that a high level game consists of 9 people who deserve to be there and 1 smurf, you already know which team is mostly gonna lose.

The worse Problem: TBD-Accounts
You think smurfs are bad? Well, you have no idea. The worst of the worst are TBD-People aka "to be determined". These people still have to play calibration matches to determine their initial rating. Is that not wonderful? They are in 5,5k-6k~ average MMR games claiming mid every single time. Let us take a look what these people mostly gonna do: They will instant pick Zeus, move to middle, get their level 6 and after that they will spam their Ultimate off-cooldown until the game ends. Nice. And why do they do that? Dota 2 MMR calibration heavily depends on certain values. One of them is the Hero-Damage during a game. Zeus allows to get stellar values without being very good at the game.

Actual Games:
After I talked about the bad stuff, I will give you some proof that these problems are more than real and must be fixed in some way.

TBD Razor (5,5k avrg. MMR game)
TBD PA/TA and Smurf Furion
TBD Troll

These games have been recorded during my session yesterday.

The sad Part
If I would do some statistics how many legit loses happened and how many Smurfs and TBD people caused loses it would be probably 60/40 ratio. That is really really sad in my opinion. Not because I lose games, but more because every high MMR player encounters these problems and nothing is done.

Possible Solutions:
In my opinion there is a good way to address this problem. Limit the initial Calibration value to 5000. Not more, not less. Good players will not have any trouble pushing further while abusers will not get further. This would also help to shut down the Black-Market where accounts with 6-6,5k MMR are traded for high amounts of money.


That is it from my side,

Happy Pubbing
Twitter: @Ler_GG | Facebook: lergg | youtube: lerlolgg | Twitch.tv/gg_nore | #ArtOfSupport
ahswtini
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
Northern Ireland22208 Posts
October 02 2014 14:09 GMT
#2
So do you get calibrated high even if you lose most of those games where you just zeus ult everytime it's off cooldown?
"As I've said, balance isn't about strategies or counters, it's about probability and statistics." - paralleluniverse
TRAP[yoo]
Profile Joined December 2009
Hungary6026 Posts
October 02 2014 14:13 GMT
#3
ah that explains all the people who pick zeus. i thought it was something that came along with the patch and the buff to bloodseeker.
FTD
Ler
Profile Blog Joined August 2012
Germany543 Posts
October 02 2014 14:20 GMT
#4
On October 02 2014 23:09 ahswtini wrote:
So do you get calibrated high even if you lose most of those games where you just zeus ult everytime it's off cooldown?


Yes.
Twitter: @Ler_GG | Facebook: lergg | youtube: lerlolgg | Twitch.tv/gg_nore | #ArtOfSupport
OceanLab
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
France505 Posts
October 02 2014 15:04 GMT
#5
On October 02 2014 23:20 Ler wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 02 2014 23:09 ahswtini wrote:
So do you get calibrated high even if you lose most of those games where you just zeus ult everytime it's off cooldown?


Yes.

OH YES IMA SMURF MY WAY TO 6K WITH THIS...and then get stomped every single game. Why do people even do that...
Liquid through and through
ahswtini
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
Northern Ireland22208 Posts
October 02 2014 15:51 GMT
#6
On October 03 2014 00:04 OceanLab wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 02 2014 23:20 Ler wrote:
On October 02 2014 23:09 ahswtini wrote:
So do you get calibrated high even if you lose most of those games where you just zeus ult everytime it's off cooldown?


Yes.

OH YES IMA SMURF MY WAY TO 6K WITH THIS...and then get stomped every single game. Why do people even do that...

Well for people who see it as a status symbol, they can just calibrate there and then never play ranked again
"As I've said, balance isn't about strategies or counters, it's about probability and statistics." - paralleluniverse
Torte de Lini
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Germany38463 Posts
October 02 2014 15:54 GMT
#7
So I guess I should do my placement matches now huh?
https://twitter.com/#!/TorteDeLini (@TorteDeLini)
Imperator x8x
Profile Joined July 2013
United States69 Posts
October 02 2014 15:59 GMT
#8
Well d***, I didn't know that. That's why I got ranked so low initially! I was playing supports!

It also explains why 1k mmr players are so much better at teamwork than the 2k players...
If they rain on your parade, parade in the rain.
nojok
Profile Joined May 2011
France15845 Posts
October 02 2014 16:33 GMT
#9
I just carried a TBD Zeus mid doing exactly what you mentionned, I hope he won a lot of MMR from this match so I don't have him again on my side.
"Back then teams that won were credited, now it's called throw. I think it's sad." - Kuroky - Flap Flap Wings!
75
Profile Joined December 2012
Germany4057 Posts
October 02 2014 17:08 GMT
#10
and i thought those zeus players are just stupid as fuck
yo twitch, as long as I can watch 480p lagfree I'm happy
Alur
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Denmark3900 Posts
October 02 2014 17:41 GMT
#11
How can you distinguish smurfs from appropriately rated players who are having a bad game? Aditionally I'm surprised that you encounter them so much, based on my experiences I would estimate my ratio to be 90/10, but then again I don't really pay too much attention to this type of thing.
AKA No can Dazzle | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlTpX7z3Pok
TL+ Member
BongChambers
Profile Joined September 2012
Canada591 Posts
October 02 2014 18:05 GMT
#12
I don't know how Dota2 can be such a great game and have such tight balancing and then some idiot is put in-charge of the MMR system and thinks "MORE DAMAGE TO HEROS MEANS MORE SKILL HER DUR" like what about supports? What about the offlaner that carefully farms his blink and then does the perfect initiation stun to win the game for his team? Do they get shit on simply because they didnt do 2k+ total damage to enemy heros in a game?

I've already made 1 smurf account that I wanted to take Dota2 a little more serious on, no abandons, no raging, picking what role my team needed rather then what I wanted to play and in the end I saw my MMR rise a tad above my main account. But now that I see this "pick zeus for 5k mmr" trend that is actually real, I honestly just have to smh at Dota2 and quite frankly care a lot less about the game then I did before. I think what I need to do is just make a 5 man team and forget about MMR in general and play nothing but captains mode.
420
Torte de Lini
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Germany38463 Posts
October 02 2014 18:10 GMT
#13
On October 03 2014 03:05 BongChambers wrote:
I don't know how Dota2 can be such a great game and have such tight balancing and then some idiot is put in-charge of the MMR system and thinks "MORE DAMAGE TO HEROS MEANS MORE SKILL HER DUR" like what about supports? What about the offlaner that carefully farms his blink and then does the perfect initiation stun to win the game for his team? Do they get shit on simply because they didnt do 2k+ total damage to enemy heros in a game?

I've already made 1 smurf account that I wanted to take Dota2 a little more serious on, no abandons, no raging, picking what role my team needed rather then what I wanted to play and in the end I saw my MMR rise a tad above my main account. But now that I see this "pick zeus for 5k mmr" trend that is actually real, I honestly just have to smh at Dota2 and quite frankly care a lot less about the game then I did before. I think what I need to do is just make a 5 man team and forget about MMR in general and play nothing but captains mode.


I think it's just under-developed. The system for CS:GO is slightly more robust.
https://twitter.com/#!/TorteDeLini (@TorteDeLini)
Beirut
Profile Joined January 2011
United States673 Posts
October 02 2014 18:23 GMT
#14
Interesting. I guess if Valve knows about this it's just a matter of time before they have some coefficient which adjusts hero damage based on which hero you're playing? I.e. if you have high hero damage and you're playing Zeus, it doesn't mean you're better than your "true" rating, it just means you're playing Zeus and you're expected to have high hero damage.

Do we know for sure this is a thing?

Yurie
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
11853 Posts
October 02 2014 19:05 GMT
#15
I personally think the Zeus players gaining mmr is based on playing a strong hero more than hero dmg. The hero itself has a very good win rate, so playing it will mean gaining mmr over your normal level (not too high though).
synapse
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
China13814 Posts
October 02 2014 19:18 GMT
#16
On October 03 2014 03:23 Beirut wrote:
Interesting. I guess if Valve knows about this it's just a matter of time before they have some coefficient which adjusts hero damage based on which hero you're playing? I.e. if you have high hero damage and you're playing Zeus, it doesn't mean you're better than your "true" rating, it just means you're playing Zeus and you're expected to have high hero damage.

Do we know for sure this is a thing?


I mean, even then, a zeus spamming ult on CD is probably going to do more damage than the average non-retarded zeus.
:)
Jinxed
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
United States6450 Posts
October 02 2014 19:54 GMT
#17
On October 03 2014 04:05 Yurie wrote:
I personally think the Zeus players gaining mmr is based on playing a strong hero more than hero dmg. The hero itself has a very good win rate, so playing it will mean gaining mmr over your normal level (not too high though).

No, it's a pretty well known issue at this point and it is affecting a lot of top players. Issue just hit Reddit front page today (or last night). A lot of what I read there matches up with what Ler posted here so it seems to be a real thing.

Funny thing is that I am pretty sure that there are other factors that are considered when trying to detect a smurf so even after they fix this you almost just have to wonder what will come up next.
LiquidDota Staff"LeLoup is a great name pls undo." -Liquid`Nazgul
CorsairHero
Profile Joined December 2008
Canada9491 Posts
October 02 2014 20:29 GMT
#18
didn't realize ler is a blue poster
© Current year.
deadmau
Profile Joined September 2010
960 Posts
October 02 2014 20:33 GMT
#19
I tried to tell people, don't pay too much attention too MMR, in it's current state it has limitations as a determination of skill. It is what it is. It's just a system of calibrating, then winning enough games from there to get your goal mmr (4k/5k/6k/etc). There are smurfs, mmr abusers, draft abusers, hero abusers...all sorts, doesn't mean high MMR's are meaningless, just means that you're gonna have bad players all over.
theaxis12
Profile Joined March 2011
United States489 Posts
October 02 2014 20:53 GMT
#20
Ranked games are shit all crybabies and abusers. I went back to RD and AR because it took the fun out of the game.
Shut your mouth and put your head back in the clouds.
1 2 3 4 5 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 6h 40m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Nina 188
RuFF_SC2 62
StarCraft: Brood War
Rain 942
Mong 243
ggaemo 86
Noble 54
Icarus 12
Hm[arnc] 9
Dota 2
NeuroSwarm218
LuMiX1
Other Games
tarik_tv14699
summit1g4554
JimRising 505
WinterStarcraft321
amsayoshi71
Trikslyr70
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick1139
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 17 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH263
• davetesta32
• practicex 20
• Migwel
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• sooper7s
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
StarCraft: Brood War
• Azhi_Dahaki22
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
League of Legends
• Doublelift4672
• Stunt377
Other Games
• Scarra1676
Upcoming Events
Sparkling Tuna Cup
6h 40m
WardiTV Summer Champion…
7h 40m
SC Evo League
8h 40m
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
11h 40m
BSL Team Wars
15h 40m
Team Dewalt vs Team Bonyth
Afreeca Starleague
1d 6h
Sharp vs Ample
Larva vs Stork
Wardi Open
1d 7h
RotterdaM Event
1d 12h
Replay Cast
1d 20h
Replay Cast
2 days
[ Show More ]
Afreeca Starleague
2 days
JyJ vs TY
Bisu vs Speed
WardiTV Summer Champion…
2 days
PiGosaur Monday
2 days
Afreeca Starleague
3 days
Mini vs TBD
Soma vs sSak
WardiTV Summer Champion…
3 days
Replay Cast
3 days
The PondCast
4 days
WardiTV Summer Champion…
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
LiuLi Cup
5 days
BSL Team Wars
5 days
Team Hawk vs Team Dewalt
Korean StarCraft League
5 days
CranKy Ducklings
6 days
SC Evo League
6 days
WardiTV Summer Champion…
6 days
[BSL 2025] Weekly
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2025-08-13
FEL Cracow 2025
CC Div. A S7

Ongoing

Copa Latinoamericana 4
Jiahua Invitational
BSL 20 Team Wars
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 3
BSL 21 Qualifiers
CSL Season 18: Qualifier 1
SEL Season 2 Championship
WardiTV Summer 2025
uThermal 2v2 Main Event
HCC Europe
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025

Upcoming

ASL Season 20
CSLAN 3
CSL 2025 AUTUMN (S18)
LASL Season 20
BSL Season 21
BSL 21 Team A
RSL Revival: Season 2
Maestros of the Game
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
Thunderpick World Champ.
MESA Nomadic Masters Fall
CS Asia Championships 2025
Roobet Cup 2025
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.