• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 13:25
CEST 19:25
KST 02:25
  • 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
Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners6Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection7Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview5[ASL21] Finals Preview: Two Legacies21
Community News
Douyu Cup 2026: $20,000 Legends Event (June 26-28)8[BSL22] Non-Korean Championship from 13 to 28 June4Weekly Cups (May 25-31): Clem doubles, 2v2 circuit heads toward finale0StarCraft II 5.0.16 PTR Patch Notes may 26th153Weekly Cups (May 18-24): MaxPax wins doubles0
StarCraft 2
General
High level ptr replays? where can I find them? StarCraft II 5.0.16 PTR Patch Notes may 26th Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners TL Poll: How do you feel about the 5.0.16 PTR balance changes? TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection
Tourneys
Douyu Cup 2026: $20,000 Legends Event (June 26-28) Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule ! Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond) GSL Code S Season 2 (2026)
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 529 Opportunities Unleashed Mutation # 528 Infection Detected Welcome to the External Content forum
Brood War
General
Quality of life changes in BW that you will like ? [BSL22] Non-Korean Championship from 13 to 28 June BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ vespene.gg — BW replays in browser The Korean Terminology Thread
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL21] Grand Finals [BSL22] Grand Finals - Sunday 21:00 CEST Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2
Strategy
Creating a full chart of Zerg builds Relatively freeroll strategies Why doesn't anyone use restoration? Any training maps people recommend?
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread PC Games Sales Thread ZeroSpace Megathread Summer Games Done Quick 2026!
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Trading/Investing Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books [TV/BOOK] *SPOILERS* Game of Thrones Discussion [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Cricket [SPORT] TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 NBA General Discussion McBoner: A hockey love story
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Facing Challenges in Mobile App Development
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
How Streaming Impacts Game P…
TrAiDoS
An Exploration of th…
waywardstrategy
I'm an arrogant trash talke…
FlaShFTW
Gauntlet SC2: A Retrospectiv…
Ctone23
Why RTS gamers make better f…
gosubay
ramps on octagon
StaticNine
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 7517 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 Ireland22212 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 Ireland22212 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
France15846 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
12099 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
PSISTORM Gaming Misc
15:55
FSL TeamLeague wk 2 PTB vs POG
Freeedom26
Liquipedia
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
15:00
Season Finals: Group Stage 2
Serral2117
uThermal1660
RotterdaM970
TaKeTV 444
mouzHeroMarine312
IndyStarCraft 218
SteadfastSC168
LamboSC245
Classic28
sc2solar27
Shameless15
SpiritSC211
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Serral 2117
uThermal 1660
RotterdaM 970
mouzHeroMarine 312
IndyStarCraft 218
SteadfastSC 168
BRAT_OK 51
LamboSC2 45
Classic 28
sc2solar 27
SpiritSC2 11
StarCraft: Brood War
Shuttle 1787
EffOrt 1380
Leta 151
ggaemo 66
Movie 52
Hyun 52
Barracks 41
Pusan 33
Rock 30
Sacsri 27
[ Show more ]
Terrorterran 17
soO 10
ajuk12(nOOB) 9
Dota 2
Dendi2788
Counter-Strike
fl0m8734
Other Games
gofns41452
tarik_tv10860
Grubby2779
singsing2450
Mlord651
crisheroes322
SHIN 143
XaKoH 139
ArmadaUGS117
KnowMe103
Mew2King57
Trikslyr35
MindelVK7
Organizations
Other Games
EGCTV1207
gamesdonequick512
BasetradeTV221
StarCraft 2
angryscii 24
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• printf 13
• Adnapsc2 3
• Kozan
• sooper7s
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• Airneanach52
• HerbMon 13
• FirePhoenix4
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
League of Legends
• Nemesis2861
Upcoming Events
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
1h 35m
eOnzErG vs Mihu
Messiah vs XuanXuan
Jaystar vs TerrOr
Dewalt vs Bonyth
eOnzErG vs XuanXuan
Mihu vs TerrOr
Messiah vs Bonyth
Sparkling Tuna Cup
16h 35m
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
21h 35m
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
1d 1h
Jaystar vs Dewalt
eOnzErG vs TerrOr
XuanXuan vs Bonyth
Mihu vs Dewalt
Messiah vs Jaystar
eOnzErG vs Bonyth
TerrOr vs Dewalt
Wardi Open
1d 17h
OSC
2 days
Replay Cast
3 days
The PondCast
4 days
Replay Cast
5 days
OSC
5 days
[ Show More ]
CranKy Ducklings
5 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Acropolis #4 - GSB
2026 GSL S2
Heroes Pulsing #1

Ongoing

IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
Acropolis #4
CSCL: Masked Kings S4
YSL S3
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
SCTL 2026 Spring
Maestros of the Game 2
WardiTV Spring 2026
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Murky Cup 2026
Heroes Pulsing #2
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1

Upcoming

CSLAN 4
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
HSC XXIX
Douyu Cup 2026
Heroes Pulsing #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
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 © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.