User blog comment:Texas Snyper/Elo Hell and You: Part 1 - The Impassable Barrier/@comment-80.160.68.94-20110919123807

I believe in ELO hell.

I'm an ok player myself, definately not the best, but I'm pretty decent. I've played 500 normal and 120 ranked games, all with a 52/48 W/L ratio. I hover around the 12-1300 ELO (and ofcourse, I believe I should be higher :)) and the thing I find the most disturbing is, that many if not most of the games are won or lost by chance. One team roflstomps the other. Rarely, we get an even game - most games are won/lost via surrender at 20 or atleast within the first 30 mins. (I usually vote against surrender)... It feels like the team that gets the most _bad_ players, lose the game, instead of the team that gets the most _good_ players, winning the game.

When we lose, I'm never the one feeding. When we win, I'm more often than not, the one taking advantage of their feeder. A game like LoL is, and is supposed to be, 100% teambased - but when not all players are committed to this fact, or are not at the same skill level as their 9 co-players, they will tilt the scale. They will cost the game, for one team, be it mine or my enemies.

I believe to be in ELO hell, because I feel my influence on the game is positive, in every game I am in. I am (win or lose) always in the top2 on my team statwise, and I know how to ward, know how to gank, I never rage, etc.. But as long as my games are 50/50, because of bad players on either team, I dont move up or down. Shouldnt the best players on a team be moving up? It might be that I'm only 200 ELO or even 100 ELO better than where I am, but random holds me in place.

ELO hell exists, because of randomness. It is a very difficult task, to beat random...