Korean Solo Queue

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LoL Player Dopa Discusses Issues With Korean Solo Queue MMR, Super Accounts

Sadakshi Kalyan Ramun
Updated On: 
Highlights
The state of Korean Solo Queue was once again discussed at great lengths by former pro player Jeong “Dopa” Sang-gil.
Dopa ranted about Riot Games giving out Korean super accounts with inflated MMR which are affecting the ranked ladder and Solo Queue experience. This was translated by a Reddit user.
On the same topic, Faker also mentioned that he would not be playing Solo queue if he weren’t a pro player

For years now, Korea has been the most dominant region in terms of its Solo Queue standards and level of gameplay. With such high-tier plays all across the server, it has served as a boot camp pitstop for many pro teams in the League of Legends esports scene. Other regions actively look forward to playing in Korean Solo Queue to understand the meta, try out new strategies and play against the best of the best. Unfortunately, the state of Korean Solo Queue has been the hot topic of debates and discussions ever since Faker voiced his frustrations with it.

On 9th March, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, star player and mid-laner of T1, voiced his concerns about the state of Solo Queue in the Korean server after a Chinese pro player on Aatrox griefed his game. Following this, Faker said he would eventually boycott Solo Queue and wondered why Chinese pros were allowed Riot Super accounts in the first place. This has reportedly caused a great deal of sparks to fly between the Chinese and the Korean League of Legends community.

A lot of Korean pros have since agreed that the server is plagued by many issues, and especially highlighted the concerns regarding the super accounts. Jeong “Dopa” Sang-gil was one among those who explained why the Korean ladder was deteriorating in terms of quality.

Reddit user yoonitrop12 translated a video posted by Dopa that dove into the Korean Solo Queue problem. In a Reddit thread named Dopa: The secret of super accounts (The state of KR solo queue), the original poster wrote, “I’ve seen a lot of posts of Korean pros saying that KR (Korea) ladder is bad, but there haven’t been many posts talking about what exactly the problem is, and why this happened.”

The user also pointed out that even the Chinese substitute players from the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) got these super accounts. They added, “While the best LPL players are obviously great at the game, I’m sure that there are also plenty of players that don’t deserve Korean challenger. There are more Chinese teams too, which is probably why the ‘unofficial narrative’ in Korea right now is that random Chinese players are ruining KR challenger games.

Korean Solo Queue super accounts

Riot Games gives pro players a Korean super account to play Solo Queue and climb the ranked ladder. Dopa pointed out that these accounts that are distributed fresh have inflated MMRs (Matchmaking Rating). The translation by the Reddit user read, “Those [fresh] accounts get high normals MMR, which affects their ranked MMR. If an account has no games played in previous seasons, then it’s probably a fresh account or a super account. People who climb to 800~900 LP Challenger with these accounts struggle to get out of diamond/masters in the next season. They can’t maintain their rank once they lose their inflated MMR.”

Screengrab of Dopa's video on the state ofKorean Solo Queue 

According to Dopa, he does not acknowledge players reaching Challenger on the super accounts because using those accounts has benefits. He also posed the question. “If I was 1000lp challenger last season, is my MMR higher than the guy with a fresh super account? If you want to have the same MMR as a super account, how high does your previous season’s LP have to be?

The original poster added that Dopa’s chat responded with Diamond 1 or Master MMR, and that some of them said high Challenger.

Dopa then pointed out that the answer was 1500 LP Challenger at the very least. He added, “Every single person with a super account was handed an account with 1500 LP challenger MMR.

Inflated MMR and Elo

Dopa’s concerns revolve around the fact that there are players who play in skill tiers in which they do not really belong. This directly harms the state of the ranked ladder and also hinders the competitive experience of others on the server. He pointed out that back in the day these super accounts only had the MMR of Diamond 1 or 2 and foreign players bootcamping in Korea would struggle to get out of that tier, which is not really the case today.

Dopa uses the following formula to explain the MMR system:

LP = Last season MMR + (wins – losses) x 17/18

He said, “When super accounts start playing, the first few games are against plat/diamond players, despite their 1500 LP MMR. They get a few free games, which goes into the win-loss difference, and raises the MMR even more. Again, I’m not saying that these guys are bad, I’m saying that they have the same starting MMR.

According to Dopa, the ones affected by this system are the streamers and amateur players and those who consistently maintained Challenger for many years. “Their skill level is the same, but their LP isn’t, so they get frustrated. Whenever Riot makes a super account, they’re making a new 1500 LP challenger player. They’re filling up one of the challenger spots, taking up space. There are a limited number of those, and whenever one is handed out, someone is knocked out of challenger,” he reasoned.

At the time of writing, the following players were at the top of the Korean Solo Queue ladder. In the top five, there were at least three Chinese pros.

Korean Solo Queue Standings

Weibo Gaming support player Hu "SwordArt" Shuo-Chieh, Victory Five mid-laner Song "Rookie" Eui-jin, and LNG Esports’ substitute support player Liao "Iwandy" Ding-Yang were spotted in the top ranks.

Faker comments on Korean Solo Queue yet again

T1 Faker

During a Twitch broadcast on 16th March following a bad Solo Queue experience, Faker said, “If I wasn't a professional player I don't think I would be playing solo rank because it's no fun at all. 9 out of 10 games are like slot machines. What's the point of playing then?

Following what Faker had to say about the state of Solo Queue, head coach for Fnatic Jakob “YamatoCannon” Mebdi tweeted, “Waiting for the average player to use what Faker has said as an excuse as to why their game experience is terrible and their elo low, moving further away from any idea of self-reflection and growth. Riot must manually moderate the high elo solo queue across all major servers.”

We could argue that Riot Games has been hard at work to fix problems with the Ranked Solo Queue system but it is also important to note that the mentality of the players and their outlook while playing a ranked game also matters. With that being said, hopefully, Riot makes changes to the MMR of these super accounts and creates a fair and even ground for pros to play in.


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Sadakshi has been a gamer throughout her life and has followed League of Legends since Season 3, immediately falling in love with the esports scene. Bringing in her print journalism experience, she focuses on content that is both informative and innovative. While her heart still remains with League, her love for competition has pushed her to explore other titles such as Valorant and Apex Legends.

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