There is a simple solution. Two parts.
Part 1
Season Reset = Complete MMR/Rank Points Reset.
If everyone starts at the ground floor every season and has to work their way up the ladder, the need for smurfs would dwindle. Having to grind up the ladder would make it tougher then just having 3 placements games per smurf. Also since everyone starts equal, you wouldn’t need to have an alt account.
Also I think a lot of players ENJOY climbing the ladder. It’s fun starting off a lowly bronze and climbing up to diamond or master.
Part 2
Get rid of divisions. Go back to true ladder /mmr/elo rank points like WC3 or SC1. Then make Storm league 5 man que only. I know a lot of people read this and say “HELL NO” but if you really star to weigh the benefits, it makes sense.
- No more getting stuck with “bad/toxic” players. You picked your team before que.
- No more playing vs 5 stack without your own. This is the biggest problem currently. A team based strategy game where one team can be a full team and the other could be 5 solo players.
- Since you are always 5v5, and you always know whos on your team before que, the need for divisions would melt away. This would open up the match making and should reduce que times.
- With only 5 man ques, if you are trying to “boost” you are going to have problems sense divisions are dismantled, the que will now ignore match making rules and just pick ANY 5 man team to play against.
TLDR:
With these changes made the pros are as follow
- Cant be placed with toxic/bad/blocked players.
- No more 5 stack vs non
- Faster Ques
- Less smurfs
- More chances to climb in ladder ranking
- More of a “journey” every season. Adds to the thrill of the hunt.
Cons
- Cant play storm league without 5 people
- If you got boosted you have to get boosted again and again, every season.