Is smurfing really a problem?

Competitive Discussion
1

Hi all, opinions required!
So, I saw a post here on the forum titled ‘‘SMURF Infestation’’ and I gave my opinion on the matter, which is, smurfs help with gamesense and positioning.
Season 13 I placed in bronze, the top elo where smurfs like to go, and last night I reached platinum.
And I got a ton of back lash from not only players in these elo’s but also by the smurfs themselves.
Is smurfing really a HUGE problem?
I knew it was a problem, hands down it was annoying to play against, but with that being said, I took it as a learning experience and climbed out of Bronze, Silver AND gold.
And i’m hoping to get diamond by the end of this season.
Opinions on the matter?
Keep it constructive. Thank you <3

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No, it’s really not. It’s just a popular scapegoat because people who want to blame others for their own failure to climb tend to look for low-hanging fruit.

This is the correct mentality. Well done!

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Well, playing vs a smurf just means you’re vsing a player whos (99% of the time) better than you. Like you said, theres a ton to learn from it. Sure it might be annoying to play against someone who’s trashing you, but if you can look past that and think logically, you’d gain some decent knowledge from it. BTW, nice posts, let hope this one stays civil

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Quite honestly my opinion of it is clear, smurfs have been a problem, and will continue to be a problem. Make the best out of it and use it to your advantage, I remember a level 29 gold widowmaker was destroying our team, I can’t play Widow so I just waited for Valk, made sure I never died to it, then took the widow out with my Mercy skillz :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: People need to learn to make the best out of the situation, if you’ve been hardstuck bronze, silver, gold, etc, there comes a time when you need to not blame others, because in every game, you’re the only common denominator .
Let’s hope this one stays civil, goodness knows I haven’t had much civil conversation lol.

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5

Super agree with this. If you’re hardstuck anywhere, that’s the rank you belong.

The smurfs who throw games to get to a lower SR, yeah thats kinda scummy, but when i buy a new account, I’m forced to bring it through platinum and diamond and all that, so those games kinda seem scummy, but what can i do.

Yeahhh, the forums pretty rarely have civil conversation.

6

I don’t know how big of a problem (or not a problem) smurfing is but I can definitely agree on the part that you can learn a lot from them.

I am a 3k player and I often play in custom games on the PTR when new patches are being tested.

There are often very high ranked players in those matches (master, GM, sometimes even t500 players)

These players really make me realize how trash I really am at this game, and I don’t necessarily mean mechanical skill, but the general game sense and knowledge, strategies etc.
These guys play a completely different game, it’s not even remotely comparable to the lower ranks.

That has really been a learning experience every time.

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Exactly, let me tell you, smurfing is a huge problem through every rank, GM players dropping to diamond/master, and master players dropping to gold, silver, or even a lot of the times bronze. You have to learn from them, instead of complaining about a system that we have no idea about.

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No its not.A lot of players calls everyone smurf becouse they are to bad for their ranks

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Yes it’s a problem. Even if only 10% of accounts are smurfs (although I suspect its a lot more) that’s still about an average of 1 in every game (could be on either team). Far too often I can already tell within 1 minute of a game starting who is the best player on the other team. And no it’s not always a DPS. It’s the one who needs to die the most while also being the hardest one to kill. Smurfs aren’t a reason to get stuck in a rank but there are still enough to be considered a problem in my opinion. Unfortunately there will never be a solution.

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10

I don’t think is resulting in holding anyone at a certain SR, if that person is still willing to grind out 100s of games in a season. What it does impact, a ton, is even wanting to play 100s of games in a season to get one’s true SR.

Smurfs and even alt accounts tend to jam random fun for them picks into team comps and do tactics that are again, fun for them with winning as an after thought at best. Just this pure apathy towards the team side of the game, turning Overwatch into a sandbox game they just run around in for a round.

Yeah if you play 100s of games it all evens out. If you can only play for a few hours on a random weekend then odds are it will only be a couple of games at best until you run into an some totally crud game with a thrower/smurf or whatever. Either team, it doesn’t mater being easy wins are just as lame as stomp out loss.
both go against idea of good match making.

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11

I hate playing against smurfs, because nothing I do keeps them away from me. I like to play support, which often means it’s me against someone I realistically shouldn’t have to deal with. Relying on your team is pointless, and there is nothing to learn from getting one shot by a super widow, or harassed and killed by genji/tracer/doomfist. The feeling that you’re helpless and alone is extremely disheartening.

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There’s plenty that you can do against those characters, and learning what you can do might make playing against them feel more fun and fair

13

I would not call smurfing a big problem for me.

What is a BIG problem for me is that I make silly mistakes and let myself get outplayed. Some games I make more mistakes than others and I let myself get steam rolled.

To somebody with a fragile ego - it is easily rationalized as ‘I got destroyed by smurfs’. But to somebody who regularly records his own matches and watches them later - I need to stop making so many bad choices in the heat of the match.

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14

I would not mind smurfs if it wasn’t for the fact that they THROW GAMES to stay where they are.

I would rather play against and lose to a smurf tryharding, than be on his team during the throwing phase (and lose).

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15

Smurfing is mostly a benefit not a detriment .

They challenge you in ways you will never be challenged by your peers. Smurfs are not some secret impenetrable elite group. They are just players like anyone else who happen to be better at the game. They will usually help you if you ask them.

The sr gain/loss is pretty much 0. You get players throwing/carrying at roughly the same rate with and against you. It doesnt impact your sr that much.

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You could learn where you get shot and where you don’t, then put yourself in places where you don’t get shot. It’s an exercise is positioning.

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Bingo. When i play in lower ranks, i’m not trying to harass anyone or anything, i’m willing to coach anyone or give tips or answer questions or anything

18

Everywhere? No matter where I go, or who I try to stand close to, or what cover I use they find some way to get at me. At that point you have to hand in the towel because they’re being overwhelmingly oppressive. If it isn’t the widow because you found a spot to hide and can’t heal your team, it is Genji or one of the other flankers. They play at a speed mere mortals like us cannot react to. It’s like putting The Flash against a normal person; he just runs circles around you without breaking a sweat. How do you beat someone who is a thousand times faster than you? You don’t, and that is why it’s unfair.

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19

Well considering that you’re both human, it’s a fair match up. You can adapt to his/her play, and once you do this, you’ll become a better player.

20

That’s like saying a 4 year old can take on an MMA fighter.

1 Like