Last season I finished Rank 1 as Tank in Stadium, and I really love the mode. But I need to give some honest feedback about matchmaking.
During the last few weeks of the season and now again in the new season most of my games feel extremely unbalanced. It’s very common that I get 2–4 underperforming teammates, while the enemy team has 3–4 strong, coordinated players.
Balanced lobbies are very rare maybe less than 1 in 10 games. And when you actually get one? It’s incredibly fun to play. Those are the matches that make Stadium great.
Right now, it feels like the system treats high-ranked players differently. Even after the announced rank reset, the game still seems to treat me like Rank 1, because I’m getting the exact same kind of lobbies every game. I also have friends at similar ranks experiencing the same issue.
I don’t think anyone enjoys playing in consistently unbalanced matchmaking. It’s frustrating on both sides.
Suggested Solution
I strongly believe Stadium needs true placement games each season:
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10 placement matches per role
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Rank determined by individual performance
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Full MMR + rank reset each season
Yes, the very first placement game might be slightly unbalanced but that’s only one match while the system recalibrates. That’s far better than having an entire season of uneven matchmaking.
Adding placements would:
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Improve competitive integrity
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Increase player retention
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Make high-rank games feel fair again
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Encourage more players to take Stadium seriously
Right now, both I and several friends at similar ranks already feel discouraged only a few days into the new season.
Also, considering ranked Stadium was bugged during the first 21 hours of the season (lobby bug), it would honestly make sense to do another reset ASAP and introduce placements per role.
I truly believe this would save Stadium for the rest of the season and for the future. I love this mode and want it to succeed. Balanced games are what make it fun for everyone.
7 Likes
I finished last season as Rank 1 on Damage and Rank 2 on Tank and I 100% agree with every word Holix has said here, after hundreds of games in Stadium I can confidently say that the higher rank you are, the higher the chances of you getting the worse teammates.
The only solution to this seems to be 5 stacking, however this results in 1+ hour long queues which is also not ideal.
Are you cool with much longer queue times as a result?
2 Likes
I think the stadium playerbase gonna skyrocket if blizzard implement placement games for stadium, so the longer queue times not gonna be an issue. And I rather sit in queue for 10 minutes than having an unbalanced matchup.
I completely agree.
I’m experiencing the same issue, on top of that I often run into new accounts that deliberately decide to troll just for the sake of wasting your time, and that combination becomes really frustrating to deal with. In my role, I already wait anywhere from three to ten minutes for a queue. If I also have to hope I don’t get people who throw the game or don’t even know how to build properly, adapting to both their team and ours, I’d honestly rather wait longer and enjoy a truly intense match.
I agree with you that it sucks to have bad MM and Stadium in particular has that (regardless of moment in the season) but for me, in the beginning i don’t mind it so much because at the lower ranks, you don’t lose rank anyway when you lose. I only started losing rank at about mid All Star. Are you already at that point?
Even if we’re talking about it now, by the time the Stadium team discusses it and makes a decision, it probably won’t happen before next season. I doubt they’d bring something like this in mid-season.
this is definitely a worse season for stadium. all the changes were bad.
I 100% agree. I know I’m not the best player by any means, but most of my games have me with players that have no actual idea how to aim or play the champ they selected. Meanwhile the opposing team is made up of the Avengers and steamroll us every time we step out of spawn. This season has really made me take a giant step back from playing as I truly don’t feel like I get to play a fair match anymore.
They should definitely improve the competitive integrity and do away with the cosmetic lower ranks. But, I do NOT want rank reset and placements every season or the rank reset system similar to regular Comp. That’s what finally drove me away from 5v5 Comp. It’s insulting to play like 400 games in one season at the same rank, just to wake up the next day and have them say “hey, we’re gonna drop you 2 ranks down and you gotta prove you’re that rank again”.
Rank resets should have a cut-off like if you played 100 games that season, your rank won’t reset next season. At that many games, there is no way your rank isn’t accurate. Resetting it is just bothersome for the player.