League of Legends Players Argue Smurf Queue Is the Most Toxic Place in Gaming

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Promo artwork for League of Legends.

Gaming is home to some pretty scary places, whether they be GTA Online’s infamous bad sport lobby or the literal representations of hell depicted in games like Metal Hellsinger.

However, players of League of Legends reckon that their game of choice is home to the most cursed area in the whole medium. This is certainly a lofty claim, but one that they presumably wouldn’t make if it wasn’t at least somewhat justified.

So, don your body armour and protective earmuffs, because we’re about to dive into Reddit’s tales of the League smurf queue.

League of Legends Players Argue Smurf Queue Is Toxic

Posting to begin the thread in the League of Legends subreddit, user RoleMaterial shared a recent experience of the queue, saying: “I’ve seen death threats, racism and insults about the spectrum so many times and I’m only about 25 games in.”

Many other players in the thread concurred that the smurf queue doesn’t offer a pleasant experience, with user Ninfanger going so far as to call it: “the closest we'll get to purgatory on earth.”

User Hudre similarly compared it to “a bar that only accepts people that just got kicked out of another bar, and they're still angry about it.”

They also added that, in their view, the reason for this is because: “the VAST majority of smurfs aren't people making a new account for a specific reason like playing with friends. Most of them are banned players who have been forced to make a new account.”

A number of users suggested that, while not ideal, the amount of unpleasant players in the smurf queue is a consequence of it working as it should and preventing these players from rampaging through normal games.

However, some others suggested that things aren’t that simple, with user Elythys saying: “it's also far too easy to get into if you're not a smurf, and far too hard to get out of,” while sambt5 added that when this happens: “smurfs even comment on (it) in-game, and you become the main one to be flamed by other people.”

On the other hand, it seems not all smurf queue experiences are too bad, as user shaidyn explained: “I had such a different experience in smurf queue than most people, it's really weird. Like my smurf queue games were some of the highest quality I had.”

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Regardless, based on the testimony of the entire thread, it’s probably best to avoid the queue if you can.

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