Going for the Gold Part XVI: Merry Christmas, Matchmaking

After playing League of Legends for over two years and accumulating over a thousand normal games, I finally entered ranked play. In my own, totally objective, assessment, I am skilled enough for Gold. My placement matches disagreed, and threw me into Bronze II. This is the story of my attempt to prove them wrong. This is Going for the Gold.

This is a very special post. It's finally happened. That's right...

 League Update

You have been demoted in Solo Queue to Hecarim's Elementalists, Bronze II.

For now, that ends my griping about how close I've constantly been to demotion. I got into a Ranked lobby. I was last pick. We had Zed (mid), Sion (top), Vi (jungle), Tristana (me), and Lulu (support) against Lux (mid), Lee Sin (top), Olaf (jungle), Caitlyn (ADC), and Thresh (support). I had a very tough lane. Lulu gave up an early kill and didn't play very well, while Vi never showed up bot. Ever. I was behind and had no help from my team, but I farmed while I could and managed to pick up a few kills too. Zed left. As they were invading our base, Vi ragequit. Two leavers.

It means little, but since this is such a special occasion, I want to point something out.

Me: 4/1/0
Lulu: 0/4/5
Vi: 3/5/3
Sion: 0/7/3
Zed: 3/5/1

There are all sorts of obvious reasons why K/D/A isn't a measurement of how well one actually plays. But I want to point out, because I haven't really stressed it in these updates, that this is a recurring circumstance. In fact, the discrepancy here is considerably less extreme than it is in my typical Ranked Karthus loss. And I have 20 of those. It keeps happening.

When my friends found out that I had, almost immediately after my placement matches, risen out of Bronze II into Bronze I, they were encouraging, telling me that soon I'd probably be in Silver. Maybe they were just being polite. I've also had total strangers in my games compliment my skill, and express surprise that I'm in Bronze. Several people have told me that if I kept playing, they thought I'd make Gold by the end of Season 4. Maybe they too were just being polite. I don't know. But one thing no one told me, when I first got promoted to Bronze I, was, "You'll probably play a hundred or so games here, then get demoted back down to Bronze II." Demotion has been so close for such a long time now that I was halfway to expecting it, although I held onto the hope that I'd be wrong. Only now that it's finally happened, I find myself wondering, "What the hell?" I've spent so much time on this. And that's what I get for my effort? "You have been demoted in Solo Queue to Hecarim's Elementalists, Bronze II."

I've seen a lot of criticisms of the ranking system in League of Legends. I've had some thoughts of my own. But right now? All of that pales in comparison to whatever flaws in the system have taken me in this hundred-game loop back to where I started. If it wasn't for one little detail, I really believe that I'd give up right now.