Get good: LoL balance boss declares ‘losers queue doesn’t exist’

Riot Games lead gameplay designer Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison has hit out at League of Legends conspiracy theorists who believe a “losers queue” exists in the MOBA, telling people in no uncertain terms to work on improving their own play, both physically and mentally.

Phroxzon put to bed any claims that a loser’s queue existed in a Feb. 10 evening post to X (formerly Twitter), whereby if you began stringing losses together, you would be matched with worse teammates and your loss streak would continue. “We’re not intentionally putting bad players on your team to make you lose more,” he said emphatically, adding the matchmaking system matches players based on rating and rating alone.

The idea that a loser queue exists is not just limited to League, with players and even popular streamers falling for the idea that losers are punished in competitive online matchmaking separate from that of the game’s regular queue. Phroxzon says it is a joke and is “driving him crazy” when it comes to debugging user requests who believe they’re stuck in Elo hell.

Phroxzon believes the issue comes down to the player’s attitude and mental fortitude when playing League, and investing in a good coach for advice and going into a session of ranked with “a growth” mindset is key. “There are five potential giver-upperers on the enemy team and only four on yours. Don’t make it five.”

He pointed to a recent and popular post on the game’s subreddit by u/NeverSeenAMoose, which includes a video showcasing a League match gone wrong: the top lane Fiora began disastrously but instead of giving in, the player and the team rebounded, landing key bounty kills and objectives and ultimately winning the match.

Phroxzon praised the conduct of the players who stuck in there and shared a few coaching tips, specifically focusing on players who play conservatively to save their KDA while ahead and give the opposition room to recover, and ensuring teams “play to the win condition” and identifying and halting the opponent. “In the long run, you’re the only common factor and the only one responsible for your rating is you.”

It may take moving mountains to get this information into the average League player’s head, but at the very least, the notion of the existence of a loser’s queue has well and truly been debunked.