When Stackers Attack
You’re Gold 3. On the loading screen you see a Gold 4, two Gold 3s, a Silver 1, and a Platinum 3 on the opposing team. What thoughts go through your head? You can reasonably assume the S1 and P3 are in a stack, maybe with one of the golds. But why? It could be they’re a group of friends wanting to play together despite being different ranks. This is the best-case scenario. Placing them at a rank that is their average means the skills and knowledge of the higher player will make up for where the silver player is lacking. But what if the plat player brings something to the game that makes the team stronger than just the sum of their skills. Maybe comms, knowledge of the macro, drafts and builds? It’s possible that having a plat in a gold game is still unfair despite being grouped with someone who is silver. At the same time the silver player could struggle too much to keep up at the G3 level and make it an uneven game in the opposite direction. Worst-case scenario...