‘I regret getting better’: High-Elo LoL players sound off on toxicity at higher ranks

League of Legends is notorious for being a game with unforgiving players—and at the highest ranks of the game, the expectation level placed upon teammates can be exceptional.

One player realized just how slim the margin of error is in high-rank League when they were lambasted by teammates consistently after reaching Diamond rank, and they lamented their experience in a recent thread on the official League subreddit.

Spirit Blossom Teemo in League splash art — _{Toxicity is prevalent in many League games, but high-ranked players are likely to encounter it. Image via Riot Games}

The original poster of the thread recounted how they grinded all the way up to Diamond rank since they had more time on their hands to play League. But not long after they reached their goal of playing in the game’s upper echelons, they said they regretted their climb due to the amount of toxicity they encountered at higher ranks.

League is probably the only game where I regret getting better
byu/Lucia_LA inleagueoflegends

“In my Gold games I had way more chill people and ruiners were a rarity,” the user, named Lucia_LA, said on Reddit. “I couldn’t even understand why people keep saying that ‘League is super toxic’. But turns out that the higher your rank, the higher the amount of [trolls] you will meet. In every few games I just have people that straight up refuse to play. They get ganked twice? Ruin. ADC not happy with their [support]? Ruin. Mid not getting help? Ruin.”

It’s never really been a secret that some of the higher ranks on the League ladder are home to players who think extremely highly of themselves. While League players at all ranks have a reputation for being critical, those who have reached the highest plateaus of the game tend to be quicker on the trigger considering the expectation level is higher when the general skill level of a lobby is increased.

Just over five percent of League players are ranked Diamond or above, according to League stats site League of Graphs.

“In Master-GM, EVERYONE thinks they’re the next Faker,” one commenter said in the Reddit thread. “If you miss a skillshot, six missing pings. If someone dies, six missing pings. If a teamplay is bad, insta-surrender, FF, can’t win, jungler isn’t human. Losing lane? FF, team gap. Zero mental whatsoever. People will play better but their willpower INSTANTLY shatters if they perceive anyone doing something wrong for even a millisecond.”

The most agreed-upon principle among League players in the thread seemed to be that at lower ranks, people at least have the humility to realize they’re not that great at the game and the literal representation of their rank can be enough to keep them from getting too big of a head. But at the higher levels of play, people may tend to have a stronger perception of themselves after they’ve grinded to get where they are.

While there’s no clear average on just how many games it could take for a League player to get to Diamond, it’s always fair to assume that anyone who’s gotten there has invested an unreal amount of time into the game—and they don’t want their time on the Rift wasted by a player who isn’t up to par.

In League, there’s a direct correlation between your Elo and your ego, and players are consistently proving it.