not a smurfing post

I get what riot was trying to do when it comes to trying to average out the mmr distribution in a stack to make sure you play against a team of similar skill. The problem is that the skill discrepancy between ranks isn't particularly linear.

a gold player playing against a plat or diamond player isn't going to really face an insane wall. sure they might struggle a little, but the difference isn't so great that you would feel an insurmountable gap. put up a good fight, get some lucky rounds and they have a very reasonable chance of winning.

throw in an ascendant player and suddenly you run into situations where these players can run laps around a lower ranked player with total ease. the idea that just because there's a player in the opposite direction in terms of rank weight, say a bronze or iron player on their team, making the matchup balanced is absurd.

reyna is a balanced agent. in fact, i think she's in a very satisfying spot right now with the flash buffs. but when there's a player that's a degree above their opponents on the character, they make up for having a handicap "weaker" player and then some.

basically what i'm insinuating is that the ranks are not simple numbers where you can put their skill into proportions. at a certain point the difference is large enough where the players are worth much more than just their difference from the mean.

REAL WORLD EXAMPLE: this system is already getting exploited regularly by players that will stack an account with 4 irons to boost themselves to radiant, this is a proven method that has been used by slimy mfers several times now. riot has cracked down on it but never addressed the systems that allow it to happen.