6 reasons to play ranked teams in LOL or Dota 2 (instead of spamming solo queue)

A lot of people in Asia (including most of our readers, I think) play Dota 2 or League of Legends. But despite the fact that these are team games, the vast majority of these games’ player bases spend their time in solo queue, playing games with randomly-assigned teammates chosen by the matchmaking system.

Sometimes that can be fun, but forming an actual team and playing with them is way better. Here’s why.

(Note: I’m going to use League of Legends for my examples below because that’s the game I know better personally, but all of this also applies to Dota 2 as well).

1. It’s a totally different game

You’d better have a plan for this.

The mechanics you’ll need to play team matches are the same ones you’ve been honing in solo queue, but aside from that basically everything is different. You can’t just go into a game with five random champions and expect to win, you need to have a drafting strategy. And you can’t just plan to do well in the laning phase and snowball from there, you need to have a grander plan. In addition to mechanics, you’re going to need communication skills and you’re going to need to do a bit of theorycrafting. If you’re the team’s shotcaller, you’re also going to need leadership skills and quick decision making abilities.

All of this stuff comes up from time to time in solo queue, of course, but even the most cooperative random teammates aren’t going to be able to perform on the level of a full team with voice chat, a coordinated draft and game strategy, and experience with each others’ playstyles. Playing with a team forces you to spend a lot more time thinking about the big picture in a game like LOL or Dota, and that’s a good thing.

2. No more afks or ragers

Imagine teamfights when your whole team is actually there. (via Destructoid)

One of the biggest advantages to playing as a team is that you’re no longer subject to the emotions and whims of the random idiots the game’s matchmaking system pairs you up with. There’s no “mid or feed”, there’s no “bot is feeding, I afk gg” after one death in the bot lane, and there’s no “Hey guys, I queued for a ranked match but I have to go in 10 minutes.” You choose the people you play with, and after a while everyone will know what everyone else is capable of.

Of course, this doesn’t give you a leg up on the competition—as long as you do ranked, you’ll only be playing against other proper teams, so they won’t have any random trolls either. But win or lose, you’re going to have a better experience playing with people you know and can get along with. And even if your teammates aren’t very good, at least you’ll be going into champion select knowing what you’ve got to work with.

3. Winning feels way more satisfying