League’s Ranked Solo/Duo queue has existed since the game launched in 2009, but Riot are considering changing it for the first time in history. The devs have floated the possibility of removing Duo queue, making it a Solo-only mode and bringing more players to Ranked Flex.
League of Legends devs have been extremely transparent with the community so far in Season 12. They listened to player complaints over the Chemtech Drake and have been working hard to fix the overall ranked experience.
In an effort to improve the quality of life in their matchmaking, Riot have informed everyone that they are testing out a massive change that would see the Solo/Duo Queue removed from the game.
League of Legends Solo Only Mode could replace Duo Queue
Developer Cody ‘Codebear’ Bermain revealed in a March 4 blog post Riot are working on new methods to improve their ranked game modes, including big changes to Solo/Duo and Flex queues.
With the Solo/Duo playlist Codebear stated, “we do see issues with Solo/Duo Queue that consistently point to our accommodation of premade duos – this directly adds quality and population volatility into the matchmaking mix.”
There are unfair matches being played when Summoners of different ranks are partying up to take on the rift together. This is leading toward higher queue times, unfair teams, and more autofills.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
So, the devs are investigating the idea of adding a new mode to replace Solo/Duo called “Solo Only.”
Codebear says this would bring autofill rates even lower than they currently are, while decreasing queue times. The devs also believe that teams would be more balanced as “winrate advantages due to team disparities would vanish completely.”
Another problem in Solo/Duo queue is boosting. The Solo-Only mode would eradicate this unintended mechanic completely from the League realm.
It would also help increase the population of the Flex Queue and fix its imbalance of matchmaking. Instead of seeing flex teams with four division differences, Riot claim it would be more fair and competitive for both teams.
If this goes through, the Solo/Duo option would be renamed to Solo-Only and the Flex would accommodate for any party sizes from 1-5 Summoners. At the time of writing, the change hasn’t yet been implemented by Riot.