Climbing up the ranks in League of Legends is a challenge which requires dedication, determination, and of course, a heck of a lot of teamwork. Since duo queue gives you the ability to team up with a trusted friend, a common belief is that sticking to duo queue is the easiest method to rank up. However, is duo queue truly the easiest? While it definitely has its benefits, it’s not without its drawbacks. In fact, we’ll go as far as saying that for some players, solo queue is actually a much easier ride.
Today, we’ll be taking a close look at the pros and cons of duo queue, so you can determine which one is personally best for you (and your LP!)
Pros of Duo Queue
We’ll start off by going over the main pros of duo queue. From great synergy to better map awareness, duo has a lot to offer.
Ability to Communicate Over Voice
If you play solo, the only means of communication is pings and chat, both of which can go unnoticed by your teammates and be easily misunderstood. Unless your typing speed is as fast as Hecarim, you also won’t be able to quickly communicate critical information through chat.
In comparison, with duo queue you have the ability to communicate over voice comms. Voice chat allows you to communicate in the moment and say exactly what you want to say without difficulty. This means there will be no delay (which can be game-changing in a fight), and little to no chance of any misunderstanding arising.
More Map Awareness
Unsurprisingly, two sets of eyes are better than one – when playing duo, you and your partner can easily share information about the map to one another. Because of this, you’ll have a much greater chance of noticing where the enemy jungler is, spotting roaming laners and avoiding ganks. You’ll also be able to remind each other of objectives coming up.
Better Team Coordination
As you’ll be playing plenty of games with your duo partner, you’ll become familiar with their playstyle. This makes it extremely easy to coordinate with them and play around them; there will be no “curveballs” that throw you off, and you’ll be able to predict how they’ll react in certain situations.
As we talked about above, voice comms also allows you to communicate in the moment effortlessly. This will help your teamwork in various ways; more effective roams and ganks, better team fighting, well-timed engages, to name a few.
Moreover, duo queue gives you the opportunity to easily pick champions that have great synergy together, as during champ select you can discuss in detail about which champions you intend to play.
Greater Chance of Team Listening to Your Calls
Imagine you’re playing solo. The enemy bot lane has backed, and the enemy jungler shows up topside. You spam ping the drake, and ask your teammates to come and secure it. Your jungler starts heading toward the pit, but then your midlaner spams the danger ping, types “too risky, not free,” and refuses to come. The rest of your teammates hesitate as a result, and end up agreeing with the midlaner’s call despite it being wrong.
Now, imagine you’re playing duo. The same scenario happens, only this time when the midlaner says “too risky,” your premade backs you up, then starts rotating to the drake. Since it’s two against one, the rest of your teammates believe your call must be the right call, and behave accordingly.
Put simply, two voices have greater influence than one; non-premade teammates are much more likely to listen to your calls in game, since your premade can back you up (and vice versa).
Less Tilting and Helps You Stay Focused
It goes without saying that if you have one less random player on your team, you’re less likely to run into unsavory allies (as long as your premade isn’t toxic or trolling!). Plus, if your friend is pretty zen – which we hope they are – their calming presence on voice call will help prevent you from spiraling into a tilt-frenzy.
Having a premade can also seriously help you stay focused and not give up, since it’s not just your LP on the line, it’s your friend’s as well.
Cons of Duo Queue
Less toxicity, better synergy, greater map awareness – duo queue sounds like a dream. But before you dedicate the rest of the ranked season to duoing, remember that the grass is not always greener on the other side. As we mentioned earlier, duo queue is not without its drawbacks.
Can Hinder Your Growth as a Player
When duoing, you’re more inclined to rely on your premade when it comes to map awareness and game sense. This can lead you to become too comfortable with the level of your own macro, and ultimately inhibit your self-improvement. In comparison, solo queue means you only have yourself to rely on; this practically forces you to hone your macro, and also encourages you to develop good map-checking habits.
Another way duo queue can inhibit your growth as a player is that it can hinder your decision-making. You might become overly reliant on your teammate’s shotcalling, and not take the time to assess the game yourself. Decision-making bias is also a major problem many players experience when playing duo; you’re always going to be more inclined to help out your premade laner, even if you really shouldn’t be and should be helping elsewhere.
Moreover, if you’re always playing duo, it’s a lot harder to accurately determine your skill level and what you need to improve on. This is because your premade might compensate for your weaknesses, which can make it extremely difficult to identify them.
Put Up Against Another Duo
Duos undoubtedly have an advantage over solo players – you have the ability to form great synergy, speak over comms, and can easily pull off effective ganks and roams. However, Riot recognizes this and have a system in place to prevent this advantage from being a major one: if you play duo, you’ll almost certainly be put up against another duo. This means you and your partner will have to play better than the opposing duo. If your synergy and coordination are not up to par, chances are, the opposing duo will be taking home the victory.
Can Negatively Affect MMR
When you duo, the matchmaking system determines the average MMR of you and your premade, and puts you up against players who match that MMR. In other words, If you’re the higher elo player, you’ll face lower MMR opponents, and if you’re the lower elo player, you’ll face higher MMR opponents.
As a result, if you’re the higher elo player, you’ll gain less LP when you win, and lose more LP when you lose. If you and your duo aren’t able to consistently win games, you’ll be dropping divisions in no time.
If you’re the lower MMR player, you do have much more to gain – you gain more LP than you lose. However, this still has a downside: if your premade is constantly carrying you (which is pretty likely), your MMR will become inflated. This means if you ever swap back to solo, you’ll be put up against higher-skilled opponents, and you’ll lose almost all of your games unless you drastically improve.
Potentially More Distracting
Voice comms, while has immeasurable value, can actually do more harm than good if your premade doesn’t know how to communicate concisely and effectively. If they flood you with irrelevant information and constantly speak throughout the game, it’s going to be utterly distracting and even frustrating at times.
Can Test Your Friendship
League isn’t exactly the most relaxing, stress-free game to play with a friend. While it may seem hard to imagine now, there is always a chance you could have a falling out over League, especially if you both tend to get tilted easily; perhaps you both get frustrated at the outcome of a match and end up taking it out on one another, or perhaps it’s the cumulation of various disagreements throughout your gaming sessions.
To Duo or Not to Duo?
So, which should you pick? While the decision is ultimately up to you, here are our thoughts.
Duo queue is ideal if you’re confident in your synergy with your premade, and know you’ll be able to win with them even if you’re put up against another duo. It’s also a good option if you’ll be mainly sticking to duo, and won’t be swapping between solo and duo – you can learn to rely on each other for map awareness, and master your synergy and coordination.
However, if you intend to swap between duo and solo, and are aiming to grow as an individual player – not a team player – soloing is undoubtedly the way to go. You’re quite literally forced to improve as a solo player, especially when it comes to macro, and your MMR will be accurate.
Of course, at the end of the day, you should pick the option which is the most fun for you. If you love ranking it up with a friend, stick to duo. If you love the feeling of solo carrying, stick to solo. Whether you decide duo is right for you or not, we wish you the best of luck in your journey to the top!
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