How Does Riot Detect Elo Boosting?

Before even starting the discussions about Elo Boosting, it is critical to understand how the Elo system works. What are the differences between Elo and MMR? How to improve both of them and the consequences of the elo boost

Most people are familiar with the MMR (Matchmaking Rating) and Elo rating systems. You can read a lot about them online and even use various methods to try and calculate your own. 

You can also find them in the context of competitive gaming, where they have been brought up in recent years. A lot of people got into League of Legends to have fun and play with their friends. But there is this intense competitive community. Which is built around the game that is focused- on the highly-tuned systems. Both MMR (Matchmaking Rating) and ELO make things interesting. A lot of people may not understand this aspect of the game. But many people talk about these two and use them to show their skills. Respectively, having a higher MMR or ELO means that you are good, as they are based- on your skills as a player.

Understanding what MMR and ELO are will make you better at playing League of Legends with your friends or competitively. Knowing about these systems will help you to understand how they affect your own game. It will make you a better player or a better teammate. After all, League is not just a fun game; it’s pretty much a competition in which you do your best to win and improve yourself.

What is Elo in League of Legends?

First, we will start by explaining what Elo is. There are many players who talk about Elo, and they do it often. Many of them, though, don’t even know what Elo is.

Starting with the fact that Elo is not even a term or system created by Riot is something crucial. The term and the first Elo system itself were created by a physics professor named Arpad Elo. As you can see, the system itself is named after him. 

The system made by Profesor Arpad was first used- to rank chess players. The elo system usually uses specific metrics in order to match up against opponents with the same skills against each other. This is the general purpose of this system. Basically, if you are good enough to win often and have consecutive wins, then you move higher in the ranking system. That lets you play with people on your level and so on. 

Moving on to the League of Legends system. Although the game took inspiration from- the Elo system, it is not entirely the same. Riot has created its own league system based on the same fundamentals.

You can clearly see this by the rankings that exist in the game. For example, before the current ranking tiers and divisions existed, Riot used numbers, your Elo score, to match players. Later on, this changed, and started working on the principle we see now in LoL. 

League of Legends Elo is determined- by your win and loss ratio. Taking into consideration the overall number of games that you have played. It is important to note that the league’s ranking system only works for ranked games. That is like that because, for the league ranking system to work, you need to earn or lose League Points (Lp).

In order to even start, every player must meet some criteria. For example, in League of Legends, you need to be level 30, have at least 20 champs, and participate in your placement games. These games exist- to better allocate your starting elo.

The simplest example is that everyone starts with the same Elo. The moment you start playing the 10 placement games, this changes. You can end up in Silver IV or in Gold IV. It depends on your skills and how many games you win.

The League of Legends ranking system starts with Iron IV and moves up to Challenger. The higher you climb, the more things will change. But the basics stay the same. Nothing is more important than the win/lose ratio when it comes to your Elo.

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The Hidden Ranking System, MMR

Talking about the matchmaking score in League of Legends is a little bit trickier than with Elo. This type of ranking system is not something you can see and determine easily as with the previous one. We can say that MMR can be different even for the various modes in the game. 

Be it ranked as normal or Aram, and it may vary. Again, it’s mainly focused on tracking your solo games, rather than the premade ones. That is like that because the main purpose of this system is to track players’ progress and determine their skills. Again, as with the previous, this is to be matched with people who match your skills. They, like you, would not want to play with bronze players if you were Diamon.

Similarly, like with the Elo system, all players start with the same generic MMR. This changes during the course of the games you play. The more you win, the higher your matchmaking rating score will go. On the contrary, the more losses you record, the more it will dip. 

It is important to note that no one knows exactly how the MMR is formed. We all know that- it is based on the win and loss ratio, similar to Elo, but not the specific way they calculate it. Although this is the case, you can find many online calculators on various sites. They basically use the same win and loss ratio. Your personal stats from the matches, like after-game rank, the kill, death, and assist scores, the creep score, etc. Based on the data gathered from all this, they try to guess your MMR.

We did talk about MMR and Elo, and now you probably wonder if they correlate. Well, the answer is yes. As you already know, both are ranking systems within the game. Being such, it’s easy to say that your matchmaking score affects your Elo. That happens because if you do not play the first ten placement games, you probably have played a lot of- normal games. That, in turn, determines your MMR to a point where the game will set you up for your placement games with people who have scored the same MMR rating during their games from earlier. 

That said, the MMR affects your Elo and your LP. Basically, the ranking system of the league overlays that of the matchmaking scores, and you get a combination of both when it comes to the ranked games. To put it simply, the better you do, the higher your MMR will go. From there, you will earn more League Points, and your Elo will keep getting higher and higher.

Aside from your win and loss ratio or the stats you get after the games, There are very few ways to lose MMR. Many people ask and wonder if they will lose matchmaking standing by dodging games. The answer to this is simply “NO.” You will not lose MMR if you leave the lobby. Keep in mind that if the game starts and you go AFK, things will not stay this way. Basically, being AFK is the worst thing that can happen to your matchmaking score, so do not leave games even if they are a lost cause or full of trolls. 

Lastly, to answer the curious ones. As you may know, there are ways to assume or guess your MMR. As you read above, there are calculators online that can do that. Although they may not be 100% correct, they are a good lead to how high your matchmaking score is, so it’s not a bad idea to check them out. If you decide to do so, you’d better use one of the popular platforms that players use to check out other users. They often offer the most accurate calculators, which can actually be of some help.

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Elo and MMR Boosting

When we are talking about MMR or elo boosting, we all know what it means. Boosting someone’s account by playing in their name in ranked matches is called boosting. Many people, who want to climb higher to get specific armor or rewards but cannot do it, make use of such things.

In its essence, the boost works when you get your win and loss ratio changed in your favor. Let’s say you enjoy playing ranked, but you are a bad player who can’t get out of silver. You find someone to boost you and let them do it. They form their side, pick up your account, and start playing your ranked games. 

The person who boosts you is usually a league above you and has it easy compared to the silver players in your league. This person will increase your wins compared to your losses, and your win ratio will jump. That will change your MMR by leaps if they do it for a long time. As a result of changing the MMR, your account will also gain more LP from the matches played on your account. That, on the other hand, will climb your tiers. And eventually, get you to gold or higher. That is the basic principle behind account boosting.

If this happens in normal matches, the system may not go as far as punishing you. On the other hand, we can talk about punishment if you are getting boosted in your ranked matches. 

Things are this way because even if the first case will not bring severe punishment. If you get boosted in rank. And later can’t meet the bare minimum of skills for your current rank, you will ruin your teammates’ games. That will happen simply because of your lack of skills. Let’s say you’re placed far above you; how will you play against diamonds if your levels are silver? That is nearly impossible, and thus you will first lose LP, but you will also ruin many other people’s efforts.

If this isn’t enough to turn you away from the Elo or MMR boost, consider how much you undervalue the significance of the hard-earned rank. You know how fun and interesting it is to climb the ranks. You not only have a reason to win, but you also understand the significance of this victory. 

Getting ranked higher, showing off your skills to others, and actually seeing how your skills have improved is something many people cherish. If you get yourself boosted to a high rank, won’t you lose all this meaningful stuff? It will feel empty and pointless. Like, the point of climbing the ranks itself is to improve and see how good you are. What’s the point if you can do nothing and still be ranked higher than many others?

Boosting can also be bad in a different way. Forget about getting punished by the system. Or that you will miss all the feelings and emotions on the way to a higher rank. What if your account gets stolen? Many do not think about it. But at the same time, there are many cases of this. Giving your password to someone is never a good idea. Furthermore, do it solely to advance in rank. Some may disagree, but doing so will not make it safer.

How Does Riot Detect MMR and Elo Boosting?

Detecting MMR or Elo boosting is simple, and at the same time, it is not. Riot has its own system for detecting this kind of service but keeps most of them private in order to prevent people from avoiding punishments. 

Let’s talk about the most obvious way in which they can detect that you are boosting or that you are getting boosted. If you, for example, start improving rapidly in your ranked games, your MMR and elo will start skyrocketing. Your account will look suspicious to the system. 

At the point- this happens, you will start to be close- monitored. They will observe your future progress and how well you perform to see if it will keep increasing, dropping, or staying at the same level. All this will be in order to determine if you are getting boosted or not. You already know that when getting your account boosted. You will get many wins in a short amount of time. Now, once this stops, you will have to play by yourself, and if you cannot meet the skill level at which your account is recorded to perform, you will look suspicious. 

The other way is by detecting your location. For example, if you play from the USA, and then suddenly your account is logged in from Canada to play ranked games, it will stop after some time, and your USA account will log in to play normal games. That will raise a red flag, and the system will begin to monitor you once more.

In both of these situations. After the monitoring starts, it will be hard to avoid it. Although, many are smart enough to use VPNs. Or not play ranked after they get boosted- it is still not guaranteed that they will not get punished.

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Boosting and Punishment

When it comes to punishments, we have to say that both sides will get them. Riot clearly states that both boosters and bostee are subject to punishment if caught.

There are several punishments that the system may issue you if you get caught while boosting or getting boosted. The first is a simple two-week ban. That is one of the lightest punishments you can get. The others are things like dropping your honor level to 0 or taking your seasonal rewards, which you will get from your rank. Of course, if you get caught multiple times, you will most likely get a permanent ban.

Conclusion

As a final point, we can say that both MMR and Elo are critical ranking systems in League of Legends. Being one shows your personal skills and how well versed you are in the game. It’s good to achieve them by yourself. 

Using boosting services may endanger your account in various ways, from getting your account stolen to getting a permanent ban from Riot. Although you may get lucky and avoid getting caught and punished, it is still not worth it. In fact, the only thing you get from rank boosting is the rewards at the end of the season. If you are not doing it for them. Then it is better to try and improve your abilities in order to climb the tiers. 

In the end, boosting is not something that can be recommended. Not because you can not get caught, but because it’s completely unnecessary for many players. If you want to enjoy the game to its fullest, it’s best to do everything by yourself and get to experience everything that the league has to offer. From the trolls and the asks. Through the losses and the sweet, hard-earned wins. Thank you for reading this article, and till the next one.