What is smurfing in League of Legends?

Have you been playing League of Legends (LoL) for some time now and come across the terms smurfing or LoL smurfs? Here’s what it is.

Although it is already a worldwide-known concept for seasoned players, it may raise questions among LoL novices. Let’s then check what smurfing in League of Legends entails and why high-ranking players create smurf accounts.

What is smurfing in LoL?

Smurfing is a practice where experienced players create secondary “smurf” accounts to start the game from scratch. 

The idea originates from the era of Warcraft II in the 1990s. It was the time when multiple players created novice accounts using names inspired by the blue Smurf characters from the famous cartoon. As a result, they were able to enter the game as novices and easily dominate less experienced opponents.

These days, the smurfing practice has settled down in the League of Legends world and has become a widespread phenomenon. You can use reliable services, like RankedKings, to easily and securely create LoL smurfs.

Nevertheless, why do high-ranking players create LoL smurfs accounts?

Why do players create smurf accounts in LoL?

Playing with newbie friends

First of all, seasoned players may smurf to play with their friends who are new to League of Legends. In the game, matchmaking is skill-based, which means that it automatically matches players with similar skill levels.

Consequently, if a high-ranking player tried to play with a beginner on their main account, the game would match them against high-ranking opponents. It could be an overwhelming experience for the newcomer.

Therefore, a smurf account can be a clever way for experienced players to play with their friends against opponents that are new to the game as well.

Experimenting

Another reason behind creating a smurf account in LoL can be the desire to experiment. A smurf account can serve as a testing platform to test:

• new champions,
• new strategies,
• playing styles. 

The comparatively less competitive nature of lower-level games can also offer a more relaxed environment, giving high-tier players a chance to experiment and foster creativity in gameplay. Moreover, players don’t have to worry about losing rank on the main account. Since smurf accounts are separate accounts, they don’t impact the player’s main one.

Long queue times

Finally, experienced players may create smurf accounts in League of Legends to avoid the long queue times that come with high-level play. There are significantly fewer players in the top tiers, so finding a game can take a lot of time.

On the other hand, lower-level games often come with shorter queues, which allures seasoned players to do smurfing.

Summing up, smurfing is a common practice within the League of Legends community. It can serve as a way to play with your lower-ranked friends, experiment with new playing styles, or avoid long queue times in high-level play. What is more, it provides an opportunity for learning for newcomers, as lower-ranked players can observe the strategies and techniques of the smurfs, thereby improving their own gameplay.