An in-depth analysis of the smurf situation in Dota

• First, there are three types of smurfs:

1. Pretty common, the player who thinks they are better than they truly are. Creates a new account, calibrates higher than their normal mmr, and then drops. These accounts aren't too damaging, because the player will soon enough drop to his true mmr.

2. Even more common, the booster smurf. 9/10 times it's a russian, anime avatar, this is the most toxic and damaging to Dota, because they will do it on and on again, every time after an account is sold.

3. Not so common, the high mmr player who is bored to play at his own mmr and stomps in a bracket 2k lower than his. These aren't too popular.

• Second, how do you detect a smurf? It's pretty simple. If their account is lower than 50 (even 60 sometimes), it's a smurf 9/10 cases. Which type, it depends on their plays. That lvl 41 account, 11-0-13 morph that cannot be killed, is 99 % a booster. That lvl 46 account 1-7-2 mid invoker who misses all spells, it's probably 1-2k mmr lower on his main. You get the point.

• Third, use the "Smurf" report button at the end of the game, don't forget about it. Does it do something? Do they get banned? Do they get placed in their own bracket? I have no clue, Valve barely gave any info, but at least try using it.

• Fourth, I wonder how many people who visit/comment on this sub, actually play the game on a constant. Why? Just a random example from today: I played 6 games, 4 of them had at least two accounts below lvl 45. That's just insane imo. 15 minutes ago I just lost a game vs an AM, lvl 39 account, who had, I-kid-you-not, 6 rampages on his profile. I'm not exaggerating a tiny bit, EUW is full of smurfs, especially boosters.

• Fifth, why the "I learn from smurfs" mentality is the most toxic and nonsense one:

1. You have hundreds of guides, tutorials etc. out there. Hundreds. Every role you desire, every tactic you want to master, you can watch pro games etc., absolutely nothing stopping you from actually learning.

2. Getting stomped by that 18-1-6 tinker while the game ends at min 21 learned you absolutely nothing. That brood who just took over your whole map at minute 10 learned you nothing. That morph that cannot be killed because he is 4 lvls ahead your mid in min 12 learned you nothing. Period.

3. Just because you also get the booster in your team, doesn't make it fair. Who keeps track of how many times it was with our vs you? Who, you, the ignorant prick who can;t even detect a simple booster?

4. You are doing this solely trying to seem superior to the people who actually play the game and are tired of the smurfs. I haven't heard one decent player/human to say how "smurfs are good". Slacks, Purge etc., they all say how bad they are, it's basic fcking common sense. Ranked is meant for us to play vs people at our own mmr, not undercover immortals. Stop being an ignorant toxic shmuck.

• Six, last but not least, for me personally Dota has become almost unplayable. Every second game on EUW (legend & ancient), you are bound to face or to play with smurfs, especially boosters. The game's outcomes are just a matter of time. It's been like this for a very long time, and I think I almost reached my limit. If you think I am exaggerating, please, turn on the game, queue for two games on EUW, check everyone's profile in the beginning, and see how those suspicious low lvl accounts play

Sorry for the long thread, probably noone will read it, but I feel like Dota has actually become a place for jobless people to make money out of selling accounts. And the ones who should do something, Valve, they don't change absolutely anything.