Turbo MMR vs Ranked behaviours

Hi all,

I’m a 2.5-3k player, mostly support, and I’ve noticed some trends and wanted to know if anyone else is experiencing these as well.

We know that DotA places you in turbo and unranked games with peers of similar skill, an “unofficial” MMR, if you will. I mostly play turbo nowadays, and my dotabuff shows that I’m frequently in games with official ranked legend and ancient players, and archons of course, but rarely with lower than upper archon. Officially I’m archon, so this could mean that I am playing at higher skill in turbo games*. However, when I try to play ranked, one team usually gets stomped, and it’s almost ALWAYS due to toxicity.

Which brings me to my next point. I love the game, but the ranked play is so toxic, it’s unbearable. Hence why I play turbo. If there’s a toxic player on either team, the misery ends in 20 mins rather than 40. And if it’s a close game with fun players on both sides, the game can still take a good 40 mins and it’s enjoyable! About once per month, I’ll wonder why I don’t play ranked anymore. Then I play a few games and experience the toxicity again.

Anyone else experiencing this? It seems like turbo is the best way to play for fun, and hence (due to less toxicity) people play better in turbo and have higher unofficial MMRs.

*Or turbo games are easier for lower skilled players.