So the 2 guys I usually play with are champ2 and dia3-champ1 level. I’m also champ1. NONE of us were ever in GC, not for a single match. We play 2v2s and 3v3s, depending on who’s available.
This season we got absurd amount of GCs in our matches. Both 2v2 and 3v3, but 3v3 seemed even more infested with GC titles. Interestingly, whenever they actually say something about their rank, they say they are GCs in another game mode, or that they played a long time ago. But most of them still do stuff that we have never been able to, and the rest is just as bad as us, or even worse (which isn’t too rare). But this many “GC in another mode” players, suddenly, out of thin air?
What happened suddenly?
Before this season, seeing a GC title in our games was definitely a rarity. We saw ~2-3 every season, and that was pretty much it. Whenever we ran into one before, they actually played like a GC and they hard carried their suspiciously clueless teammates. This season GC matches are more abundant than the ones without.
Is it because the player numbers are falling so hard that Psyonix resorted to widening the matchmaking search, allowing significantly better (or worse) players to match against us, just to keep the waiting times low? Now that I think of it, as many GCs we get against us, we definitely don’t see just as many clueless opponents. If it’s not the waiting time, then why did matchmaking change so drastically? Is it boosting? Because that didn’t just happen overnight between the two seasons.
What do you think?
EDIT: People starting ranked at a lower rank than what they had in the previous season also can’t be the reason, since we would also be somewhere in low diamond then; it’s the middle of the season, so I doubt THIS many people whould start their freshly deranked season now.
Well, I haven’t seen this many GCs in other odd seasons. Any other, to be honest. Your guess with Psyonix squishing ranks together is really similar to my theory about widening the search. That would just further prove the falling numbers (after all, they have recently changed the thresholds for different queue health states).
There was a full tier reset squish(~300mmr) at the beginning of this season for 2s queue, about half for 3s. Then Psyonix lessen the reset a day or 2 after so 2s had about 150mmr squish. So depending on the division, even GC2 could ended up in CD. For example, I usually hang around C1-2 but this season 2s I got so low as to the edge of D1-2 before I win streak back to D3 (1 MMR to promote, I am delaying my grind after that streak.)
Usually just ignore the titles, and focus on what you should be doing when running into supposed smurf. You can’t play at their pace or try to out air dribble them. Focus on the fundamental position/boost and demo game and 50 your way cause you will be in voice chat with your mate, don’t play the regular boom it and then try to score, it usually don’t work unless your demo game is on point.
Plus, usually smurfs don’t wear titles, but people that bought account or booated wear them to intimidate lower rank players when they drop.