Is the League of Legends Dodge Mechanic Not Being Used Properly?

Today, we're going to explore whether the dodge mechanic in League of Legends is worth learning. Here are the main topics we'll cover:

• What the dodge mechanic is and why/how it's used
• Why learning to use the dodge mechanic correctly is a smart decision
• How to decide when to dodge and when not to
• Advantages and disadvantages of the dodge mechanic
• Is the dodge mechanic actually functional?
• The story of how the dodge mechanic ruined high elo

WHAT IS THE DODGE MECHANIC AND WHY/HOW IS IT USED?

Dodging is the act of closing the League of Legends client during the champion select screen. Most players dodge to avoid games they don't want to play. This can be for a variety of reasons, such as their favorite champions being banned by the enemy, the enemy team having a better team composition, or the enemy team making strong picks against the champions on your team. Later in the article, you'll find more information about when it makes sense for you to dodge games. Also keep in mind that you're not the only one who has a chance to dodge games in such situations.

You can dodge a League of Legends match during the champion select screen either by pressing the X button in the top-right corner of the LoL Client, or by waiting until your timer runs out without selecting a champion when the pick order comes to you.

WHY LEARNING TO USE THE DODGE MECHANIC CORRECTLY IS A SMART DECISION

You might say, 'Why would I choose to dodge a game when I lose some LP and even have to wait for a dodge penalty?' First of all, even though you lose some LP when you dodge a game, your MMR (Matchmaking Rating — known as your real/hidden rating) does not go down. Your MMR only goes down if you lose a game. A high MMR lets you gain more LP when you win and lose less LP when you lose; we all love an account that goes +28 LP and -12 LP in Win/Loss, don't we?

Let's take an example: during the champion select screen, you notice that your entire team is full of AD champions, while the enemy team has many super tanks such as Malphite, Amumu, and so on. I believe it's clear to most people that your chances of winning this game are very low. Even though you always have a chance to win, is it really worth taking that risk? If you take the risk and lose the game, as is highly likely to happen, you'll usually lose 20-28 LP, and importantly, your MMR will also drop. If you had just chosen to dodge, you would have lost only 5 LP and your MMR would remain unchanged. And you might say, 'But I even have to wait out a dodge penalty for that.' Yes, but there's no question that waiting out a 5-10 minute, or even 30-minute, dodge penalty is better than being stuck in a very stressful game where you spend an average of 30 minutes expecting to lose. If you lose the match, you'll need to play another match and absolutely win it just to get back to the same old MMR you had before. Dodging and waiting 5 minutes sounds much better, doesn't it?

Another example might be a situation where one or more players on your team are trolling. For instance, if your jungler picks Yuumi, dodging that match is definitely a smart idea.

HOW DO WE DECIDE WHEN TO DODGE AND WHEN NOT TO?

Of course, there are always countless parameters to consider in actual situations, but here are a few key points you can keep in mind during your decision-making process that will guide you toward a smart choice with a probability higher than 95%:

• If one or more members of your team are not playing their main roles, have a low win rate, are on a losing streak, or are not playing their main champions,
• If the champions you're experienced with have been banned/picked by your team or enemy team members,
• If one or more members of your team are exhibiting troll behavior / claiming they will intentionally feed / behave negatively,
• If you're not playing your main role,

Dodging the match will probably be a smart idea.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF DODGING

ADVANTAGES:

• Not spending time and avoiding stress in a game where your chances of winning are quite low.
• Protecting your MMR by dodging games instead of losing them. (Dodging games doesn't lower your MMR; losing does)
• Not wasting your valuable time or mental energy on people who pick Yuumi jungle.
• When applied correctly, increasing one's chances of climbing the ranks in the long run.

DISADVANTAGES:

• LP Loss and Dodge Wait Penalty

LP lost by dodging doesn't reduce your MMR, and a 5-10 minute dodge penalty is better than entering a game, spending the entire match in a corner expecting to lose, and being mentally stressed. Overall, when conditions are right, the pros of dodging games seem to outweigh the cons. If you don't dodge matches where your chances of winning are low and then lose the match, the MMR drop you take will create problems in the long run and cause difficulties in your ranked journey.

IS THE DODGE MECHANIC ACTUALLY FUNCTIONAL?

Would you rather enter a match with people playing Singed ADC or Yuumi jungle, engage in a struggle that ends with you losing 20-28 LP after drowning in psychological stress that usually lasts at least 20 minutes? Or would you rather make the smarter choice by dodging the game, losing 5 LP (the LP you lose by dodging doesn't lower your MMR), and waiting out a short dodge penalty?

I'm sure the second option sounds much more logical to you too. Once you start dodging games, you'll see long-term improvements in your overall performance, stress levels, and ranked performance. Additionally, since dodging games doesn't reduce your MMR unlike lost games, you'll notice over time that you gain more LP per win and lose less per loss.

THE STORY OF THE DODGE MECHANIC RUINING HIGH ELO

Ever since Riot decided to remove the option to queue up as a duo in ranked games at Master tier and above, many players have been unhappy about it (especially bot lane players), while some were happy. Over time, as always, someone came up with the idea of always dodging games in their Diamond 1 promotion series in order to be able to queue up as a duo with friends at Master and above MMR levels too. Since dodging games didn't reduce MMR, they kept winning in Diamond 1, but because they dodged every time and dropped out of their series in the games that would promote them from Diamond 1 to Master, their MMR kept rising while they could also queue as a duo and get matched with players from every tier, including Master and Grandmaster. However, this created an unfair advantage for those using the strategy, because while other players in the server's highest tiers couldn't queue as a duo, these people could still get matched with those players even though they themselves were queuing as a duo. Bot lane players in particular gained a huge advantage by using this tactic, because they had voice communication while the enemy bot lane couldn't. This unbalanced the game to a certain extent.