Ranking up is easier when queuing solo?

[JMertz22]

@Ken_CTF and @Darwi I want to hear your thoughts on this, as you both seem very well-versed in how the CSR and MMR systems work with each other in Halo Infinite.

I’ll start this off by saying this is only my experience, and mileage may vary.

Since the beginning of Halo Infinite, I’ve always done LFG posts when queuing for Open Crossplay. Always went in with a 4 stack. I initially placed Gold 3, worked my way up into Platinum and eventually Diamond. Peaked at Diamond 2, then got stuck. I was stuck teetering between Plat 6 and Diamond 1 for weeks. I fell into the same frustrating trap as everyone else. Win 7 straight to get close to getting Diamond 2 back, lose 2-3 games and I was back to Plat 6. I figured I had hit my skill ceiling at D1, and accepted my fate that I would need to significantly work on my game to go up any higher.

A few nights ago I didn’t have much time to play, so I just queued up into Open Crossplay solo. I thought I was going to get demolished. Ended up going on an absolute tear going like +10 K/D or more in multiple games. Looking at my opponent’s ranks during this stretch, I found that I was often the only Diamond player in these games. The lone Diamond in lobby after lobby of Platinum players. And I was mostly ripping them to shreds. Obviously, when constantly 4-stacking, the hidden MMR had decided I was a Platinum player at heart.

But the strange thing about this is, during this stretch of solo-queuing, the way wins and losses affected my rank completely flipped. Every win, I was gaining CHUNKS of CSR. Every loss only brought me down a few points. I’ve now found myself at a new peak, getting close to Diamond 3. It’s gotten to the point where the last few days, and for the forseeable future, I just want to solo queue. I want to see how long this can last. I know it’s not sustainable, and eventually I will hit a new ceiling where the rank system flips on me once again. But damn is it fun to finally be ranking up again.

TL;DR: If you find yourself “stuck” at your current rank, where wins bring minimal gains and losses bring massive drops in CSR, and you always queue as a 4 stack, try solo queuing and see if this doesn’t flip the script and allow you to progress your rank.

[Ken_CTF]

With Trueskill2 the following rule applies:

When a player is part of a squad, their performance is assumed to be better than normal.

The higher number of players in a squad, the greater the assumed skill offset is. This means your performance might be that of a Diamond 3, but based on the fact you are always in a squad the system thinks Diamond 1 is more appropriate as it is based on historical data that players will usually be less skilled when playing alone. For you to reach Diamond 3, you may have to play like a Diamond 5 when playing as a full team. These numbers are made up, it’s just to explain the overall concept easier.

Your CSR gains and losses are based mostly around your presumed MMR and your presumed MMR is always higher in a squad.

While the idea of playing as a group may elevate most players, this will not be true for all players. Therefore, some people may find their skill level is the same whether they are playing with friends or with random teammates. As such, these players will be rewarded more for playing solo, while their performances are equal across both scenarios, the system expects more from a player in a squad. So it’s easier to rank up as a solo player for these types of players.

Realistically most players will thrive more in a set team than a group of random players they must adapt around constantly so it will work for some people and not for others.

Tldr: Playing solo is better for ranking up for some people, not all people. Depends on your playstyle and ability to adapt around random teammates.

[JMertz22]

Very interesting. Thanks for your input, Ken. I knew there was some kind of weight that it put on players in a full squad, but wasn’t quite sure how it worked. Looks like I may just be a good solo artist. I always use my mic even when nobody else on the team is, always calling out and pinging when necessary to help the team out.

Within this experiment, I’ve also noticed there does seem to be at least some level of party size matching happening in the background. When playing in a squad, I see a lot more “sweaty” coordinated teams than I do when searching solo.