LoL: "Elo-Helled" - These Pro Players Were Held Back The Most By Their Teams

Some players perform really well individually, but their teams hold them back sometimes. Let's see what players had outstanding personal performances but were ultimately unfortunate with their teammates.

Lol Fight1
Some players were just unfortunate with their teammates. | © Riot Games

In the competitive landscape of League of Legends esports, certain players shine individually but find themselves trapped in a frustrating environment known as “Elo Hell.” These players consistently deliver outstanding performances but face the unfortunate reality of losing due to teammates not pulling their weight. Let's look into the history of some of these players and explore some examples.

League of Legends Elo Hell Happens To Pro Players Too

  • Rookie:

During seasons 5-7, Rookie showcased skills that could be compared to LPL Faker, displaying an exceptional level of individual performance. Unfortunately, his insane gameplay went largely unnoticed in the west, as the LPL wasn't as widely watched during that time.

Despite his outstanding gameplay, Rookie faced the challenge of playing with subpar teams, and as such was unable to secure any big victories and titles.

  • MadLife:

As one of the most influential players of all time and the creator of the MadLife moment, he redefined the support role back in 2012. Sadly, he was stuck on a bad CJ Entus team for most of his career, but at least he made it into Worlds finals in 2012 and won OGN once.

Thresh guide RF
MadLife was known for his insane Thresh performances. | © Riot Games
  • Bjergsen

While individually great from 2014-2017 Bjergsen was stuck in NA on Team Solo Mid. He has performed really well domestically, but never achieved anything internationally. As someone who was originally from EU, he had a lot of potential but chose to go to NA himself. It's also important to add that he choked in multiple international appearances, so he is definitely also to blame for the losses.

  • Teddy

Teddy faced multiple challenges on various different teams. On Jin Air he carried them so hard that after he left the team went on to go 0-36. When he played on Liiv SANDBOX, sometimes he was the only player to even actively look for fights and won them single-handedly…which didn't do a lot since the team dropped from 6 To 7 place. His Impact was absolutely crucial, but without him the team would in general just farm until late game and then lose due to scaling.

Can you remember any other pros that just couldn't carry their teammates? Would I be a pro player if I had better teammates? I guess we will never know.

Erik Feldengut

Erik is a writer on EarlyGame's content team, and plays mostly MOBAs, MMOs, and shooters. But LoL has had a firm grip on him for ten years....