tl;dr: Stay focused, work with your team, mute the troll, report them after.

Getting into a game with a purposefully unhelpful player is super frustrating (we absolutely own that our current systems aren’t flawless, and we’re working on ways to minimize this kind of scenario). But even then, you’re still on a team with (hopefully) three other people who are playing to win. Let’s dive into some ways you can do that with a troll on your team.

Communicate

Communication can be a really effective way to pull your team together and see if it’s possible to play around the uncooperative team member. A 4v5 game is annoying, but still winnable. Keeping a cool head and working with your teammates can help you rally to a surprise victory.

It’s also worth making an effort to communicate with the troll, at least at first. Are they trying to win, just in an unusual way? That’s different from intentionally feeding or deliberately sabotaging a game; if you can find some middle ground you’ll be a lot closer to a win.

Mute them

If the troll is distracting and unhelpful, but your team wants to win, mute the player and/or their pings to keep your focus on the game.

Report the player at the end of game

Flag this player for feeding/trolling so we can try and limit their impact on other games.

Surrender

Unfortunately, some games are unwinnable. If you think this is the case and your team agrees, surrender as soon as you can. Getting out of a bad game quickly can minimize that game’s impact on your mood, and on your next game.

Queue dodge

Dodging is an option, but it does carry consequences. It’s definitely not an ideal solution, and if you dodge because you’re in champ select with a troll and get penalized, it feels really bad (something we know is a problem and have eyes on). If it looks like the game is going to be impossible to win because of a troll player, dodging is a last-ditch way to protect yourself.

Unhelpful players are a reality of the game and it definitely takes added effort to focus on victory when they’re on your team. It’s a problem we spend a lot of time and energy trying to solve, but in the absence of a perfect solution (no more trolls ever!!), keep your head up and play to win.

If you have specific scenarios you’re curious about, drop them in the comments.