Solo queue is an intimidating concept, as putting your fate in the hands of four random players you've never met can lead to some devastating results. A lot of players are scared to go into solo queue, preferring to queue with a friend to try and limit the amount of volatility in their ranked games. However, this guide is here to show you the five biggest mistakes most people make in solo queue and we have input from our star solo laner Harry "Variety" Cummings. These are five mistakes that are common in solo queue so knowing them and how to make sure you don't do them should make your solo queue experience a lot better.

1) Picking and banning gods that aren't good in solo queue

While most players pass over this phase as simply a way to decide what they're going to play, many games are won and lost in picks and bans because players don't pay attention to the variety of decisions they have to make.

According to Variety, "The most common mistake I see in the pick and ban phase in solo queue is people banning good competitive picks and not banning the good solo queue picks."

Gods like Poseidon excel at playing alone. He has lots of damage, self-setup, self-peel, and a good damage curve throughout the game

While obviously, the game itself doesn't change when you queue by yourself, the metagame definitely does. The solo queue meta priorities gods that are able to do a lot of damage but also fend for themselves, as peeling is not going to be a common occurrence. Furthermore, solo queue gods need to be able to play multiple different playstyles, as your team is not going to have a full pre-discussed strategy for you to pick a nuanced god into.

Variety also mentions, "There's a lot of gods in the game which can carry ranked games single on their own which don't get banned. The best way to avoid this is to ask streamers/watch streamers who are high up on the ladder and see what they are banning."

Banning gods that require a lot of teamwork might not be worth it, as your enemies are more likely to be playing gods that excel when played by themselves.





2) Copying SPL starts

Being most volatile phase in any Smite game, the early game probably has the most potential for mistakes in general. While the game is a lot less snowbally this season, a big mistake in the early game could still cost you the victory, especially when you don't have great teamwork or communication.

Variety says the biggest mistake you can make is "trying to copy starts which happen in the SPL. The majority of the time they don't work the same as they do in the Pro League since it often requires communication."

Pro League starts can be quite tempting, as copying pro players is a natural response to being invested in any competitive game. However, Pro League starts have as much discussion put into them as the rest of the strategy in general, so they require a fully cohesive team to pull off. Just copying one aspect of the start for your role can lead to you falling far behind.

Speaking of falling behind, that's an aspect of Pro League starts that is often overlooked. As Variety says, "Additionally, certain roles will benefit from the start and others will be behind - pro players understand the reasons why and who gets behind from it, so, therefore, it's best to just stick to the most common start."





3) Prioritising kills over objectives

As you move out of the early game and the game becomes less volatile and easier to control and manipulate, there is a temptation to try and push your lead as hard as possible by chasing kills. However, Variety believes this to be the biggest and most common mid-game mistake.

"In the mid game, I often see people going for kills over objectives which is not how you win games. Obviously kills help in getting the objectives, but sometimes people chase one step too far and it can often backfire and make you lose the game/your lead from it. The best way to fix it is to honestly just spam the VGS to go for gold and ping it."

The Gold Fury is often ignored when solo queueing out of fear of losing fights on it due to a lack of coordination. However, using the VGS to communicate with your team can usually be enough for a successful take.

Communication is your biggest issue in solo queue, so taking charge and using Smite's VGS system like Variety mentions is the best way to ensure your team is always doing the best thing. It's also important to not give into those temptations yourself. Ego plays a big part in solo queue and seeing yourself do well can lead to you making mistakes not because you mean to but just because you're blinded by your own success. Taking a step back, going for objectives and playing with your team is the best way to ensure success.





4) Getting distracted by enemy players while trying to take objectives

Map objectives are a topic within themselves and open up more avenues for making mistakes. This is especially true in solo queue when you don't have the proper communication to coordinate attacks on objectives with your team.

Variety says, "The biggest mistake I see people make when going for objectives is either going for kills, e.g. trying to kill the mage when you should just attack the tower. The objective should always be your priority, especially in Season 5 with how difficult it can be to try to break open the base."

Season 5 has made towers map objectives as well with how hard they are to take down. Focusing on the tower instead of splitting your team up in an effort to get a tower and kills at the same time is a surefire way for your strategy to break down.

The Fire Giant is a tough objective to take, so splitting off and trying to go for kills while taking it can lead to disastrous consequences. Ensuring the majority of the team is putting damage into the Fire Giant is key to making sure it's done quickly.





5) Getting picked pointlessly in the lategame

The game returns to volatility in its later phases as big damage abilities start flying around and dying means leaving your team in a full 4v5 situation for a long time.

According to Variety, "Late game, I think it's just a thing of people getting picked right before a siege or right before going for FG and because of the respawn timers being even longer late game, it makes it incredibly hard to push or do objectives, especially in a 4v5 situation. The best way to avoid it is to just sit back and play safe until your team groups up."

While death timers can be long during the mid game as well, the mid-game doesn't see both teams facing off against each other all the time. The constant teamfights of the late game mean that one person getting picked off is a serious drawback.

Once again, VGS is also your friend here. as using it to tell your team to stay together can remind them to play conservatively.





Final Words

Solo queue can sometimes feel like a 1v9 situation as you fight your team just as hard as the enemy one. However, keeping these common mistakes in mind allows you to be a step ahead of your opposition and lead your team to victory. Thank you for reading and thank you to Variety for his valuable input!