🛡️ Riot Introduces "Rank Manipulation" Report in League of Legends – A New Weapon Against Smurfing & Boosting

For years, the League of Legends community has been plagued by a recurring issue: cheaters, smurfs, and boosting services. These behaviors ruin competitive integrity, create unfair matchups, and often go unpunished due to the lack of specific report categories.

Now, Riot Games is taking a concrete step forward with the release of a new report type called “Rank Manipulation.”A small change on the surface — but one that could make a big impact.

🎯 What Is Rank Manipulation?

The new Rank Manipulation report category is designed to specifically target two major offenses:

• Smurfing: High-skill players using low-ranked accounts to dominate matches unfairly

• Boosting: Players helping others climb ranks in unnatural or dishonest ways

Previously, these violations had to be reported under generic labels like “trolling” or “negative behavior,” making it harder for Riot’s systems to detect and punish them. This new feature aims to provide better reporting accuracy and faster disciplinary action.

⚖️ Why This Matters for Ranked Play

Smurfing and boosting don’t just harm individual matches — they undermine the integrity of the entire ranked system:

• New or low-ranked players face demoralizing experiences

• Matchmaking becomes inaccurate and inconsistent

• Grassroots tournaments and solo/duo ladders lose credibility

With Rank Manipulation reporting, Riot is signaling its intent to protect the competitive ecosystem, from Iron to Challenger.

📈 What’s the Impact for Players?

According to Riot, the new category will:

• Enable quicker and more precise investigations

• Deliver more relevant penalties to offenders

• Help improve matchmaking quality and fairness across all ranks

In short, players now have a more effective tool to help shape a cleaner and more balanced ranked environment.

🧠 Is This a Long-Term Solution?

It may not be perfect, but it’s a clear step in the right direction. For too long, smurfs and boosters lived in a gray area — hard to detect, harder to punish.

Now, with this new reporting tool, Riot is showing the community that it’s ready to tackle the root causes of ranked frustration.

Will it be enough? Time will tell — but for now, it’s a promising and much-needed update.