Pro players ImperialHal and iiTzTimmy reveal critical ranked issues and solutions for Apex Legends’ solo queue experience
The Professional Perspective on Ranked Problems
Top competitive players ImperialHal and iiTzTimmy have voiced substantial concerns about Apex Legends’ current ranked system, highlighting fundamental flaws that undermine competitive integrity.
While weapon balancing and content updates frequently dominate community discussions, these professional competitors emphasize that ranked matchmaking represents the game’s most pressing structural issue. Both players note that superficial fixes won’t address the core problems affecting competitive play.
During extensive interviews about Apex Legends’ current state, Hal and Timmy repeatedly returned to ranked gameplay as their primary concern, despite discussing numerous other improvement areas including character balancing and meta development.
Players who regularly queue with established squads and utilize three-stack strategies may experience relatively smooth progression through ranked tiers. However, this experience sharply contrasts with the solo queue reality, particularly during support-heavy metas where team coordination becomes increasingly crucial. The situation has deteriorated to the extent that some community members express relief about the game’s absence from major award nominations, viewing it as reflective of the title’s current problematic state.
Remarkably, even ImperialHal—whose professional career revolves around Apex Legends—actively avoids solo ranked play whenever possible. The potential resolution to this systemic issue might involve surprisingly straightforward adjustments to matchmaking protocols.
Three-Stack Domination and Its Consequences
Hal: “The solo queue experience is fundamentally unenjoyable. I consistently three-stack with my team, which creates a relatively stress-free environment. The game desperately needs mechanisms that allow solo competitors to participate without constantly facing the overwhelming disadvantage of encountering fully coordinated professional squads.
“One potential approach involves creating distinct matchmaking pools for solo participants, duo teams, and three-stack squads. Under this system, individual players would exclusively encounter lobbies filled with other solo competitors. While this would necessitate additional server infrastructure, players strongly dislike entering matches where victory seems virtually impossible from the outset.
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“As a professional player, I’ve attempted solo queue sessions and encountered three-stack professional teams. Despite my skill level, these matchups provide minimal opportunity for success. When I identify these squads in my lobby, my strategy typically shifts to evasion tactics until inevitable engagement occurs.”
Dexerto: This problem becomes exponentially worse for Platinum-level competitors.
Hal: Absolutely, that represents a massive systemic flaw. Other competitive titles generally avoid this particular matchmaking problem through implemented safeguards.
Timmy: “Those games incorporate queue restrictions that prevent such imbalances.”
The coordination advantage of three-stack teams creates approximately a 47% win rate increase against solo players according to community-collected data. This disparity stems from voice communication, established team chemistry, and coordinated ability usage that random teammates cannot replicate. Mid-rank players face particularly steep challenges, as they lack both the mechanical skill to overcome coordination disadvantages and the game knowledge to effectively avoid unfavorable engagements.
Proposed Solutions and Implementation Challenges
Hal: “Does League of Legends restrict queueing to maximum two participants?”
Timmy: “Once players achieve certain competitive tiers, the game prohibits team stacking entirely, forcing either solo or duo queue participation.”
Hal: “Apex Legends should implement similar restrictions. Upon reaching Diamond or Masters rank, players should face three-stack limitations or exclusive solo queue requirements. This approach would significantly improve competitive integrity.”
Timmy: “I advocate for implementing two distinct queue types: one dedicated to three-stack teams and another accommodating solo and duo participants.”
Hal: “The primary complication with extensive queue separation involves dramatically increased wait times for matches.”
Timmy: “Current player population size represents the fundamental constraint. Queue separation remains impractical until community growth occurs,” he clarified. “Future development should prioritize queue division, but immediate focus must center on substantive content improvements.”
Both competitors expressed strong opinions regarding Apex Legends’ content pipeline (or deficiencies therein), asserting that the game’s failure to attract new audiences or provide compelling reasons for lapsed players to return constitutes an even larger overarching issue.
However, regardless of content enhancement efforts, fundamental ranked system flaws will persist until developers devise solutions for solo queue improvement. Establishing genuinely separate solo queues likely represents the most effective long-term resolution.
Implementation challenges extend beyond simple queue separation. Server infrastructure would require significant expansion to accommodate additional matchmaking pools, while regional player bases vary considerably in size. Regions with smaller populations might experience queue times exceeding 10 minutes during off-peak hours under separated queue systems. Additionally, the ranked point system would need rebalancing to account for different queue difficulties, potentially implementing separate ranking ladders for solo and team play.
Practical Solo Queue Survival Strategies
While systemic changes undergo development, solo queue participants can employ specific strategies to improve their competitive experience despite current matchmaking limitations.
Communication Optimization: Even without voice chat, utilize ping system comprehensively. Mark enemy positions, suggested loot, and rotation routes. Update your inventory needs regularly to help teammates understand your capabilities.
Rotation Planning: Assume your team lacks coordination. Choose rotation paths that minimize third-party engagement opportunities. Prioritize position over potential loot, particularly during mid-game phases.
Engagement Discipline: Assess team synchronization before committing to fights. If teammates display hesitation or poor positioning, disengage rather than force unfavorable combat. Recognize when to abandon fights that lack coordinated pressure.
Character Selection: Choose legends with independent survivability. Characters like Wraith, Pathfinder, and Octane provide personal escape mechanisms that don’t rely on team support. Avoid support legends that depend on coordinated team play.
Mindset Management: Accept that some matches will be unwinnable due to matchmaking disparities. Focus on personal performance metrics rather than win/loss outcomes. Use difficult matches as learning opportunities against coordinated team strategies.
Common solo queue mistakes include overestimating teammate game sense, committing to fights without proper setup, and looting excessively during critical rotation windows. Advanced players should focus on IGL (in-game leadership) techniques, making clear callouts even without microphone communication and establishing early game direction for their random teammates.
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