How to choose duo partner
When you play League of Legends online, having a good team can make all the difference between a win and a loss. It is important that every player knows their role and how to play it within the game. The composition of the team can be one of the most important deciding factors in the overall success of the game. One effective strategy for managing your team composition is to make sure you have a proper Duo partner in the game. A Duo partner is one player who will play with you throughout the game and work closely with you toward the overall success. When you find a duo partner, you need to consider several different things to make sure they will help and not hurt your team.
Choosing a Duo Partner the Right Way
The first thing you should look for is that your duo partner will be in the same relative ranking as you are. In League of Legends, you can only queue together if you are within one rank of each other — so a Platinum player can duo with a Gold or Emerald player, but not someone in Silver or lower. The matchmaking system enforces this automatically. If there is too large a skill gap, the system simply won't allow the queue, and even if it could, the difference in game sense and mechanics would likely hurt more than help.
At the same time, you should be looking for someone who is going to communicate easily with you and this person should play the game very regularly. If you need to rely on someone, it is important that they are easily available. Sometimes, scheduling times to be online at the same time can help both players stay committed.
A good duo partner should complement your playstyle as well. The strongest duo combinations have natural in-game synergy — for example, an engage support like Leona or Nautilus pairs perfectly with an AD carry who can follow up on hard CC. A top laner playing a split-push champion works well with a jungler who can pressure two other lanes. Think about how your champions interact before you lock in, not just whether you like the person.
Something else you can consider when looking for a duo partner is to find someone you trust. Whether you know this person in real life or just online, you should be able to rely on this person when things go wrong. Finding someone you have played with and trust can help make your duoing experience much better.
Communication: Get on Voice
Voice communication is one of the biggest advantages in duo queue. While League of Legends has built-in voice chat for premade groups, most serious duo partners use Discord for better audio quality and reliability. Being able to call out ganks, coordinate dives, and discuss draft in real time gives you a real edge over two random solo players who can only ping. Set up a Discord server or call with your duo partner and make it a habit every session — it makes a noticeable difference.
How Duo Queue Differs from Solo Queue
Duo queue is not just solo queue with a friend. You effectively have one guaranteed teammate who will follow your calls and play toward your win condition — that alone can swing close games. The trade-off is that Riot's matchmaking slightly compensates for the coordination advantage, so you may face marginally stronger opponents. The key is to choose compositions where you and your partner have direct synergy, and to actually use voice communication. If you're just queuing together without coordinating, you're giving up the main benefit of duo. Used properly, it is one of the fastest ways to climb.