Smurfing: What are smurf accounts? Simply explained

Smurfing is a common phenomenon in the online gaming world, where a usually good player creates a Smurf account (in German “Schlumpf-Spielerkonto”) in order to play the game under another identity.

Smurfing and Smurf account: This is what it means

Smurf is the English word for “smurf” and the latter is known to use the word “smurf” for many verbs. A player with a smurf account plays under a false identity. Smurfers are often found in the leaderboards of popular games such as Counter-Strike, League of Legends or Fortnite.

• Smurf accounts can be recognised by the fact that a player often plays extremely well, even though they are unknown or have been placed far down in the rankings.
• Some also smurf to exclude newcomers (so-called “newbies”). This is especially lucrative in role-playing games like Diablo Immortal or World of Warcraft, but equally unfair to the new players.
• Smurfing is also used to flame players under other names. These trolls are particularly unpopular because they ruin the game for others.

That’s why players smurf

There are many reasons for smurf accounts besides rumbling and enrichment.\

• With smurf, you can try out tactics and techniques without dropping in the rankings or losing anything with your main account
• In addition, games can be played without being addressed as a known player. Especially with world-class players, fame can be exhausting, as many fans would rather write with you and play less
• Sometimes players also push their main account with smurfs. This means that they go into games with both accounts and give the main account advantages.
• There are even entire smurf guilds where all players make a new account and smurf together to get the above benefits.
• As long as smurf accounts do not behave abusively, you as a player cannot and do not have to do anything. In many games it is possible to create a second, third or even tenth account in just a few steps.
• If, however, a player becomes offensive through his smurfs or obtains advantages, you can usually report the player to the game’s support. For this, screenshots with time and date and chat logs will help.