Premades Don’t Break Frontline — They Broke the Illusion of the Horde Stampede

[Divinemights]

The primary reason people complain about premades is that premades shatter the illusion of the advantages the Horde Stampede provides.

The Horde Stampede feels like safety in numbers, and when it “works,” it masks:

• Poor target focus
• No cooldown coordination
• Lack of map awareness
• Ignoring objectives (nodes, ice, base defense)

In reality, the Horde Stampede meta is mostly a comfort mechanic where:

• It feels good to roll from fight to fight with 20+ players.
• It feels like you’re contributing when you’re simply in the middle of the kill feed.

Common Arguments Against Premades
NA players often say:

• “Premades ruin the fun.”
• “You shouldn’t need Discord to win.”
• “This is supposed to be casual.”
• “It’s about fairness.”

The Truth Behind These Complaints
These are often excuses that mask the cracks in how most NA players approach Frontline:

“I’m used to a low-effort playstyle where I feel successful. Premades threaten that illusion.”

While their frustration is understandable (nobody likes getting steamrolled), but banning premades is not the solution.
Premades aren’t toxic just because they win because they’re a mirror showing how little effort the average player puts into actual map mechanics.

[Eastwall]

It is frustrating losing to premade, But it would also be frustrating if you can only solo queue... So it is kinda a lose lose?

[Atreus]

Just saying, 2.0 Secure when there were 8-mans from all three GCs running around seeking each other out was the best that Frontlines ever was, and will ever be again.

[Valence]

This is a problem on all DCs.
I do agree that premades aren't the problem, the problem is what enables the gameplay to turn into what coordinated groups require and it's found at the design level.

Using derogatory statements about people being too lazy or "unwilling to put too much effort" isn't gonna help either, because you perfectly know that's not how the casual masses work in any game whatsoever. Else it's like asking casuals to follow savage strats for a fight and study them by watching 30min guides even though they won't have the actual skills to execute them anyway.

And I'm fine with the fact that putting more effort and skill into something should be actually rewarded. I think the problem is mostly a problem of scale, where the gap is already pretty huge between a good veteran FL player and the average casual player, that if you start adding all those design issues that can be exploited to generate absolute steam rolls and seal clubbing that yes, it's out of hands.

[Exmo]

Premades force horde mentality within their team. Only way to combat premades is by fighting tooth and nail to be a better horde. They turn the game into a repetitive, static slog. Ban premades.

[gidsonBrand]

This is exactly why Dark Knight succ was never "busted," why Dragoon LB was never "busted," and why Samurai LB doesn't need a change now. They were (and still can be used as) counters to a low-level strategy. All people have to do is space out a little bit. That's it. But because there's no "Flare" marker clearly stating they have to run away, people don't seem to make that connection and instead blame the game.

If 4 people can defeat 24 people, don't you think the 24 are doing something horrendously wrong?

[Divinemights]

Premades force horde mentality within their team. Only way to combat premades is by fighting tooth and nail to be a better horde. They turn the game into a repetitive, static slog. Ban premades.

You're just pushing a narrative by hijacking the conversation with the classic chicken-and-egg dilemma.
But the point of my post is to call out exactly that kind of narrative: one that scapegoats Premades as the root problem in Frontline.

Even if you banned all Premades tomorrow, nothing would change about the Horde Stampede-style gameplay we see so often in NA.
That low-effort, mindless zerging is incredibly easy to follow and gives the average casual player a false sense of success

What Premades actually do is break that illusion.
They expose how shallow and ineffective that zerg-following playstyle really is when faced with any real coordination or strategy.

So blaming Premades isn’t about solving the real issue, it’s just a convenient way to justify your own experience while ignoring deeper gameplay problems.

Let me also make my stance absolutely clear:
I do not support Premades because I’m in one.
I solo queue on Primal, both on this character and my main.
I oppose your narrative on principle, because you don’t get to dictate how others choose to enjoy Frontline, especially when it’s classified as casual PvP content.

Just because you feel frustrated by Premades doesn’t mean you have the right to force others into solo play.
And let’s not forget: even SE is now allowing players to queue with friends for Casual Crystal Conflict — a move that makes your argument against team queuing even more fragile.

[Valence]

If 4 people can defeat 24 people, don't you think the 24 are doing something horrendously wrong?

By doing something horrendously wrong, you mean not playing the same meta?

To be honest if every other casual player was a good frontliner this would definitely happen a lot less, precisely because the gap skill wise is already huge, and it's multiplicated exponentially by what the game allows to do on top of it in terms of combos, certain abilities, etc.

[Exmo]

Let me also make my stance absolutely clear:
I do not support Premades because I’m in one.
I solo queue on Primal, both on this character and my main.
I oppose your narrative on principle, because you don’t get to dictate how others choose to enjoy Frontline, especially when it’s classified as casual PvP content.

Right back at you. You shouldn't get to force everyone else to play in premades or resort to horde mentality as the only way to compete in the arms race you're perpetuating. Your entire argument is predicated on the assumption that you are not responsible for your actions or the environment you've created.

[Divinemights]

Right back at you. You shouldn't get to force everyone else to play in premades or resort to horde mentality as the only way to compete in the arms race you're perpetuating. Your entire argument is predicated on the assumption that you are not responsible for your actions or the environment you've created.

At this point, it's clear that you don't fully understand what you're talking about.
I strongly oppose the idea of using premade groups as a scapegoat
How anyone could twist that into suggesting I support forcing everyone to play in premades is beyond me.