What is Smurfing? The Weird Story Behind Online Gaming’s Secret Accounts

If you’ve ever played a competitive game online, you’ve probably encountered someone in match-making who is a little too good to be playing within your rank. Well, chances are high that you’ve just been dunked on by a smurf account. But where did these annoying pests come from? And when did people start “smurfing“? Well it all started in 1996… Written & Hosted by: Josh Bury (@ThrownGauntlet) Shot & Edited by: Miles Hackett (@MilesHackett) Illustrated animations by: Christian Pearson (@Chr_Pearson) Closed-captioning by: Sebastien Martin-Schultz Footage, Audio and Image credits: All Footage and Image properties of The Smurfs courtesy of Hanna-Barbera Productions All visual properties of Warcraft II & Overwatch courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment ScreaM smurfing clip Courtesy: A Day in The Life of a CS:GO Smurf! Courtesy: MojoOnPC IDDQD Smurfing footage