Noob Sniping, also referred to as Newb Sniping or Newbie Sniping is the action where a senior member purposefully debates mainly against new members, for the express reason that there is a statistically high chance their opponent will forfeit and thereby gain an easy win. New members who are Noob Sniped often leave the site.
Fortunately, this is prevented, as the instigator of a debate has a 25 point advantage, as the contender has a 25 point disadvantage. However, some members still manage to take advantage of accepting debates in which they know their opponent is obviously worse than them. One good example is Teemo, who is often refered by 9spaceking as the "Noob Assassin", since Teemo has gained over 4,000 elo from noob-sniping and has only lost twice, once to 9SpaceKing and another due to forfeits against ElKathebaloon.[1]
Criticisms
Noob sniping has been criticized for allegedly discouraging new members from joining the site. Some users accuse the leadarboard system of promoting this practice, but praise the new ELO ranking system for discouraging this action.