Match 20123485
I just introduced four of my friends to the game. We played three private bot matches (easy, medium, hard), they learned some of the basics.
I intentionally didn't queue with them for their very first real player match, so they'd get a chance in the new player queue and I wouldn't drag them to my MMR level. I opted to spectate the match instead.
The match was an absolute stomp. Over in 14:54, with a 56k soul difference (93k vs. 37k). The opponents were sliding around, denying, diving towers and using actives. 37 vs. 4 kills. The opponents weren't super experienced (stopped to pick skills, shot patron for a bit before taking both shrines), but there was still a pretty massive difference.
I don't know if it's a smurfing problem, broken matchmaking or just unlucky matchup against players who are more comfortable with shooters and spent a bunch of time in bot matches, but either way it was a pretty miserable first experience for the new players.