User blog comment:Commander Marko/Will matchmaking ever find true balance?/@comment-4652200-20131106023453/@comment-12314620-20131106133947

Winning 10 placement matches in a row matches you against considerably higher rated players than losing them in row, meaning winning becomes much harder. If you are active ranked player you will reach the league that reflects your skill level, though it might take some time (a few hundred games or so), since in s4 you can fall leagues (gold->silver) the biggest balance issue is already getting fixed. The "jump start" from placement matches is there simply because it prevents lowest leagues getting completely flooded and helps more competent players skip some of the frustration of playing with the worst of the worst (goes other way around as well).