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League Tiers 2023
This page is about the currently used League system. For the previous system, see Elo rating system.

In order to match teams of players of a similar skill level to play with and against each other, League of Legends icon League of Legends uses a ranking system called the League system .[1]

The current League system comprises ten tiers that indicate the general skill level of players.
  • All apex tiers are consolidated. Tiers under those are split into four divisions each, numbered from 1 (I), the highest tier, through 4 (IV), the lowest tier.
  • Players within each division are ranked using a point system called League Points (LP).
  • Players promote and demote from tiers and divisions, based on their LP.

In the Ranked tab of the Profile screen, players can monitor their League ladder standing for all queues, as well as view the ranked split end time.

Season & Rewards[]

A season lasts almost a year and is divided into three fairly even splits. During the split, players may earn various free rewards as they participate in Ranked. At the end of each split, the ranked ladder results are tabulated and players receive additional rewards based on their final standing. Ranked accounts are incurred a soft-reset on their next split's starting ranks of about three to four divisions (with a maximum limit of Diamond I).

Players earn split points (SP) for the split by winning and losing Ranked games:

  • +10 SP for wins
  • +6 SP for losses

Split points credit towards rewards during the split and at the end of it:

  • 160 SP - Ranked Split Emote, featuring a unique prominent champion of Riot Games' choice.
  • 240 SP - Champion Permanent
  • 320 SP - Unique Ranked Split Icon
  • 800 SP - 1 Masterwork Chest
  • Minor split rewards (such as Hextech Keys and Chests) are granted inbetween the four major rewards.

The highlight of all ranked rewards is the free Ranked-queue exclusive "Victorious skin" that is awarded to competitors who have decidedly participated in Ranked games in a certain split, which comes with chromas based on the tier that the player finishes on.

  • There is one Victorious skin created and released to celebrate each split (formerly each season), and players are eligible to receive it based on an SP requirement for the split. The skin and chromas are unlocked some time after the end of a split.
The requirement differs and changes dynamically based on the player's current tier, with the threshold being Gold:
  • 1600 SP required for players ranked Silver and below
  • 80 SP for players ranked Gold and above

The previous split's regalia will be visible within a player's profile (only the highest rank will be shown per mode).

Finally, players that are currently ranked Challenger also receive an exclusive Recall decoration that features the Challenger rank crest.

Tiers and Divisions[]

Crests[]

Crests are the regalia that determine the design and coloring of ranks.

Each tier from Iron to Diamond is divided into four divisions, depicted by a roman numeral starting from IV (4 being the lowest) to I (1 being the highest).

Every division features base crest regalia, which can be upgraded as a reward based on participation in each of the three ranked splits and thus result in numerous crest combinations. For more brief showcasing purposes, the regalia shown below are in the order: division 4 base (no upgrades); division 3 + split 1 regalia upgrade; division 2 + split 2 regalia upgrade; division 1 + split 3 regalia upgrade. Note that apex tiers do not have divisions, so only the split upgrades are displayed.

Each tier from Bronze to Diamond is divided into five divisions, depicted by a roman numeral between V (5 being the lowest) and I (1 being the highest). The crest transforms along with the player's division.

Ranked Teams (3v3 & 5v5) and Ranked Solo/Duo rewards each include different sets of crests.

Banners[]

Ranked banners are honorary rewards that may supplement the background of a profile within a lobby and the loading screen, and highlight the player's current or previous split's achieved tier in the mode being played. Banners' visibility and type are customizable through the profile options.

Season 2019 features trims under the banner.

Summoner Icon Borders[]

The current rank's Ranked summoner icon border may be selected through the profile options and replaces the regular Prestige (level) icon border.

Season 2022 replaces split regalia upgrades with one consolidated winged border per tier.

The player's summoner icon is decorated with a "base border" per tier that may be upgraded based on tiers and splits with the same decorations crest regalia are given. Only the base borders are shown below.

League Points[]

The player earns League Points (LP) when they win ranked games and loses them when they lose ranked games. The amount earned or lost depends on the player's hidden Match Making Rating (MMR) relative to their rank. The higher the player's MMR relative to their rank, the more LP earned per win and the less LP lost per loss.

  • LP gains and losses are also influenced, albeit to smaller degrees, by heavy disparities between the average ranks of each team, as well as the side of the map.
For players below Emerald tier: when MMR and rank match, the baseline LP gain and loss is  ± 25.
For players in Emerald tier and above: when MMR and rank match, the baseline LP gain and loss is up to 5 points fewer than the above, on average.

Decay[]

Higher tiers have an activity score that indicates the player's play rate. Playing matches will add to this score, up to a maximum. There is a grace period for days of inactivity based on the maximum activity score, after which 1 game is removed from the score per day; if no more games are left to be subtracted, the player instead suffers decay, automatically losing LP for each day passed.

Decay Ranked Games per match Grace Period Bank Maximum Initial Bank total LP Decay loss per day
Diamond 7 28* 28 28 50
Apex Tier (Master, Grandmaster, and Challenger) 1 10 14 10 75

Notes:

  • Inactive players cannot be seen by others in the ranked ladder view.
  • Decay does not affect MMR.
  • Decay-induced demotion from Master tier will place the player into Diamond II (not Diamond I, the exact lower division).

Consolation[]

The game can detect griefing behavior, flagging players that display disruptive behavior that can be detrimental to the rest of the team. Non-griefing teammates can be compensated for LP loss in the event of another teammate displaying disruptive behavior. Consolation LP is allocated per week, and is issued to cover the loss when the player meets the following circumstances:

  • The match has resolved in Defeat.
  • Another teammate was flagged for griefing behavior.
    • Parties will not receive consolation if any party member is detected Leaver or AFK in the match.
  • Consolation LP allowance is available.
  • The match is not part of a promotion series.

Progression[]

Promotion and Demotion[]

Progress within a division is denoted by a total of 100 LP. Attaining this amount will advance the division with roll-over. Losing enough LP beyond 0 will regress the division with roll-over.

Tier promotion

Attaining 100 LP at division I will advance to division IV of the next tier, with LP roll-over. In the case that the promotion would place the player at exactly 0 LP, one point is automatically added.

Promoting into a new tier from Bronze through Master will grant the player a Demotion Protection Shield to their ranked standing. This Shield prevents demotion at 0 LP back into the lower tier, and lasts for a certain number of games (wins and losses).

The Shield for promoting into Bronze–Diamond tiers lasts for 10 games.
The Shield for promoting into Master tier lasts for 3 games.
Tier demotion

Upon demoting from a tier due to net losses, the player will be placed in the highest division of the previous tier. Their LP is set to 25, 50, or 75, depending on their MMR at the time of demotion.

  • If the player's MMR is significantly lower than the visible rank's rating, LP is set to 25.
  • If the player's MMR is significantly higher than the visible rank's rating, LP is set to 75.
  • In all other, average cases, LP is set to 50.

Players may be able to lose a few games at 0 LP in the lowest division of each tier, before finally demoting out of the tier. Tier-loss Protection may trigger and last for a certain number of games. The number of games that can be played under Tier-loss Protection is entirely based on the player's MMR, and may change from one time reaching the threshold to another as the player's MMR also changes.

When demotion from a tier may be close to occurring, a yellow warning icon will be visible on the player's ranked profile, informing them that a net of losses in the following games may result in eventual demotion; until a net of wins removes Tier-loss Protection and therefore prevents demotion.
When demotion is about to occur within the next losses, a red warning icon will be visible on the player's ranked profile.
Tier-loss Protection is not enabled for Decay-induced demotion; decaying at 0 LP will immediately cause demotion from the tier.

Placements / Provisionals[]

Entry into a ranked ladder comprises a provisional period that determines the player's rank through the end of the period. The current provisional period is 5 games total. During this time, there is no loss of LP, so players may freely promote to higher divisions/tiers upon surpassing 100 LP, with rollover. Players' provisional ranks are private (can only be viewed by them through their own profile) until the provisional period ends.

  • Players that were already ranked at the end of the previous split will receive a "soft reset" on their rank, which equates to relatively four divisions' worth of rank degradation from their finishing rank in the previous split. This new lowered rank determines the absolute minimum rank (upon going zero wins and five losses) and maximum rank (upon going five wins and zero losses) they can achieve after finishing provisionals.
  • Players that were not ranked at the end of the previous split or have recently created their account and have no ranked games played, will have their minimum and maximum rank thresholds and personal skill level determined by Normal game MMR, ARAM MMR, and Co-op vs. AI gameplay (any applicable).[1][2]

Whether a player has been ranked previously or is freshly entering a ranked mode, there are hard upper limits to all players' gains during provisionals. Note that these upper limits may be unachievable by players.

The highest attainable rank after provisional games end is Diamond III.
The highest possible amount of LP gained in the first win during provisionals is 100 LP, meaning one full division with rollover (most commonly around 40-80 LP, and 74 LP is the current baseline for first-time ranked).
It is not possible to finish placements in apex tier.

Apex Tier[]

An Apex tier comprises a single division of the most skilled and competitive League of Legends players. Each tier has a minimum LP requirement, but players must overtake each other's points to gain standing. Routinely at 23:45 UTC, players within a certain amount of positions from the top players, will be sorted into the appropriate tier.[1]
Minimum LP entry
This applies to all Regions, regardless of the ranked ladder.
  • Grandmaster: 200 LP
  • Challenger: 500 LP

Available Seats in the Apex Tiers by Region
Region Grandmaster Challenger
Europe West 700 300
North America 700 300
Korea 700 300
Vietnam 700 300
China (Ionia, the Black Rose and Demacia) 700 300
Philippines 700 300
Europe Nordic and East 500 200
Brazil 500 200
Turkey 500 200
Latin America North 500 200
Latin America South 500 200
China (All other servers) 500 200
Taiwan 500 200
Oceania 100 50
Russia 100 50
Japan 100 50
Thailand 100 50
Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia 100 50

Available Seats in the Apex Tiers by Region
Region Grandmaster Challenger
Europe West 500 200
Korea 500 200
Brazil 500 200
North America 100 50
Europe Nordic and East 100 50
Turkey 100 50
Latin America North 100 50
Latin America South 100 50
Oceania 100 50
Japan 100 50
Russia 100 50

Available Seats in the Apex Tiers by Region
Region Grandmaster Challenger
Vietnam 900 450
China 900 450
Korea 600 300
North America 500 250
Europe West 400 200
Europe Nordic and East 200 100
Oceania 200 100
Japan 100 50
Brazil 100 50
Turkey 100 50
Taiwan 100 50
Latin America North 60 30
Latin America South 60 30
Russia 40 20
Philippines 40 20
Thailand 40 20
Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia 40 20


Skill Levels[]

Patch changes are influenced by player performance in different skill levels.[3]

Average
Iron IV – Gold I
(0–90 percentile)
Skilled
Platinum IV – Diamond III
(90–99 percentile)
Elite
Diamond II – Challenger
(99–100 percentile)
Pro
Top Professional Leagues
(LPL, LCK, LEC, LCS, PCS, VCS)

History[]

This information is no longer relevant, and exists here for archiving purposes.

Two-split season[]

The season is divided into two splits, with the transition incurring a soft-reset on ranks that is lesser than the seasonal soft-reset.[4]

Introduced in V13.14 and changed to a three-split system alongside the launch of Season 2024.

What led to this decision?

We split this year's (2023) season into two splits to make Ranked meaningful across the whole year, rather than players plateauing halfway through and either leaving Ranked or switching to smurfs. With the mid-year reset behind us, more players are still playing Ranked in the current middle-of-the-year window than in previous years. By adding November and December to the season and shifting to three four-month splits, we think we'll see even more improvements.

For example, there's a subset of players who only play Ranked and nothing else. Giving them their missing two months lets them play League year-round. For everyone else, having more splits in a year also makes it easier to take a break from ranked for a few months and skip a split, since you won't be compromising a full 10-month climb as a tradeoff anymore.

Having three ranked splits also gives us three points in the year where we can make bigger changes to core gameplay without disrupting in-progress climbs. The "midseason" style patch will come at the start of the second split, responding to larger issues with season start changes and making wider game health improvements like 2022's durability patch. The third split will start with smaller changes, given proximity to Worlds and team focus shifting toward the following year's larger season start changes.

This change also starts everyone on the same page at the beginning of the year. One of the side effects of Preseason is that when January rolls around, some players have already gotten a handle on the new changes while others are experiencing them for the first time. By launching changes at the start of the year, everyone establishes the new meta together. (On that note of discovery, Season Start often falls flat for non-Ranked players who played throughout Preseason since they aren't actually getting anything new.)

Last, we think players will be excited to have the opportunity to earn three Victorious skins a year, one per split!

By moving the gameplay changes to launch alongside Ranked at the start of the year, we ensure Season Start is the most exciting time to play League, and Ranked is a more even (albeit potentially chaotic) playing field.
— Paul "RiotAether" Perscheid
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Tier Promotion[]

The best of a few matches determines promotion between tiers.

Removed in V13.14.

Since Season 3 and up until Season 2023 Split 1, tier promotion had been determined by a best-of-series. In 2023 Split 1, the series was changed from a best-of-five to a best-of-three, the first time that tier promotion was changed since its inception. After this single split, it was determined that a best-of-series for tier promotion is no longer necessary.

Promotion

Advancement into the next tier is additionally barred by a set of games called promotion series: a best of the next three matches. Winning the series will advance the player's rank to division IV of the next tier, with LP being set to 1. Failing to promote into the next tier will set LP back, based on the net amount of LP gains/losses during the promotion series.

Leaving a game in progress (going AFK) or dodging champion selection during a promotion series will issue a loss.
  • Promotion series are time-limited for tiers Platinum and above. If this set time elapses before a promotion series is completed, it is considered lost.
    • 28 days for promotion series into Platinum or Diamond.
    • 5 days for promotion series into Master.
  • Autofill is disabled during promotion series.
  • Match loss caused by server problems do not count for promotion series.
A helper win is granted in promotion series up to the Gold series, called Promo Helper.
  • Promo Helper resets upon a successful promotion, or later demotion from the current division I, after having failed a promotion series.
  • In addition, Promo Helper is not provided if the player was issued any losses due to leaving a game in progress or dodging champion selection, during their previous promotion series.


Division Promotion and Demotion[]

The best of a few matches determines promotion between divisions.

Removed in V10.23.

This information applies to all tiers that contain multiple divisions.

Promotion

Players who reach 100 LP in their division automatically start a set of games called promotion series. When promoting within a tier, these games are a best of three; When promoting to a new tier, these games are a best of five. Winning the series will advance the player's division with LP reset to 0, while failing the promotion results in a setback of LP based on the net amount gained during the promotion. Leaving a match either during champion selection or during the game itself forfeits a loss in the promotion series.

  • Match losses caused by server problems don't count for promotion series.
  • Promo Helper: Failed promotions lower than Gold I grant a free win for the next time the player enters promotion. This does not apply in the case of forfeited series.
    • The second failed promotion from one tier to another while lower than Gold, will instead grant two free wins for the next time the player enters the tier promotion.
  • Division promotions from Platinum onwards are time limited 28 days, tier promotions are instead limited 5 days (including promotion to Platinum).

In very rare occasions, players are promoted twice when they win a promotion series. This happens with players whose MMR is unusually high for their current division. For instance, the MMR of a Gold IV player who plays duo queue often with his friend in Platinum III might be unusually high because he's matched often against higher level players. As a result, his MMR can be 1 or 2 divisions higher than the average in his current division. Another reason for unusually high MMRs is queue dodging. Queue dodging carries a penalty of 3 LP for the first dodge of the day and 10 LP for further dodging, but does not decrease a player's MMR.

Since patch V4.1 it is possible, however rare, to skip promotional series. This happens with players whose MMR is one tier higher than their current placement. For example, a Gold IV player whose MMR is Platinum IV or higher is instantly promoted upon reaching 100 LP. It is possible to skip both divisions and promotional series. Series skipping is possible up to Platinum I.

Demotion

Players are demoted when they lose matches at 0 LP or through inactivity decay. Demoted players move to the next lower division and their LP is reset to 75.

Players who promote to a higher division enter a demotion immunity period that lasts for several games. The purpose of the immunity period is to prevent players from being demoted due to bad luck. However, Masters players demote after playing at least 3 games and then losing with 0 LP.

Since Season 4 it is possible to be demoted from a tier. Players in the division IV of a tier whose MMR drops an entire tier are warned about possible demotion. For example, a player in Gold IV will receive a warning upon reaching Silver IV MMR.


Positional Rank[]

Could a player's rank be diversified?

9 Jan 2019 – 13 March 2019

"We embarked on this journey because we saw a bunch of long-time Ranked players had started to burn out. That makes a lot of sense given they're doing the same thing over and over again for the same result."
Riot SapMagic, What We Heard on Ranked 2019
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On April 2018, Riot introduced plans to update the Ranked experience to address rewards structure and skill recognition. A particular high-level goal was to "Surface a diverse set of challenges throughout the season." To this end, Riot SapMagic pitched a rework to the Ranked system where a player's rank and MMR was recognized for each position; something that the concurrent Ranked system did not distinguish.

Initial feedback raised concerns of potential abuse of the new system, which then factored changes in the design.[5] To incentivize optimal play in off-role games, the system would splash LP generation into the other roles. To deter habitual lane-swaps, the MMR gap between roles would narrow based on performance over time, and Riot developed technology that could compare in-game performance with a player's assigned position. Finally, to ease the required grind in the Ranked climb, off-role ranks would be subsidized by more LP gains and Promo-Helper, in addition to broader changes in the League system that make climbing easier.

On August 2018, Riot announce that Positional matchmaking would be enabled in Normal Draft as an advanced test for the incoming Ranked system.[6] On January 2019, Riot launched Positional Ranks along with the rest of the Ranked updates.[7] With the adjustments from player feedback, the system was enabled only in the North America and Korea regions. After extensive tuning and analysis over the first split, Riot would then evaluate whether to roll out to more regions or roll back the system entirely.

On March 2019, SapMagic reports on the health of the Ranked system. Positional matchmaking showed excellent results, with increased main-role games and win-rates for off-role games, all while maintaining the same if not better queue times. For Positional Rank, player polling reported a 20-30% dissatisfaction rate in the system. The initial concerns of the tedium, low satisfaction of off-role games, and flippant investment in those games, were still prevalent despite the adjustments. SapMagic announces that the Ranked system would be reverted on March 13, maintaining players' highest Rank and respecting any season rewards acquired.

"Ultimately, we didn't feel like we could make position ranks the experience you deserve by tweaking LP splashing or making changes to promotion series. Many of you simply aren't happy with the core trade-offs of the system."
Riot SapMagic, /dev: State of Ranked
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Trivia[]

  • In Season One and Season Two, the system used a single ladder with ranking determined by an Elo rating system.
  • Season Three introduced the multiple-tier league system, with each tier having 5 divisions (except for Challenger).
  • Season Four introduced the Season 2014 - Master Master tier (with only one division).
  • Season Nine introduced the Season 2019 - Iron 1 Iron tier and the Season 2019 - Grandmaster 1 Grandmaster tier, as well as reducing the number of divisions from 5 to 4.
  • The different ranked emblems are represented by the regions of Runeterra Crest icon Runeterra.
    • Bilgewater Crest icon Bilgewater represents the Season 2019 - Iron 1 Iron rank.
    • Zaun Crest icon Zaun represents the Season 2019 - Bronze 1 Bronze rank.
    • Piltover Crest icon Piltover represents the Season 2019 - Silver 1 Silver rank.
    • Shurima Crest icon Shurima represents the Season 2019 - Gold 1 Gold rank.
    • Ionia Crest icon Ionia represents the Season 2019 - Platinum 1 Platinum rank.
    • Targon Crest icon Mount Targon represents the Season 2019 - Diamond 1 Diamond rank.
    • Void Crest icon The Void represents the Season 2019 - Master 1 Master rank.
    • Noxus Crest icon Noxus represents the Season 2019 - Grandmaster 1 Grandmaster rank.
    • Demacia Crest icon Demacia represents the Season 2019 - Challenger 1 Challenger rank.

Season 2024 Dev blog[]

Fine-Tuning The Ranks

In 2023, we observed that many players were experiencing frequent negative LP gains. Specifically, in the Emerald to Master tiers, approximately 50% of players were encountering negative LP gains (+21/-29). In the Master+ tier, this percentage was even higher, around 80%. This trend arose from our earlier decision to boost LP gains, which was aimed at making promotions more attainable. However, it soon became apparent we hadn't corrected for the gains well enough, leading to an inflation of ranks for numerous players over time.

To resolve negative LP gains and improve match quality, we made several adjustments during 2024's first split. Here are some as a recap:

  • Fixed an occurrence where Iron IV players were being placed in Iron II
  • Fixed negative LP gains affecting Diamond I players
  • Reduced the LP gains/losses from 28 > 25 below Emerald to decrease inflation
  • Adjusted edge case handling around demotions (some players not being demoted properly)
  • Ceased placing new Ranked players into Platinum (if they were playing Normal games)
  • Implementing 50 LP demotions to decrease inflation
  • Reduced queue times below Silver by 40%
  • Made ranks within your team closer together by 40% in games below Silver
  • Adjusted how players who play ARAM, Bots, and Normals are initially seeded into Ranked (~average Silver IV, but can be as low as Iron IV and as high as Gold III)
  • …and ~10 more bug fixes, tunings, and adjustments
Starting Where You Should

With the new three split system, Apex players are experiencing more fatigue when re-climbing to their previous ranks, as they need to climb further than other players. To address this, we're increasing the max rank that players can be placed after provisional matches from Emerald I to Diamond III. We're continuing to work on seeding and placement tech to get players into the right spots as soon as possible, but with the adjustments made this season we believe that reaching the rank you deserve will be faster on your main account than it will be with a new account. Where we want to be with placements is: If you're a player who were to create a new account and play normally, you should be able to do that and be matched with players of the correct skill level.

However, the integrity of the Ranked system is still very important to us. If you're a player who wants to make a new account, run it down, and beat up lower-ranked players for fun, we want to detect and ban your account. If you are a high-ranking player who wants to run up accounts to high ranks and sell them, we want to go after those, too. We're exploring opportunities with newly implemented tools that will be able to quickly and confidently identify who these accounts belong to. Our goal is to get manipulated accounts out of the path of legitimate players faster.

Making Demotions Dynamic

Getting demoted to 50 LP when dropping divisions (eg. Silver II to Silver III) felt pretty bad, but was an emergency lever we needed to pull to keep inflation under control while working on a better solution. This split we're removing that drop and making demoting between divisions more fluid by moving your LP smoothly between divisions. So basically, if you lose at 10 LP and lose 25 LP, you will move to 85 LP in the division below.

Demoting between tiers (eg. Silver IV to Bronze I) will still have protection as we want to give players an opportunity to protect the rank they've earned. However, this does come with a slight adjustment: when you demote down a tier, you will demote to either 25, 50, or 75 LP depending on how far off we determine your actual skill level is. If you're exactly a Gold IV 0 LP player, you'd be going through a lot of promotions and demotions each season, so we don't want to slap you with a -50LP each time you go through that.

On the extreme end, if we've drastically misplaced a player too high (eg. if they hop into Ranked when we don't have much information on them, our Ranked seeding is off or there's a bug), then demoting to 25 LP is intended to let a player have their visual rating catch up quicker than how it worked in Split One. We understand that might feel frustrating to players, but this is only meant to happen in extreme situations and will result in the player reaching their actual rank much more quickly. This creates a much better experience than slowly and painfully suffering a +15 LP / -35 LP until their rank and skill are aligned. Overall, we expect these changes to demotions to result in players having a smoother experience in all ranks, but—as always—we'll be keeping an eye out for player feedback.

The Return of Master Duo

In 2021, we removed the ability to queue duoed in Master+. And while this improved some aspects of match quality (queue times and match fairness), it has also made playing League in Apex tiers more isolating and hurt content creators. We want to support those who play Ranked League as a social competitive experience.

Having said that, we also want to value competitive integrity. Duoing in the highest sections of the ladder can cast doubt on the legitimacy of Rank 1 and make queue times extremely long. It is extremely difficult to find a fair match when Gumayusi and Keria are duoing, while also trying to respect role preferences.

Therefore, in an effort to strike the best balance between competitive integrity, queue times, and social play, we're moving the duo queue cutoff up from Master to Grandmaster. We think including duos in Master will allow more players to hit the Rift with friends while still protecting the competitiveness of the highest ranks.

We'll be piloting these changes in all regions except for China and Korea. Different regions have communicated different sensibilities around where that balance point is, and players in China and Korea have presented as significantly more divided on bringing duos back than elsewhere. We'll be listening closely to players in those regions to ensure we've landed in the right spot, but are open to re-enabling Master Duo Queue in those regions as well if that's what we hear from players.

The Climb Continues We still have a lot of work to do on Ranked and matchmaking. We're still working on ways to better optimize on-role vs off-role balance, we're continuing to improve seeding for Ranked-starters and new players, we're investigating how to get alt accounts out of the way of legitimate new players, and we're looking out for how to better handle Ranked eligibility requirements and further optimize queue times.

We'll share more on these as we continue to explore these spaces, and hope that the changes we've made so far have made a meaningful step at improving your Ranked experience.

Good luck and have fun in Split Two!


Season 9 Ask Riot[]

How are positional ranks going?

We've had a crazy week since position ranks launched, but overall we feel cautiously optimistic. Queue times, position assignment rates, and game quality overall are the same or better than last season, and we've seen positive feedback from players who appreciate being able to branch out and play something they aren't as good at yet. We've also seen plenty of constructive feedback. Based on that, here are the three biggest topics on our minds right now:

  • Swapping — Last week we patched a bug that let players take advantage of position swapping at high MMR. Going forward, we need to continue watching for potential abuse cases like this to ensure the systems we built to mitigate bad behavior are working properly.
  • Incentives — LP splashing is intended to be an incentive in two ways. First, you earn bonus LP for your main position when you win autofill games, which should feel good since it's still less punishing if you lose. Second, if you're throwing matches or it looks like you're not bringing your A-game, negative splashing—which affects your main position—should quickly get larger and raise the stakes. We're looking at how we can improve the effectiveness of those incentives.
  • The Grind — We're keeping a close eye on players who play a lot of different positions to determine whether we need to adjust splashing or rewards. We're already planning some changes to promotion series that should help Fill players as well.
How does decaying work with the new position ranks? Will you decay for positions you haven't played recently, or are your ranks safe as long as you are playing one position?

Decay hasn't changed too much for position ranks. Here are the rules:

  • Decay now starts at Diamond IV rather than Platinum IV
  • Each position that is eligible for decay has its own decay timer
  • When you play a position, we reset the timer for that position and every position with a lower rank

Decay rules for Master+ are unchanged from last season:

  • Each game you play in Master, Grandmaster and Challenger tier is stored as a “banked game,” up to a maximum of 10
  • Each day, 1 banked game is removed from your reserves
  • When your banked games reach 0, you'll lose 100 LP per day until you bank more games
  • Wins and losses both count toward banked games; all that matters is that you play
Why is the position ranks queue only in 2 regions?

With position ranks, we're interested in how satisfying off-position games are, how effectively splashing deters bad behavior, and whether players value having a more accurate view of their skill. We can't get a clear read on most of those without players getting hands-on experience during the season.

At its core, position ranks is a pretty huge change. We're taking steps—like tracking both position ranks and current ranks in all regions—to ensure players don't lose progress if we have any issues, technical or otherwise, but we still believe it's responsible to roll out the feature carefully so we can react to feedback before getting it in everyone's hands.

Why can't we choose a role we don't want to play?

Over the years, we've experimented with a couple of alternative position select systems, including one where you could “veto” a position. Essentially, it ended up sucking because everyone chose to veto Support, which lowered matchmaking quality and increased queue times dramatically.

Autofill was introduced as a last resort way of ensuring people don't sit in queue for a ridiculously long time. We try to avoid autofilling you if we can, but the design challenge here is striking a balance between you getting to pick your position, not having infinite queue times, and getting fair matches. Currently, the only way autofill wouldn't be necessary is if each position had an equal amount of demand—20% of players—literally all the time. This is a tricky thing to get right, but we're going to continue looking for ways to get you the position you want and make every game feel winnable.

Have you ever thought about letting people hide their ranks so others can't see them on their profile?

We get requests like this from time to time, but the answer is: Probably not.

Ranked is meant to be a public, head-to-head competition where players are measured against each other. It's a mode that players use as a way to know how good they and their friends are at the game. Making rankings and matches public for anyone to see is an important part of reinforcing that.

How does the provisional system work? Because I won more games than my friends in placements and got placed in bronze 1, and they all got placed in silver. But I used to be in silver last season.

During placements, we consider a few pieces of information: your past rank, your MMR, and your win-loss record.

When you play your first game of the season, we give you a provisional rank based on where you ended last season—you should expect it to be about a tier lower. Then, during the rest of your placement games, your LP gains and losses will largely depend on your MMR and your record against the teams you face.

Any or all of those variables could be different from one player to the next, and if they are, that could explain why you got a different result. You've got this though; good luck on your climb—I'm sure you'll be Gold in no time!


Season 4 FAQ[]

How do ranked leagues work?

There are five divisions (V through I, with I being the highest) and six tiers (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond and Challenger).

After you play your initial placement matches*, the system will place you in a specific tier and division based on your results. From there, you'll have to climb the ladder by winning matches and improving. Win ranked games and you'll gain League Points (LP), while losing in ranked loses you LP. If you're already at the bottom of your division, this may mean dropping to the previous division.

  • If your match is protected by Loss Forgiveness, the outcome of the match will not be counted toward your placement. However, it will take up a placement match. If you play 10 placement matches and one of them is protected by Loss Forgiveness, you will be placed based on the outcome of the other 9 matches.

Each time you hit 100 LP within your division, you'll qualify for a promotion series best-of-three. Beat that and you'll promote yourself to the next division. If you hit a promotion series when you're in division I, then you'll qualify for a larger promotion series best-of-five. Beat that series and you'll move on to the next tier!

You're briefly protected from falling to a lower tier after your promotion, but you can still fall back down into lower tiers if your MMR falls significantly after this period of protection.

What changes have you made to ranked leagues in 2014?
  • Temporary shields will stop players from dropping into a lower tier immediately. Last season, you couldn't be demoted to a lower tier unless you didn't play ranked games for a long time. This season, we're giving players who are promoted into division V a temporary shield that stops them from dropping into a lower tier for 10 games. If their MMR falls more than a full tier below their current tier once those 10 games are over, they'll get a warning on their profile. For example, a Gold V player with a Silver V MMR would get a warning. Continuing to lose games at 0 LP gets them demoted to division I of the next lowest tier – in our example, Silver I.
  • LP gains are now more consistent through all divisions and tiers except for in Diamond I. Small LP gains are necessary in Diamond I to ensure that Challenger represents only the most elite players and is always highly accurate.
  • We've also increased the solo/duo queue Challenger pool from 50 to 200. The skill gap between players at 0 LP and 100 LP in Diamond I is super wide, so there's a jam of extremely skilled players vying for Challenger at the top of Diamond I. We want to ease some of that pressure and recognize more players by increasing the number of spots in Challenger tier.
Can you walk me through an example of how the league system works?

Sure. A player completes his placement matches and is placed into Silver III. He's then placed into the Katarina's Assassins league with up to 250 other Silver tier players because he's already got three friends who are competing there. Based on their skill level, these 250 players are evenly distributed across the five Silver tier divisions, so his league contains around 50 players in each division. When he acquires 100 LP through ranked wins, he gets to play a division series to move up to Silver II. If he were already in Silver I, he'd be entered into a promotion series to break into Gold V.

How does my preseason ranking determine my initial seeding?

Our system will determine your 2014 season starting tier and league through a combination of your preseason ranking and your placement matches (five ranked team games or 10 solo/duo games).

Will I only be matched against opponents in my league?

Nope. Matchmaking isn't affected by your league, so you'll compete against opponents of various skill levels. Your league indicates your progress against a set of opponents who're similar to you in skill level, but it doesn't restrict competition solely to those in your league.

What if I want to see how I measure up against my friends?

The league system will always try to place you in a league with players on your friends list as long as they're in the same skill tier (e.g., Silver). If you want to check your ranking against a friend in another league, you can compare your tier, division and LP to get a general idea of who's closer to the top.

What determines how many league points I gain from winning a match?

There are numerous factors, but if your competitors are generally ranked higher than you, you'll gain more LP for victories (and lose less from losses) and trend upwards even with a 50/50 record. If matchmaking favors your opponent, you'll gain more LP than normal if you pull off the upset. The opposite is also true.

This is generally true up until you hit Diamond I because we want to ensure that Challenger standing is highly accurate and represents only the very best players. At Diamond I, you may notice significantly slower LP gains so the system can match your MMR to the MMR of Challenger players. This means that even with 99 or 100 LP, you won't necessarily hit your promo series, but they will trigger once your MMR reaches Challenger levels.

What happens to my accumulated league points if I'm defeated in a division or promotion series?

You'll lose LP relative to how you performed in the series, so you'll lose more LP if you tanked your promotion series pretty hard. You'll generally find yourself somewhere between 60-90 points following an unsuccessful series.

What happens if I transfer my account to another region?

You'll need to play one placement match to be reseeded into a new league. Keep in mind that your new league could be different from the one you were in before, as it will be based on the MMR distribution on the new server. Hit up our Account Transfer FAQ for more info.

What happens if I stop playing ranked for a while?

After 28 days of inactivity in a particular ranked queue, a couple things will happen. First, you'll be hidden from the standings in your League. You may also lose LP depending on your current tier. Every seven days thereafter, you'll lose LP until you play a match in that queue.

The number of LP lost following each period of decay is as follows:

  • Diamond: 50
  • Platinum: 35
  • Gold: 25
  • Silver: 10
  • Bronze: 0

If you fall below zero LP as a result of decay, you'll be placed into the next lowest division. If you're already in division V of your league, you'll fall into a new league in the next tier down (for example, Gold V to Silver I).

tl;dr: don't take a break from ranked for too long :)

How do Demotions work?

When you lose a match with 0 LP, there's a chance that you may be demoted down to the next lowest division (for example Division IV to Division V), or even drop down a tier (for example from Silver to Bronze). Whether or not this happens depends on your hidden MMR, which is compared against the lowest average MMR rating of your division and tier.

When you reach a new division, you are protected from demotion for three games before you're in danger of demotion. When you reach Division 5 of any tier, you are protected from demotion for ten games.

We have implemented a warning system to indicate when you are close to dropping a tier. You will receive a soft warning when your MMR falls below your tier's lowest MMR value, and a sterner warning when the gap increases.

Further losses beyond this point will result in a tier demotion to division 1 of the next lowest tier with either 25 or 75 LP, depending on your MMR at the time of demotion.

How do I make sure no one steals my team name?

Your team name isn't locked down until your team finishes five placement matches and gets officially seeded. If you don't want anyone to snipe your awesome team name, please finish the placement matches.

I just hit my promo series. How long do I have to complete it?

You have 28 days from the day you hit your promotion series to complete the entire series. This time limit doesn't refresh every time you play another game in the series; you've gotta finish all three (or five) matches within 28 days. For promotion from Diamond I to Challenger, you've only got five days total!

What's the penalty for queue dodging in ranked under the league system, and why's there a penalty?

The first time you queue dodge in ranked solo/duo, you'll lose three LP and receive a six-minute matchmaking ban. If you've already queue dodged recently, successive dodges will cost you 10 LP and a 30-minute ban from matchmaking. For teams, the penalty is always 10 LP and a one-minute matchmaking ban.

Why? We want to penalize chronic queue-dodgers without affecting the matchmaking ecosystem. The three LP penalty is intentionally light so players who dodge to escape a potentially toxic situation aren't punished as severely. However, the subsequent 10 LP penalties are targeted at players who queue dodge to game the system by only playing when they have a favorable match-up. Because queue dodging wastes a lot of time and frustrates players more than failed flashes, we want to discourage people from dodging except in extreme circumstances.

How are leagues named, and how do I get a new league name?

League names are purely cosmetic and are created by randomly pairing a champion's name with an appropriately epic plural noun. Some examples include Katarina's Assassins, Twisted Fate's Shadows and Vi's Brawlers. You can't change your league name or switch to another league; however you may change leagues when you move up or down into a new tier (e.g., Silver to Gold). If you happen to drop a division, you will go back to the League you were in earlier rather than a random one.

We'd like to assure you that no champion, living or undead, human or yordle (except The Great Warlord Teemo), receives special treatment on the basis of race, gender, species, political allegiance or extra-dimensional origins. Riot Games is an equally opportunity league-namer.

What are emblems and how can I get one?

Emblems call out certain players and teams in the League standings. There are currently three you can earn:

  • Recruit: you joined this League within the last 14 days
  • Veteran: you've played over 100 games in this League
  • Hot Streak: you've won three or more games in a row in this queue

You'll earn an emblem immediately after you meet the criteria and lose it as soon as it's no longer relevant. While there aren't any gameplay benefits to picking one up, they're fun and they call out significant accomplishments to make you feel special. You'll find your emblems displayed by your summoner name in your league standings.

How does the Challenger tier work?

Only the most elite players and teams in a region will make it into the Challenger tier. Membership in this tier is more strenuously regulated and competition works a little differently:

  • Challenger has no divisions. There's just a single league with all the Challenger tier competitors.
  • Once the Challenger tier is full and a new competitor is promoted to Challenger, the Challenger player with the lowest LP (or team, in the case of 5v5 and 3v3 queues) will be demoted to Diamond I to make room for the new competitor.
  • Challenger tier competitors will be flagged as inactive after only seven days. Inactive players and teams will be the first to be demoted if another player or team is promoted to Challenger.
  • There's no upper limit on LP. Players and teams that continue winning will keep earning LP and increase their lead in the standings.
  • The top 5v5 teams can participate in the 2014 Coke Zero Challenger Series.
  • When a player or team enters Challenger Tier, they cannot be removed from Challenger Tier for seven days. Once this seven-day grace period has ended, normal Challenger rules apply and the player(s) must fight to maintain their spot in the tier.
Can I go pro if I reach the top of the ranked team or solo/duo queue Challenger tier?

Maybe! Stomping the competition in ranked solo/duo queue won't qualify you for the LCS, but it's a recruitment tool for pro teams. Your 5v5 ranked team has a shot at the Coke Zero Challenger Series if your team reigns among the top 20 in Challenger tier.


Season 3 FAQ[]

Why are we creating a new league system?

We decided to move to the new league system for a few reasons. For starters, having a single ladder with all ranked players doesn't provide a lot of incentive for advancement. When you're ranked 290,000 and have 289,999 opponents left to pass on the way up, that process can seem meaningless and interminable. Tiers and divisions also provide milestones and manageable goals you can strive to achieve at your skill level. Through leagues we can move away from focusing on a single number as the core indicator of a player's skill, and instead move toward something more compelling: competition on a small ladder with a relatable number of opponents.

What happens if I lose a ranked match in the league system?

Losing a ranked game in the league system will cost some of your League Points. If you're already at the bottom of your division, this may mean falling back to the previous division . Once you've earned a skill tier, however, you can never be demoted to the previous tier unless you stop playing for a prolonged period of time. In other words, losing can never cause you to fall below 0 League Points in the lowest division of your league.

Once I'm placed in a league, what happens to my Elo?

Our matchmaking system still matches you by skill level, but this “rating” is no longer visible and does not have any bearing on your seasonal rewards or ladder standing. Your standing in your league is now determined by your tier, division and League Points, not your matchmaking rating.

How does my ranked Elo determine my league placement?

If you've played at least five ranked team games or 10 solo/duo games in the preseason, a combination of your current and top Elo rating will determine the tier of the league you initially earn.

How will I be placed into a league if I didn't play ranked during the preseason?

If you haven't played enough ranked matches in the preseason, you'll first complete a series of placement matches before being sorted into a league. How you perform in these matches will determine the tier of the league you initially earn.

Will I only be matched against opponents in my league?

No. Matchmaking isn't affected by your league, and you'll still be competing against all opponents of your skill level in the League of Legends community. Your league measures your progress against a set of opponents of similar skill level, but doesn't restrict competition solely to those players.

What if I want to see how I measure up against my friends?

The league system will always try to place you in a league with summoners on your friends list first, provided they're in the same skill tier you are. If you want to check your ranking against a friend in another league, you can compare your tier, division, and league points to get a general idea of who's closer to the top.

Do I have to duo queue with summoners from my League?

No. In ranked solo/duo you can still queue with any summoner you choose, regardless of the tier, division, or league in which they're placed.

Will I have the opportunity to go pro if I reach the top of the ranked 3v3 or solo/duo Challenger tier?

Although there are no League of Legends Championship Series events for 3v3 or solo/duo competitors, reaching the challenger tier in these rankings will help you find other top notch summoners to play with. If you're interested in making a run at the Championship Series, try messaging some fellow Challenger tier competitors who aren't attached to a current 5v5 ranked team. You'll probably find you have plenty of potential comrades to help you pursue your dream.

Can you walk me though an example of how the league system works?

Sure. For the sake of illustration, let's take the hypothetical (and non-existent) player Steve McQueen. Steve completes his placement matches and falls into division three of the Silver tier. He's then placed into a league with up to 250 other Silver tier players. Based on their skill level, these players are evenly distributed across the five Silver tier divisions, so Steve's league contains around 50 players in each division. When Steve acquires 100 League Points by winning ranked games, he'll have the opportunity to play a Division Series to move up. If he were already in division one, he'd get to play a Promotion Series to break into a new league in the Gold tier.

I'm wondering what happens if you lose your division or promotion series best of three or best of five. Do you lose all your current league points and start over, or is it a relatively quick process to try again?

It's not a big deal if you lose a division or promotion series. You'll simply end up back in the ladder rankings with say, 60-90 LP (depending on how the series went) and there's nothing preventing you from qualifying for another series quickly.

What if no one in your "league" is on at 4am... That mean you cant play ranked?

You can still be matched against anyone else who's playing ranked at that time, even if they're in a different league, division, or tier. So you shouldn't have any trouble finding matches at 4 AM.

If you cannot drop tiers does that mean you will continue to be matched with the people at the bottom of your tier no matter how many times you lose afterwards? And if so do you have a system implemented in order to resolve elo boosting and/or getting lucky in your placement matches and then continually underperforming in a tier you don't belong in?

Matchmaking will continue to match you based on a hidden MMR (matchmaking rating) that's tracked behind the scenes. If you are continually losing matches at the bottom of Gold tier, you'll start to play against Silver players even though you're in a Gold league.

There are a lot of checks and balances that must be passed before you can move up a tier, so we don't think that it will be common for players to be in this situation (with the exception of something like Elo boosting, which we'll be continuing to address).

Will our elo be resetting then?

We won't be resetting ratings, no. Players and teams will be seeded into a league based on a combination of their current and top ratings from the preseason. If you didn't play enough games in the preseason, then you'll be placed into a league when you finish your tenth game (or fifth game for a team).

When you upgrade divisions will you start with 0 league points or like 50 or something?

You start with 0 LP, yes, but there's a grace period where it's impossible to be demoted for the first few games in the new division, so losing won't really cost you anything. You can look at it as a time to relax for a bit after successfully getting through a division series.

Seems like you can game the system by throwing a ton of games after each time you go up a skill tier, and then proceed to pubstomp your way to the next skill tier. Please tell me this has been considered already.

If your hidden matchmaking rating (MMR) is far below where it should be for your current division, you will gain LP much more slowly. Similarly, if for some reason your MMR is far above where it should be for your current division, you will gain LP more quickly. Throwing games will not help you out in this system. It's always better to win the game you're playing, regardless of if it's part of a division series, or if you've just been promoted, or if it's just a typical game in the middle of the division standings.

It could also mean that I'll be matched AGAINST my friends if they're in the same league, which is not exactly a nice experience imo. Unless the matchmaking tries to pair us together if we're playing at the same time or something.

Leagues don't affect matchmaking. You can still be matched against anyone in the entire system, so being in the same division as a friend just allows for some friendly banter and competition. It doesn't mean you will play with or against them more often (unless of course, you duo queue).

Can the promotion/division series be done with other people (random or from league) doing such series?

It would be nice to have a shared goal, and maybe force players to work together a lil more. It won't work this way at launch but it's high on our list of possible post-launch improvements. We agree that it could be pretty awesome to only match people who are in a series together so that everyone has the same stake in the match outcome. It'd be difficult to do this in Diamond without slowing down matchmaking significantly, but it should be very doable for the other tiers.

For now, we won't be telling anyone else that you're participating in a series, so it's up to you if you want to let people know or not. We look at it as being similar to starting a game at 1490 Elo in the previous system, where you know that you'll get to Gold if you win, and other players in the match aren't necessarily in the same boat.

Would duo q'ing with someone of a higher tier give you more League Points than Solo Q?

No, duo queuing with someone who's in a higher tier wouldn't give you more LP. It's based on the expected win percentage of your team in the matchup, and the fact that you're in a lower tier than your opponents would be offset by the fact that you have a higher tier player on your team as well.

What's the main difference between this new system and the SC2 system?

There are certainly similarities, but in designing this system we focused on certain goals we felt were under served in in SC2 and in LoL seasons 1 and 2.

  • Clear short, mid, and long term goals
  • The ability to understand how promotion works and when it happens
  • Exciting series matches similar to the playoff games you see in LoL pro play
  • Communities of players competing to rise in the ranks
If there's only one league at the top, to qualify to move into it, do you have to knock someone out of it? Or is it adaptive and expands in size?

If you move up into Challenger Tier then you knock someone else out. Once you've reached that level of badassery, you've got to fight to keep it. This is the only League where that will be the case.

What is the difference between League, Ranked and Normal games in these new system?
How do they work together?
Ranked and League will be two different queues?

League and Ranked are the same thing. The old ladder structure (the singular ranked list of everyone that plays ranked LoL, sorted by Elo) is now going to be replaced by Leagues of similarly skilled players.
Normal games will continue to be exactly the same as before.

Are the division and promotion matches consecutive? Or can you just play one, go eat dinner and watch a movie, come back a few hours later and play another match in the best-of-three/best-of-five (like ELO placement matches)? Or is it like competitive play where you play games until there is a majority winner? (This might mean 3-4 hours of consecutive play).

You aren't required to finish them right away; you will have a very generous window of time to complete your series (multiple weeks), before you are no longer eligible to be promoted. Though we want to bring you the intense feeling of a tournament game, we know people have things to do, dinners to eat, and swimming pool fires to put out.

If someone is in a promotion series what prevents them from repeatedly dodging until they enter a game they have a high chance of winning?

If you queue dodge during a Division or Promotion Series then the series will immediately be canceled and you'll have to re-qualify for the series by winning another game. It might sound harsh, but queue dodge rates in ranked are honestly too high right now, and we're not interested in having some players carefully micromanaging their series matchups at the expense of everyone else's queue times and failed lobbies.

What are the penalties if I dodge a ranked game?

A time penalty preventing you from searching a new game for a certain amount of time. This time starts at 5 minutes and is increased by 30 more minutes to a 1 hour cap for every following queue dodge that day.
A League Points penalty is applied to the player who dodges, 3 points for the first time and 10 for the second time before the timer reset.

Media[]

Related Videos


References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ranked FAQ
  2. X — Riot Phroxzon on first time MMR seeding
  3. Champion Balance Framework
  4. LeagueOfLegends.com — /dev: Ranked Schedule Changes
  5. Riot SapMagic. (2018, June 15). /dev: Addressing Your Feedback on Ranked for 2019. nexus.leagueoflegends.com
  6. Riot SapMagic. (2019, Jan 17). /dev diary: Position Ranks Explained. nexus.leagueoflegends.com
  7. Riot SapMagic & Riot Gortok. (2019, Jan 17). /dev diary: Position Ranks Explained. nexus.leagueoflegends.com
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