LoL Ranking System

The key to placing successful eSports bets is knowing the game well and being a decent player yourself. And knowing the ranking system of a specific game is an important part of it. If you are into League of Legends, this article is for you. Check out our overview of LoL ranking system.

In order to be ranked, you have to participate in Ranked plays. To reach a new rank, one needs to pass 10 placement matches. The system assesses the player’s performance, their wins, losses, contribution to how their team performs, and more, and provides them with a rank indicates their skill level.

A Bit of History

Up until Season 3 in 2013, LoL used the Elo rating system. Originally invented for chess, the system is now used for many sports competitions (like football or basketball) and also by many of other eSports (like CS:GO, for example). So, back then, Elo determined the rank based on how they performed and used it to allocate players to different teams for ranked matches. Players of a similar skill level would play with or against each other. Elo was different for each type of ranked games, and it took the system 5 placement matches to calculate the rank. At the end of each season, each contender got a medal for accumulating a specific amount of Elo points. LoL Elo rating was determined based on win and loss statistics in relation to other players and clearly was affected by the team’s results as well. The exact formula that was used for calculations is not known.

Today, MMR is used in LoL for match-making for all types of queues. The MMR rank is hidden, while the League System rank is public, though it is MMR that determines who you play with or against. To determine your MMR, you can take a look at how much points you get for wins. If it’s 17 to 22, you’re playing with players of a similar skill level. It is over that range, the other players have lower MMR, and if below, then the players are stronger than you.

The Drawbacks of the Current System

In 2013, the Elo system was dismissed in favor of a new one – the League System. Further on, the ranking system changed a lot to fix its flaws. One of these drawbacks is the fact that it didn’t take into account the performance of players who take on multiple roles in their team.

Here, a word needs to be said about LoL team roles. There are an attack damage carry, support, jungler, top laner, and mid laner. These players have their dedicated spots on the map, and this determines their functions, abilities and weak points in the team. A lot of characters are capable of taking on several roles, some even all of them. Some players even say that any champion can take on any role, if set up the right way. So basically, any person can find a champion, a role and a place on the map that suits their playing style.

Important Changes in 2019

So now, having considered the disadvantages of the system, Riot (the game’s developer) decided to make the following change to the ranking system of League of Legends. Basically, everything will be left as it is – during the Ranked play, players are going to do the placements matches, moving up the rating ladder. But once the first placement match is over, the player will be assigned a provisional rank.

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It is a rating that only the player themselves can see. It calculates the lowest possible rank you can get on completing all the placement games and shows you that you can get better. During the other 9 games, players are given a lot of LPs and they skip a promotion series.

Also, players need to stand in a queue for a specific role. This means it is no longer decided in the lobby.

Another important change concerns shifts in characters’ abilities and statistics as their pick rate goes up or down. Once such change occurs, the player gets extra points as a compensation, if the champion gets a buff. If the Meta character gets a decrease, the points will be deducted. This change will specifically affect those players who have a go-to champion, because they are more comfortable playing with a particular character and thus choose it more often than others.

Want more insights into League of Legends? Stay tuned to EGB’s blog and get regular updates on what’s happening in LoL and other popular eSports.