LoL Ranks: How Rankings Work in League of Legends

In this guide to League of Legends you will learn:

• How the ranking system is structured
• How you move up or down the ranks
• What the so-called Ranked Splits are all about
• How the player shares are distributed among the ranks

These are the LoL ranks you can earn

The ranking system in League of Legends consists of several ranks, which are additionally divided into four divisions (except for the three highest ranks). Currently there are nine different ranks:

• Iron
• Bronze
• Silver
• Gold
• Platinum
• Diamond
• Master
• Grandmaster
• Challenger

The ranks from Iron to Diamond are each divided into four divisions, which are designated by Roman numerals. Division IV is the lowest and Division I the highest of each rank. Each rank has its own armor emblem, which you can even upgrade during the season with the so-called splits - more about that later. To move up from one division to the next, or to move up from one rank to the next, you have to collect League Points (LP). You'll find out how this works and how many you need in the next section.

You can earn these nice rank emblems in League of Legends.

How the rank system works in League of Legends

LoL Ranks: Ascension and Descent

To move up from your current division to the next one, you need exactly 100 LP. How much LP you receive per win or lose per defeat depends on the so-called hidden Match Making Rating (MMR). This is a value that indicates the skill of a player. The higher your MMR, the more LP you gain in a win and the less LP you lose in a loss. One of the purposes of the invisible MMR is to prevent professional players from spending too much time at lower ranks, where they can make the game hell for beginners. Depending on the MMR and the balance of a match, you can lose or gain between -20 and 30 League Points.

If you have collected 100 or more LP in your division, you will be promoted to the next higher one. Points earned above the 100 threshold will be credited directly to your new division. If you are even in Division I in your rank and break the 100-point mark, you qualify for promotion to the next higher rank.

To do this, however, you must first complete the so-called Promotion Series. This consists of five consecutive matches, of which you must win at least three. If you win three matches or more, you will start in the new rank in the fourth division with 0 LP after the fifth match. If you win only two or less matches, you will remain in the first division of your current rank. In addition, the difference in LP that you would theoretically have lost during the five matches will be deducted from your account. For the next Promotion Series, you will have to reach 100 or more LP again.

In League of Legends, you can not only move up in rank, but also down. If you lose too many games and your LP drops to 0 or less, you will be relegatedif you are in Division IV, you will drop down one division, or even lose a complete rank if you were previously in Division IV. In the new division you start with 75 LP, so you have the possibility to move up again relatively fast.

LoL Ranks: On this rank you start into the new season

In which league you start in a new LoL season depends on your LoL rank from the last season. At the beginning of each new season you will receive a so-called Provisional Rank. After your first ranked match your provisional rank will already be displayed, but only after ten completed ranked matches it will be converted into a fixed rank and displayed to other players. During this period you can only improve your rank, LP will not be deducted if you lose. If you have never played League of Legends before or you have made a new account, you will start in one of the divisions in Bronze rank.

LoL ranks: promotion bonuses, relegation protection and activity rating

In addition to the LP system, there are also a few mechanics in League of Legends that make it easier for you to climb the ranks on the lower tiers and more difficult on the higher tiers. We will briefly discuss these.

• Promo Helper: The so-called Promo Helper is a mechanic that is supposed to help you climb to a higher rank after a failed Promotion Series. If you lose in a Promotion Series, the Promo Helper will count a game as a win when you reach the next Promotion Series. So you only have to win two games in the qualification instead of three. If you fail several times in a row in the Promotion Series, the Promo Helper will even give you two wins for the next time. The Promo Helper is only available up to rank Silver I, the jump from Gold I to Platinum IV has to be done by yourself.
• Tier-loss Protection: Tier-loss Protection is a kind of puppy protection you get after advancing to a higher LoL rank. Immediately after advancement, you cannot drop below 0 LP in your first ten games (only three games after Master rank), no matter how many times you lose. This is to allow you to get used to the new skill level first. If your LP drops below zero at any point after the tenth match, you'll be relegated. Depending on how many times Tier-loss Protection has saved you from relegation, you will start at the low rank with either 25 or 75 LP.
• Activity Rating: To ensure active competition, players at the Diamond rank and above must play regularly to maintain their current rank. If you do not play ranked games for extended periods of time, LP will be regularly deducted. However, players at higher ranks can build up a small buffer of matches so they don't have to play every day. The exact number of required matches and LP loss can be found on the official LoL website.

What are the so-called splits?

Each season in League of Legends is divided into three parts (splits). Each time you win a match, you will receive 20 to 30 split points for that season's split, depending on the role you played on your team. If you reach a certain number of split points, you will receive various rewards. What does this have to do with ranks? If you collect 250 points in a split, your rank emblem will get a small visual upgrade. The helmet icon can be upgraded up to three times and looks a bit more impressive with each upgrade. However, the splits do not have a direct effect on your rank.

Those who diligently collect points during the Season-Spilts can upgrade their rank emblem.

How the players are distributed among the LoL ranks

The League of Legends ranks are a relatively good way to estimate how good you are in LoL. If you want to know more about where you stand right now, you have to take a look at the rank distribution throw. This currently [as of February 16, 2020] looks as follows for the solo queue on the EU West server:

As the table shows, the majority of LoL players in Europe have a Bronze, Silver or Gold rank. If you are also among the owners of these ranks, you are in the middle of the ranking. If you make it to the Platinum rank, you are already among the top 10 percent of all players on the EU West server. Players with Diamond rank even belong to the top 1 percent in Europe.

After Diamond, the player percentages shrink even more. This is where the LoL elite hangs out. In addition, the Grandmaster and Challenger ranks are limited to a certain number of players. On the EU West server, only 700 players have the Grandmaster rank and only 300 have the Challenger rank. If players from the lower ranks move up, the person on the lowest rank place has to vacate the place.

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