Ever wondered how the League of Legends Ranking system works? Read this Article to the end to find everything about Matchmaking Rating (MMR), League Points (LP), and how the League of Legends Ranking system works.

Which rank a League of Legends player is placed in depends on two different ranking systems. Players are familiar with League Points, but there’s also a hidden Match Making Rate, popularly known as MMR.

MMR is something that used to be a lot more accessible to players in League’s earlier seasons; however, the situation changed since the introduction of LP. Not even third party websites can give accurate information about players’ MMR, so there’s no obvious way of knowing it.

Also read: What is Lethality in League of Legends and how does it work?

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What is MMR?

MMR is a very broad term that is not exclusive to League of Legends by any means, and it stands for Matchmaking Rating. It is a value that determines the skill level of each player. This value is used in matchmaking and team selections in multiple online games. Winning usually increases the MMR, and losing decreases it.

In simple terms, it is a number that tells the system where you stand amongst other people. MMR is usually used to identify people and put the people of the same MMR in the same match, therefore making the game even.

How does MMR work?

MMR is used to determine the skill level of a player, and it’s what matchmaking is based on. This is true for all game modes, including both ranked or normal. In ranked, silver players can find themselves playing with gold or bronze players, even though it might seem that they shouldn’t be based on their division and LP. This is due to their MMR.

The works and calculations of MMR have not been made public, but MMR’s concept is straightforward. 

Here’s how MMR works:

If you win games, your MMR increases, and if you lose games, your MMR decreases. 

League of Legends’ system will see that you have lost ten games in a row and understand that you do not belong in that area, and it will push you to a lower region where you will meet people of your skill level and have a fair game. Similarly, if you have won 10 games in a row, League of Legends will understand that the games are way too easy for you and that you are better than your current level; thus, it will push you up so that you can be matched with players of your own skill.

The MMR works for both normal games and ranked games, and both usually have a similar number. This is why you will often be playing against enemies with a similar rank as your team, even in normals. The game remains balanced this way, and you will not end up seeing a Diamond player in a game filled with Bronzies, because well, that is just unfair.

MMR is used to make sure everyone has a fair game. League of Legends adds up the teams MMR and tries matching against another five players who have the same total. This way, the match remains balanced even if the ranks are different. You can have 1 Challenger and 4 Diamonds go against an all Grandmaster team because even though it does not look fair, the total MMR is equal and shows that the balancing is equal.

League Points

What is LP?

League points (LP) determines players’ ranked divisions. Players can be placed in Iron, Bronze, Silver, and Gold ranks. Ranks lower than master each have four divisions, while higher ranks are single-tier ranks reserved for only the very best players and solely depend on LP. These points are earned through wins and taken away for losses.

Players need to earn 100 LP to get an opportunity to climb a division. Once 100 LP is earned, they need to win most of the matches in a promotional series to reach the next level. On rare occasions, players will skip a division, but this highly depends on their MMR. The opposite happens as well but isn’t quite as rigorous. Once a few matches are lost at 0 LP, players will be demoted.

LP is the +20 you see after winning or the -18 you see after losing every game, and when you combine LP and MMR, you create the League of Legends Ranked system.

How do MMR and LP work together?

LP couldn’t work without MMR. In fact, the exact amount of LP gained or lost after a ranked game depends on MMR. Not only is the MMR of the player in question taken into consideration, it’s also the MMR of both teams that participated in the game and the average MMR of the player’s division.

All of these metrics are taken in mind to calculate if a player competes with players of an appropriate skill level. If they do better than their division on average and win games against teams with higher MMR, they will gain more LP as the system will push them towards a higher rank, one that it thinks the player more appropriately belongs in. Likewise, a player who’s struggling to win against weaker teams and other players within their rank will lose more and more LP until they’re demoted to a more accurate skill rank.

• The higher the MMR, the higher the LP you gain, and the lower the MMR, the lower the LP you gain.
• The higher the MMR, the lower the LP you lose, and the lower the MMR, the higher the LP you lose.

This explanation is a little bit confusing, isn’t it? Allow me to explain:

To simplify, if you are gaining 30-40 LP per win, League of Legends thinks you are in a lower elo than they expect you to be in and are trying to push you to reach your deserved elo faster. There is also a high chance of skipping divisions if you gain this much LP per match.

If you are gaining 20-25 LP per win, then League of Legends thinks that this is the elo you belong to and have to work hard to move on to the next rank.

If you gain 15-20 LP per win, then League of Legends thinks that you are too ahead of your deserved rank and is trying to slow down your progress so that you can remain in your own skill level and have fun playing.

Now that you know all about how MMR and LP work, you can figure out if you actually deserve your desired rank.

Read also: The expiring of the Demotion Shield