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Say Goodbye To Ranked Promos - The End Of An Era

If you've played any amount of ranked games in League of Legends, you're likely all too familiar with the experience of finally being on the brink of ranking up or even moving to a new division, and then losing it all because of one or two odd games totally beyond your control.

 

For many League of Legends players, this experience is exactly the embodiment of the system known as "ranked promos".

 

From accusations of being purposefully paired up with the worst possible teams, all the way to the frustration of having to redo your promos 5 or even 10 times just to rank up - there's many a reason behind the player community's sheer hatred towards this system.

 

But now, it's all going away for good!

 

A Neverending Quest For Improvement

As we all know well - Riot Games is always on a mission to improve the game, especially its competitive component.

 

Over the course of Season 10, the game saw some drastic changes including a new autofill system and even duo-parity matchmaking to improve the balance between paired teams and improve the quality of play.

 

However, as Season 11 peers around the corner - it looks like the development team at League of Legends HQ is busy with lining up the next batch of major changes.

 

And one of those changes just so happens to be the removal of the current promotional games system.

 

Say Goodbye Ranked Promos In Season 11

In a recent blog post, the competitive gameplay lead at Riot shared some very exciting news and provided insights on how the state of competitive gameplay would be transformed across the upcoming season.

 

One of the biggest changes that caught the eye of many players around the globe was the removal of ranked promos.

 

However, as with all great things in life - there's a small catch.

 

Riot is planning to remove only the inter-division promotional matches. This means you'll still have to play out some form of promotional matches to advance in ranks, such as between Gold and Platinum. However, to jump from division to division within a given rank, the road will be practically open.

 

This is being done to ensure that there is a balanced degree of challenge and reward when climbing through the ranked ladder in Season 11.

 

Additionally, to create further balance, Riot is following the "what comes up must come down" principle by looking closer at the demotion mechanic and the safe-space you have in terms of how many games you can lose before you rank down.

 

In turn, this implies that since it will be somewhat easier to rank up in the upcoming season, it will also be easier to rank down should you perform poorly across several consecutive games.

 

Back To The ELO Grind?

If you were one of the early players to join League of Legends in the first two seasons after the game's release - you're likely well acquainted with the infamous ELO system.

 

This was the first competitive ranking model utilized by the League of Legends developers, and it was pretty well-loved overall. In fact, many modern competitive titles such as Rainbow Six Siege and even Overwatch still make use of this efficient ranking system with a solid degree of success and great response from the player base.

 

In today's environment, the game is undeniably closely centered around MMR, which stands separately from your displayed rank. As such, it's not uncommon to find yourself playing with someone a rank below or above - which can be quite frustrating and demoralizing at times, despite the fact that their MMR is about the same as your own.

 

And while Riot has made a few moves to part with this system as the underlying mechanic behind ranked matchmaking - the impending changes certainly feel a lot like a return to the tried and true ELO grind that veteran LoL players are so used to.

 

And in all honesty - that's not a bad thing by any means.

 

Under this system, you would be far more closely paired with people in your own rank, closing the potential gap between matched teams. However, at the same time, MMR will still act as a backbone to ensure that players are paired by skill level rather than simply their displayed rank.

 

So far, the overwhelming response from the higher rank brackets of the competitive player base in League of Legends has shown public support for the changes and heaps of enthusiasm about it returning to a closer state comparative to the ELO system of the past.

 

New Ranked Rewards In Season 11

While the massive League of Legends community is certainly abuzz over the upcoming changes to the ranked system - there's one more important bit for you to get excited about.

 

Alongside the removal of ranked promos, Riot will be introducing changes to highlight past ranked rewards, while also showcasing current rewards in a new light.

 

This means your current ranked rewards will no longer overshadow your past accomplishments, and you'll be able to enjoy them just as much as you enjoy the spoils and loot that you'll be getting at the end of Season 10.

 

Closing Thoughts

It's no secret that one of the most frustrating things in League of Legends has always been the experience of your win-streak being stopped short by ranked promotional series games.

 

It's an issue that's plagued the competitive player base ever since the system's release in LoL Season 3. And while Riot Games have been somewhat behind the curve on addressing it - the Season 11 ranked changes are bound to bring some excitement to the table.

 

As part of a larger refresher, the development team has plans to do away with inter-division promo games as they address the larger balance equation when it comes to ranked play.

 

With the new season's changes already on the horizon - your time to cop those sweet seasonal rewards is running out. Whether you're aiming to hit your dream rank or pick up the Season 10 victorious skins - you've only got a short sliver of time to make it all happen.

 

Thankfully, our professional boosters are here to help!

 

If you need a helping hand with your ranked games, give us a shout. We're always online around the clock - and our veteran high-rank players are always eager to dive in and help you rank up.

 

 

 

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