According to Riot Games, League of Legends is receiving massive changes to the ranked system for split two. Included in the changes is the introduction of a new ranked tier: emerald. This stands as the rank between Platinum and Diamond, thereby increasing the climb to reach the ever glorified Diamond rank.
In addition, they’re getting rid of promotional matches, which have long since been a divisive aspect of the game. Riot is also changing the required provisional games from ten games to five.
[Related: Victorious Anivia revealed as ranked reward]
Emerald Rank
This is actually a rank tier that has already been implemented in the mobile version, Wild Rift. As previously mentioned, it stands between Platinum and Diamond, and likely is being introduced in League of Legends to attempt to mitigate the elo inflation that has occurred in the recent season.
“With the faster LP progression, players are reaching places they would end up anyway over time, just more quickly. That said, the original design of Master+ didn’t account for such a high population, and it has been steadily increasing over the years,” Riot stated in their official blog.
For those unaware, since Riot’s decision to split the ranked season into two, they also increased LP gains. This therefore inflated the overall elo of players who regularly grind ranked. With the introduction of League of Legends Emerald rank, they’re hoping to flatten the curve. But what does that exactly mean?
Well, Riot always had to goal of having an evenly distributed population of players across all the lower ranks. In other words, they want to spread out the player base across Plat, Gold, Silver, Diamond, Bronze, and Iron. But the population in Diamond, as previously mentioned, has been getting a tad bit inflated.
Elimination of promotional matches
Promotional matches are the games played to go up a rank. Players must win a majority of them to go up a rank, which causes stress on the player to perform well. But the controversial aspect is that there is an undoubtable aspect of luck which plays a part in winning a League of Legends ranked game.
Though these matches were meant to create pressure for the players, according to Riot, “they also created situations where players would bounce off them multiple times, stalling their climb and creating frustration.”
Their solution is to remove promotional games altogether starting next split.
In conclusion
Due to the implantation of two splits in a season, League of Legends ranked grinds have been essentially halved in duration. To adjust, the developers decided to halve the provisional games needed, speeding up the barrier of entry necessary to begin the proper ranked climb. And with the elimination of promotional games, it seems the ranked climb will be easier as a whole.
To mitigate the ease of climbing, the implementation of League of Legends Emerald rank essentially elongates the necessary tiers to climb, while distributing the ranked population so that high elo holds more value to those who achieve it.
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