League of Legends ranks & ranking system explained 2023

The League of Legends ranked system is the ultimate test of player ability, where the best of the best compete to achieve the highest ranks in LoL - so here's a rundown of all the ranks and how the system works in-game.

Ranks are divided into tiers and divisions, with only the best players in the game reaching Diamond, Master, or Grandmaster ranks.

So if you want to make the journey all the way to the elusive Challenger rank, here is everything you need to know about League of Legends' ranking system.

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All League of Legends ranks in order

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The Ranked system in League of Legends is divided into nine different tiers, which are listed below:

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

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Ranks in League of Legends explained

Each of the nine tiers in LoL are then further subdivided into divisions. For example, there are four divisions for each tier between Iron to Diamond.

From Master rank onwards, there is no sub-division, with players instead being placed based on their League Points (LP), which are earned from wins, and lost from match losses. To keep progressing beyond this rank, you'll need to maintain consistent wins overall.

Early in 2023, as per the League of Legends rank reset changes, changes to the ranking system were made, meaning that there are now two ranking periods within a season. As shared on the League of Legends' Twitter account, this brought about a mid-season split on July 17, 2023, after which players had to take part in placement matches to be ranked again.

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How to unlock Ranked in LoL

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To begin your journey in Ranked League of Legends, there are a couple of initial steps you'll need to take beforehand, the first prerequisite of which is reaching level 30. This is a requirement that makes sure that new players have played plenty of matches before attempting to play in ranked, where players take the game a bit more seriously.

• Once you reach level 30, you can then play your first Ranked games. However, you do not begin at the bottom rank. Instead, you'll need to complete a series of 10 placement matches.
• After your placement matches, you will then be given a rank. If you are perceived by the system to be a new player, you will likely be placed in a lower rank overall. However, if you are very successful in your placement matches, chances are you will be bumped up to a higher rank.

After you have a foot in the door, you can begin the grind to the top. You will need to earn LP to rank up, with a new rank being achieved with every 100 LP earned.

Additionally, with each new ranking tier, you must complete a promotion series to rank up, which is a series of best-of-three matches (compared to the previous best-of-five in older seasons). Once here, you'll need to win two of your three matches to progress to the next rank.

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League of Legends ranks: Demotion & decay

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In League of Legends, there are two ways through which your rank can be lowered: Demotion and decay. Demotion is what happens when you lose too many matches, as losing matches means losing LP, and once your LP hits zero, you're up for potential demotion.

Generally speaking, once you reach 0 LP, your next loss will cause a demotion. This isn't necessarily a hard rule though in the cases of ranks like Gold IV or Silver IV, where your demotion would drop you to the next tier down. Instead, in those cases, you are more likely to be given a couple of chances to get a win and start climbing again.

Regardless, whenever you are demoted in League of Legends, you do not begin at the bottom of that rank - you should be no more than one or two wins away from reclaiming your lost rank.

Decay is another matter altogether, but only applies to those players ranked in Diamond or above. Essentially, time spent not playing Ranked matches will cause your rank to drop. Playing matches will instead bank days, giving you a period of time before your rank begins to decay. When you run out of banked days and still haven't played any matches, your LP will begin to go down.

That's everything you need to know about the explanation of ranks in League of Legends. For more, check out our League of Legends homepage, or how to get your League of Legends mastery chart.