Clarity on Ranked Shielding

El Tano Pasman·Oct 29, 2016·2 votes·389 views

Hello there. I reached Platinum V 20 days ago and then stopped playing ranked. Yesterday I've been notified of decay starting in 8 days. Since I didn't want that to happen, I played two games but, unfortunately, lost both of them. Problem is, I'd really love to play ranked a little more just to see if I can get any higher than Plat V 0LP, but I don't want to risk dropping in Gold I either. So, my question is, does Ranked Shielding still exist and, if so, how can I see if I'm currently shielded? Also, does the shield goes away after your first win or expires after some time? I really want to play a ranked game but I want to be 100% sure a loss doesen't cost me too much, specially with season ending in 9 days.

6 Comments

FioraWillCarryOct 29, 20161 votes

Fortunately, you have to drop an entire tier worth of MMR to get demoted. That means you gotta lose a fuck tonne of games. I'd highly recommend you don't queue with people lower ranked than you because you will be queued up vs lower ranked teams and if you lose vs them, you will lose a lot of MMR. I learned that the hard way. I was in Silver and lost a few games at 0LP and then I queued up with B5 people and lost a lot of games with them and my MMR tanked so fast, I was demoted shortly after. When I was playing solo, I found that I could lose a lot more games since my MMR didn't drop as fast due to losing vs similarly ranked teams.

In short, if you want to avoid demotion do not queue with lower ranked people.

El Tano PasmanOct 29, 20161 votes

I never queue with lower ranked people since most of my friends are rank even higher than me, so I either play with them or alone. If that's the case I should be safe, right?

FioraWillCarryOct 29, 20161 votes

{quoted}

I never queue with lower ranked people since most of my friends are rank even higher than me, so I either play with them or alone. If that's the case I should be safe, right?

Yea, you're pretty safe and you can tolerate some losses. They key thing to remember is that demotion is linked to your hidden MMR. You need to keep that above a Gold 5 MMR. The only way you can get that low is if you go on a terrible lose streak, like say 7 to 9 games in a row. It drops a lot faster if you lose vs lower MMR teams which is why I urged you not to play with lower ranks, unless you're sure you can win. For example, if you queue with Gold 5s and 4s, it could take as little as 4 to 5 losses in a row and you will be in danger of demotion.

If your games are like win one lose one then you don't need to worry at all. Lose streaks are the real danger. Winning a couple games in between losses will keep you quite safe from demotion.

El Tano PasmanOct 29, 20161 votes

Got it, thanks a lot!