MMR vs Rank

lVlaxPanda·4/6/2017, 1:00:39 AM·2 votes·3,892 views

Okay so somebody help me out here. I'm in Silver 2 for ranked solo/duo. My MMR (according to na.op.gg) is 1571 last time I checked, which places me in Gold 4. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the matchmaking process places me against players with similar MMR, not necessarily similar rank. In other words, I'm not playing against Silver 2 players, so in order to play my way OUT of Silvers and into Golds, I have to play against Gold level players. This doesn't really make sense to me. Can somebody explain?

4 Comments

WitchQueen Annie4/6/2017, 1:49:30 AM3 votes

Rank = your chips on a table at the casino (goes up and down based on wins and losses)

MMR = your reputation as a card player, hence where you are seated/assigned to play based on how much you win/lose and against whom (assume Riot wants to keep you at that table so you don't make too much Rank/chips)

So high rank, low MMR... You've somehow ended up with tons of chips but because you have a reputation as a card game loser you are seated a noobs table.

Low rank, High MMR... You've got very few chips but you're rapidly establishing yourself as a master Gambit. The house owner is getting worried you're gaining chips too fast and so they assign some tough card players to keep you under control.

GankedByWindows4/6/2017, 1:42:08 AM1 votes

MMR calculators on ANY site is an educated guess. Riot has not released the exact formula.

You play against people of your MMR. If that is higher than your rank, then yes you have to play against golds. However, because your MMR is higher than your rank, you get more points for winning that you do for losing, so you don't even need a positive winrate. All you need is 50/50 against those people in gold (assuming they're gold MMR and not gold players with silver MMR) and you'll climb because you gain 22 for a win and lose 17 for a loss.

llIllIllIllIll4/6/2017, 2:14:22 AM1 votes

So this is how it works -

Before season 3 Riot ranked you only off of your MMR - which is a number that we cannot see anymore. It used to work like this -

1250- = Bronze 1250-1520 = Silver 1520-1800 = Gold 1800+ = Plat

Now we have divsions and everything that goes along with that which is what we see, however the system still places you based off of this number which we now cannot see. If your number is far ahead of your rank, for instance you have 1500 MMR but are silver 3, then you will get much more points per win with potential to skip divisions.

If your MMR is far below your rank, for instance you're gold 5 with 1200 MMR, then you risk demotion.

Sites like op.gg can calculate your MMR by taking the statistical average of your past 5 ranked games played or whatever, but you need to make sure that they aren't duoq for it to be accurate as this skews the results. Also this is also an estimation and shouldn't be taken too seriously.

Poll: Do you run Flash on D or F?

Xivilai Anaxes4/6/2017, 2:15:54 AM1 votes

Op.gg doesn't know your actual ELO it just takes a guess.