How does Ranked's LP work?

DeosDarkk·Nov 4, 2014·1 votes·2,554 views

I've been wondering for a while, and have tried to read up, but I have NO idea how LP works.

I've gotten anywhere between 10 and 30 LP per win, and lost anywhere between those numbers when I lose. It seems random, I've done well and carried and won, and gotten 13 LP where as when I do awful but win thanks to their team being all AFK Feeders, I gain 30 points. Is it their ranking vs our ranking? Do kills/turrets downed have a factor?

Also how does demotion work? I thought it was 3 games lost at 0 LP (Has always been that, for me) but I just was demoted after my first loss at 0 LP. So I'm at a loss. Can someone please explain?

7 Comments

Mayor StubbsNov 4, 20142 votes

Generally speaking it works as follows: You get about 20 LP for a win or loss (+/-2ish) if your MMR matches where you ranking is. For example, if you have 1500 MMR (this number is hidden) and you are at Gold V, you will get standard amounts (20 per). If your MMR is higher or lower, this is when it starts to become skewed. Let's say you have a MMR of 2000 in Gold. The system will think you belong higher and help you get there by causing 30 LP gains on loss and 10 LP losses on loss. (This way works vice versa if your MMR is lower than you are currently ranked) The (+/-2+ I talked about earlier, that qualifies anywhere because that is taking into account your entire teams MMR competing against the enemy teams entire MMR. This number is usually even or extremely close to even so you will not see large changes.

Demotion's are normally 3 games (assuming your MMR is where it's supposed to be), but I've seen 5 games, and 2 games before personally. (I Believe there is supposed to be a "safety net" upon reaching a new ranking (Which I used to think was 3 games, but I got demoted in 2 at Plat 2 once upon getting in), but it holds only when you initially go into the new rank, so if you climbed them got to 0 then got a loss, you could drop from one loss.

DeosDarkkNov 4, 20142 votes

Okay that makes sense, except for a few little things.

What factor does MMR take into account? Personal KDR or Wins/Losses or...?

And when I was just demoted, it was on a loss streak of 3 games, getting me down to 0 from the second to last game. I had actually risen from Silv V to III a few weeks ago, then kept just getting AFK or Feeders on my team 2 outta 3 games... =/ So I've been demoted back to Silv V now.

Fun thing is, my friends who were initially placed into Gold and Diamond, we play unranked together sometimes and we play on pretty much the same level, so if this MMR thing thinks I'm a Silver 5... Well I think I'm being screwed outta my Gold rewards, you know. :( Thnx for the help tho.

Mayor StubbsNov 4, 20142 votes

MMR is literally influenced only by wins and losses. Now I'm sure you're asking "If my mmr is influenced by wins and losses, why do we need LP and divisions?". And with this question, you have stumbled upon the greatest and most ridiculous flaw of the league ranking system. MMR is influenced by wins and losses, LP is influenced by wins and losses (and MMR) - this is the most basic way to explain it... You may get +15 MMR and +20 LP for a win for example, so they are not the same. In season 1 the rank system didn't have diamond, or bronze, gold, etc, it had 1250 MMR (which got you silver medal at end of season), 1500 MMR, (which got you gold medal at end of season) and so on. This way was much simpler, but it was messy and they wanted it to look pretty so they caked it over with this abomination that it is now, the LP system.

For future reference, you can use na.op.gg to find summoner stats about anyone, including your own MMR (estimate). Yours is 1290, the average for your league is 1320 (according to site). So you're about average and SHOULD be getting roughly 20ish +/- 2 LP per win/loss. In addition, your ranked MMR is completely different than your normal MMR.

DeosDarkkNov 4, 20141 votes

Fascinating - thanks!

But that kinda leaves me disappointed you see, cause my problem isn't my own skill and how I play, its usually my teammates...

I actually went thru my past month's games for the 'fun' of it, and of the 48 games I had played, I lost 30. But of those thirty, twenty of them had either an AFK on my team or someone on my team feeding uncontrollably (I calculated if someone had 8 more deaths than kills, they are quantified as a 'feeder').

My own KDRs aren't that great, I know, but I never sit in base waiting for surrender/the 10-0 ADC to finish us off with no opposition, so I guess even if they did use KDR it wouldn't help...

Thnx, but this all just made me super annoyed and depressed...

Sailor MintNov 4, 20141 votes

You'll need to change your attitude.

You average 9.4 deaths per game, anything over 5 is considered on the high side. You are doing something wrong, and until you stop blaming other people you'll keep falling.

Work on things you can impact, your play.

PadagiNov 4, 20142 votes

LP works on a bit of a trailing weight to your MMR (match making rating, or ELO, which is hidden). When you win and lose it factors in your current division and LP, your MMR and your opponents MMR.

What do I mean by trailing weight? Well, your division and LP moves more slowly than your MMR in most cases. This causes your MMR to move up quickly when winning, and down when losing. If you then win 50% of your games, your Division will meet up with your MMR. To understand this you have to understand the ELO system originally developed for chess.

Anyway, the idea is that if your MMR is higher than your current division, you'll mostly be matched with players at that MMR. Since your MMR and opponents MMR are higher than your division, you are expected to lose. If you win, you gain more LP than if you lost. This is how you will gain LP by winning 50% of your games with higher MMR than your division.

The opposite will occur to correct you being in higher division than your MMR: you will lose more LP with losses than you gain with wins. The only way this changes is if you win more than half your games, or when your division matches your MMR.

It's all organic and designed to get you too your skill level division and offer measurable and achievable progress compared to the original ELO system.

Your LP gains and losses should even out to about 18 if your MMR is the same as your division. This usually occurs around 100 ranked games played. Before then, the match making system is stl mostly testing you.

PadagiNov 4, 20142 votes

Forgot to mention demotion. If you lose with 0 LP you get demoted automatically. The only exception is a Grace period after promotion. When prompted, you have to pay 3 games before being eligible for demotion. After three games, if you lose with 0 LP you get demoted as usual.