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How do placements work?

TekkShell·5/2/2018, 1:26:54 AM·2 votes·3,488 views

I didn't plan to play Ranked this season. I didn't want the headache that came with it, someone talked me into it. I had a great run! Won the first three, super excited, won another even more excited. Lost one little discouraged, but I knew it could happen, so I pressed on. Continued on to win the following four was super hyped. Finally onto my last game, lost it. Upon entering the post-game lobby I got the news of my placement. Excited I waited to leave the honor screen, hoping for a decent placement this season after the horrible luck I've had in the past. Spent weeks practicing specific champs I knew could win lanes without a hard time and impact the late game. After honoring the ADC. The screen comes up, I'm hoping for Silver, I didn't think it was unreasonable. The screen pops up...BRONZE 5!

Please someone explain this horrible system to me. I truly do not understand, in the past I've had a horrible time in placements losing more than I won. But this time I was sure I played well enough to get a better placement.

15 Comments

EarthyMadness5/2/2018, 1:37:19 AM2 votes

Your MMR (Match Made Rating) is a hidden number that determines your skill level based on your wins/losses through your gameplay history. You're matched against opponents with a similar MMR to yours, and it heavily influences your placement rank each season. You will almost always start at a lower rank than your MMR from last season. So if you finished last season, say, Bronze 3, your MMR is that of a Bronze 3, and your placement will be equal to Bronze 5/4. Placements are a little weird, basically wins increase the chance of your MMR/Rank being placed higher, but that doesn't always mean you'll get placed well. Beyond that, I really can't say, but I hope this explanation of how placements work has helped, and I'm sorry you're feeling frustrated. But you said you prepared for this season, so I wish you the absolute best of luck in your climb!

Zone of Endless5/2/2018, 1:36:15 AM1 votes

well...You were bronze 4/5 in previous seasons so that has something to do with it probably

Sona Ping5/2/2018, 2:05:46 AM1 votes

{quoted}

I didn't plan to play Ranked this season. I didn't want the headache that came with it, someone talked me into it. I had a great run! Won the first three, super excited, won another even more excited. Lost one little discouraged, but I knew it could happen, so I pressed on. Continued on to win the following four was super hyped. Finally onto my last game, lost it. Upon entering the post-game lobby I got the news of my placement. Excited I waited to leave the honor screen, hoping for a decent placement this season after the horrible luck I've had in the past. Spent weeks practicing specific champs I knew could win lanes without a hard time and impact the late game. After honoring the ADC. The screen comes up, I'm hoping for Silver, I didn't think it was unreasonable. The screen pops up...BRONZE 5!

Please someone explain this horrible system to me. I truly do not understand, in the past I've had a horrible time in placements losing more than I won. But this time I was sure I played well enough to get a better placement.

Because that's not how this works; The problem is that you are assuming things and then judging it based upon it not following the false expectations that you placed upon it.

Placements are not "X wins out of 10 = Y Rank". It doesn't work that nor is it intended

Placement Matches are matches that you play to inform your placement, to gather information, how readily and fast you climb from your start. Congratulations on getting a good number of wins, that'll help you. But who you play against matters here. Matchmaking is still there and you're a low Bronze player who was playing against low Bronze players. Like in the last match which was a loss, you were playing against Bronze 5, low Bronze 4 players. Consider the circumstances. Why would getting wins, even a good percentage of 10, against low Bronze players mean that you get to skip many multiple divisions? Not just skip Bronze divisions, but skip all the way to Silver, and after only 10 games? That's quite unreasonable,

Placements are there to inform your start. Not as a level skip a person hopes to get by a good roll.

Mysticman895/2/2018, 3:04:23 AM1 votes

Placements are merely matches that have a larger than normal influence on your MMR compared to regular ones. They aren't meant as a super climbing (or dropping) tool, just something to get you going with during the fresh season.

At the end of each season theres a MMR soft reset, so if you had a low mmr from previous seasons, you'll still have a low mmr, and even going 10-0 won't make that go away. It'll help a lot, but placements aren't everything. (ETA: This reset is why people almost always drop divisions or even a full tier, and not so much because of their W/L ratio during placements.)

It's important to do you best in them even if your mmr is such that you'd be B5 regardless, since as mentioned they influence your mmr more than normal. MMR relative to rank determines what your LP gains/losses are, so a previous season B5 player who goes 0-10 in placements would place b5, but find they only get 10 LP for wins and -30 LP for losses (so climbing out of b5 will take a heck of a win streak to repair their mmr), while a previous season B5 player who goes 10-0 in placements might find themselves gaining 25 for wins and losing 15, making for smooth sailing upwards.