Alright so, I finally hit Gold V today, after a lot of work, wanted it before the end of the season.. I was wondering if I could continue playing ranked and try to get to platinum without the risk of being demoted below gold, or if I was stuck there. Also, if you can drop below gold V, how? Do you get any warning previous to being demoted?
I'm not speaking out of experience, just what I remember reading.
Also, I'll note my experience where I had quit ranked for a long time at S2 40LP after a terrible losing streak, came back, lost 2 matches to S2 0LP, lost the third and was demoted to S3 without any warning whatsoever.
That said, I believe I remember reading that you'll be warned if you're in danger of demotion. Perhaps it's only on a tier (hence why I wasn't warned) or it only displays on your profile (and so if you don't check you can miss it).
Further, if you just got promoted to G5 I highly doubt you'll get demoted any time soon. Also what I've read: You need to drop to around a full tier lower MMR in order to get demoted out of a tier. So while demoting from G4 to G5 is as easy as losing at 0LP and being G5 MMR or lower, demoting from G5 to S1 requires your MMR to drop to around S5/B1 level. Since you just got G5 your MMR is in all likelihood at G5 level (unless you're getting around 10LP for a win and losing 30LP for a loss in which case just stop and take your gold reward!).
Given you're at about G5 MMR, it would take a pretty big losing streak to drop back to Silver 1. So you should be pretty assured of getting the gold+ ranked rewards.
That said, don't willingly let your MMR drop :P While it won't change your standing this season, it's your MMR that calculates your adjusted start to next season and not your current league. Meaning if you start next season with S2 MMR, the reset will bring you down to S3-S4, and you go 6-4 in placements and get placed in S3. Much better to finish the season at G5+ MMR, and have the chance to place in Gold if you do alright in placements next season!
