Dota 2 Seasonal Ranking & You

How does Dota 2 Seasonal Ranking work? Read this handy guide to find out!

Seasonal Ranked Update

The new Seasonal MMR system took effect Nov. 22, 2017. Each season is roughly 6 months, subject to slight variation or delay.

Before you make another thread in ALLCAPS about how Dota 2 is ruined, dead, dying, etc. first...take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Your MMR has not been deleted and it has not disappeared.

This update is an overhaul of the ranked matchmaking system in Dota 2. It will simply be displayed differently.


What's MMR? If you don't know, check out this handy guide:
https://dota2.gamepedia.com/Matchmaking_Rating

Before moving on to the next section, it is highly imperative that you locate your towel. Once your towel is in your possession, you can use it to wipe away any saline liquids that may have accumulated around your ocular cavities if you have just now heard about the new MMR update. Remember, if you're gonna survive out there, you've really got to know where your towel* is.

unnecessary pop culture reference

How it all works... (Science!)

Dota 2 now uses a tiered medal system to display your in-game rank, similar to games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. There are seven levels of rank medals (fig. 1) plus a special medal for regional leaderboards, and within each level are seven stars of progress to earn towards the next Medal.

These medals are: Herald, Guardian, Crusader, Archon, Legend, Ancient, Divine and Immortal, the last being a ranking for players on the regional leaderboards.

If you have previously calibrated your MMR in Dota 2, you will still need to recalibrate. These new calibration matches will be seeded based on your previous MMR, similar to International ranked matches. Recalibration matches are similar to normal ranked matches, but weighted slightly more to a varying degree.

As with the old International ranked, typically at best/worst you will only lose or gain roughly 500 MMR when recalibrating. If a 1k player does amazing in recalibration they won't automatically calibrate to 5k. At best they will probably get about 1.5k MMR.

Everyone will begin as unranked at the beginning of a new season. You will need to play 10 matches to complete your new calibration for both solo and party.

Once you finish your calibration matches, your true rank will be assessed and the proper rank medal and level will be granted to you based on your performance and the outcome of your calibration matches.

For initial/first calibration, your calibrated rank is based on your game performance and impact, which includes things such as gpm/xpm, hero/building damage, support actions, kill/death/assist ratio and several other factors. For recalibration, your rank will be based on your previous MMR plus the total MMR lost or gained during your recalibration matches.

While your rank medal will be reset at the start of every new season, your MMR will not be. That means whatever MMR you have at the end of the season, will be the same MMR used to recalibrate you at the beginning of the new season. If you calibrate at 3k at the start of season 1 and then climb to 4k by the end of the season, when you start season 2, you will recalibrate in the 4k bracket.

Rank medals are based on your performance in both solo and party ranked games (with a heavier weight given to solo ranked game performance) and other factors that have not been revealed by Valve. Divine medals can only be achieved by playing solo ranked games. Immortal ranks cannot be achieved by party ranking only.

Your in-game profile will always show your highest obtained rank medal for the season. A numerical MMR will still be visible on your profile but only to you. To see your MMR, click on "My Profile" and then "Stats."

*Note: While you cannot lose a medal rank once obtained (until the next season) you can and do still lose MMR. So if you achieve a certain medal rank but then drop 1000 MMR, you will still retain that medal rank until the start of the next season, at which time your new calibration matches will be based on your current MMR not your medal rank. Only your highest obtained rank medal is obtained for a season. Your MMR is *NOT* protected from loss in any way.

Additionally, due to sporadic bugs in the system at the moment, your rank medal may not always display or update immediately or properly. Your actual MMR will be the most accurate reflection of your true rank.

Medals vs. MMR

If you were a 3k solo player before this update then you will probably still be a 3k solo player (or close to it) after you recalibrate. Although players will now be ranked by medals, the matchmaking system is still based on numerical MMR, not medal ranks.

It is important to note that even if you find yourself matched against or with players of a higher medal rank, that doesn't necessarily mean they have a higher MMR. It should also be noted, that not all players will have the same MMR in every game, but the system attempts to match the MMR spread of both teams as closely as possible.

According to preliminary findings, MMR to medal conversion appears to be as shown below. Each star rank equals 120 MMR. Valve has not yet released specific MMR/rank tables so this information may be subject to slight variation.

Herald: 1 - 839
Guardian: 840 - 1679
Crusader: 1680 - 2519
Archon: 2520 - 3359
Legend: 3360 - 4199
Ancient: 4200 - 5039
Divine: 5040 - 5740+
Immortal: Leaderboard Ranking

*It is important to note that the MMR medal conversions are rough estimations that do not take the combination of solo and party MMR as well as other unrevealed factors into consideration. Two players with the same rank medal may have very different solo and party MMR. You can still view your individual solo and party MMR in-game.
https://dota2.gamepedia.com/Matchmaking/Seasonal_Rankings

According to data that has been collated by users over the course of the first two seasons, it has been speculated that MMR values and curves may have been deflated, seemingly resulting in lost MMR for older players. So while it may appear that you have lost MMR, if you have maintained the same amount of skill then you may have been affected by MMR deflation.

Note on Season 3:
As of Season 3, more medal ranks were added to each tier, the result being that most players lost medal rank. This doesn't necessarily mean you lost MMR though. If your MMR stayed about the same after calibrating for Season 3 then you would have likely dropped in medal ranking due to the new medal spread. Again, this is simply because there are now more medals in each tier.

More Helpful Things

Learn Dota 2 things!
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=630339657

Are you overcome by feelings of anger? Are you starting to feel like you've been blasted by gamma rays? Read this guide and learn how to avoid toxic players and how not to be one!
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=423565666

Need some more tips on matchmaking and teamwork? Check this out!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1737398594

That last guide didn't work and you've finally had enough of Dota 2? Well, quit telling everyone you're "going to quit" and do it already! This simple step-by-step guide will show you how!
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1186776956

Dota 2 Seasonal Ranked Announcement:
http://blog.dota2.com/2017/11/seasonal-ranked-update/

Note: Information is still forthcoming about the matchmaking update, medal ranks and other effects it may have. This guide will updated whenever possible with the latest information. Feel free to leave a comment if you would like to suggestion additions/corrections.

Thanks for reading!
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1196529745

[BossGalaga]

@DAZ As stated in the guide, rank medals are based on a combination of both solo and party MMR and other factors which Valve has not revealed. This is why it also states that the MMR values are not precise. Both of these caveats are mentioned in the guide.
In your case, if medal was only based on highest MMR, then you would still need a higher party MMR to achieve Archon 2. Again, that's due to the combination of both MMRs and other factors.

[DAZ EXTRALARGE]

The MMR and ranks are wrong I think. I have 900 Solo and 2070 party and I get Archon 2. I believe the medal displays the highest MMR you have.

[zZzooey.exe]

Thanks!

[BossGalaga]

Updated with information from Season 3!

[ksatria batang pink]

valve doesn't care.. just try to find match at certain times where you believe you could win

[Yamete Kudasai]

given that new players have low skill, what if they play their ass off and really improve in their game, still, they won't have a chance to really recalibrate their mmr because their still stuck with the old one. and don't give me the crap that if they really improve that they can increase their rank. try playing in sea server 3k below and tell me if you can raise your mmr.

[Yamete Kudasai]

How about in a new season you reset the mmr so we have a chance to get higher mmr? whats the point of a new season if you still retain the old mmr as basis. does it mean there's no room for improvement in dota2? you should change it to presenting new medal system, cause this is not considered a new season if you still retain the old mmr. the one who made this clearly was drunk or dumb

[BossGalaga]

@075kSUS: MMR doesn't reset. If you haven't calibrated yet for the first time, your MMR calibration will be based on your hidden pre-calibrated MMR. If you have already calibrated at least once, your recalibration will be based on your previous MMR. You won't be able to make any drastic changes to your MMR through seasonal recalibration. For example, if you want to climb from 1k to 2k or higher, you'll have to grind it out old school.

[Herald THE GOAT!]

I know there is no reset, otherwise there was no need for me, right? smh.

[BossGalaga]

@Gustaphos: Yes, it's noted. Your season medal always shows your highest medal attained. It also notes that this is only cosmetic. It doesn't protect your MMR from going lower.