MMR and Elo at League of Legends - what is behind it?

When it comes to League of Legends, terms like MMR or Elo keep coming up. The two terms are closely related to the ranking system. You can find out what you should know about this in our practical tip.

How do Elo and MMR work in League of Legends?

If you play League of Legends ranking games, you will automatically be ranked into a specific league and division after 10 classification games - this is your Elo or MMR (Match Making Rating).

• After your first 10 ranked games, you will first be classified and assigned to a league and division, such as Silver III.
• After the first game you will see which league you are entering. Now you can only win points in the classification games, but you cannot lose any.
• When searching for an opponent, the system now tries to let you play against opponents who also have Silver III as Elo.
• Depending on whether you win or lose games against opponents with the same Elo, you then move up or down and play against better or worse opponents. How often you play or what level you have does not affect who you play against.
• If you are currently in the game, you can use the op.gg website to find out which Elo are your teammates and opponents. Simply enter your name in the search provider and make sure that you have selected the right server (EUW).
• If you have reached 100 LP in your division, you have 3 successive promotional games to prove yourself and to advance to a division by winning two of them.
• If you change leagues and want to move from Silver I to Gold IV, for example, you have to win 3 out of 5 promotional games.

Overview: Divisions and leagues in LoL

The complete League of Legends league system in Season 9 is as follows:

• Iron IV to Iron I
• Bronze IV to Bronze I
• Silver IV to Silver I
• Gold IV to Gold I
• Platinum IV to Platinum I
• Diamond IV to Diamond I
• Master
• Grandmaster
• Challenger
• If a player wins the master promo, there are no more promotional games: the 200 best players on the server are automatically upgraded to Challenger. The next 700 best players rank in Grandmaster.

Hidden MMR - what is it?

In order for LoL's enemy search to work better, there is not only the obvious Elo you are classified in. Each player also has a hidden MMR, which does not have to correspond to the league in which they play.

• The hidden MMR should improve the search for opponents.
• If someone wins a lot of games in a row, his hidden MMR increases more than his Elo.
• For example, if the Hidden MMR is better than the division in which you are playing, a player may be Platinum IV but mainly play against Diamond IV. As a reward, he gets an above-average number of LPs and may skip divisions in order to achieve an adequate Elo faster.
• However, if the hidden MMR is worse than a player's division, it descends faster. He loses a lot of LP with a lost game and must expect to be graded from Silver III to Silver IV, for example, whenever he reaches 0 LP in a division.

In the next practical tip, we will explain how to update League of Legends correctly.

Video tip: League of Legends - A New Dawn