LoL Promotion Series Removed

The promotion series between League of Legends ranks is becoming a thing of the past. With 5 placement games needed to see your visible League of Legends rank instead of 10, entering the League of Legends competitive queues has never been easier. The new League Emerald rank is one of the many changes the LoL Dev team has planned for this League of Legends ranked system update.

LoL Promotion Series Removed

The League of Legends ranked queue system has been undergoing changes constantly. A few years ago we witnessed the addition of Smurf Queue. It turned out to be a troublesome system that was later removed. Earlier in this season 13, on LoL patch 13.04, we received even more changes. With the removal of Smurf Queue, all new LoL accounts returned to their original ranked queues. This meant some wild and inconsistent LP (League Points) gains across multiple skill brackets, so changes were implemented.

Players started receiving and losing more LP, to enable balancing their visible rank and hidden MMR (Match Making Rating) in fewer games. This was combined with reducing the number of promotion games between ranks from 5 to 3, to enable more upward mobility. Now, Riot Games are doubling down on this approach. There will no longer be any promotion games starting from Split 2 in League of Legends Ranked Queues.

LoL Placement Games lowered from 10 to 5

With the conclusion of Split 1 in League of Legends ranked queues, there will naturally be a soft rank reset. Since this happens after every ranked split and season ends, Riot Games has realized something. Playing 20 placement games each year is a tall task deterring many players from the competitive queues. That’s why they’re lowering the number of placement games from 10 to 5, after which you will be able to see your visible League of Legends rank.

At the end of the day, these changes are probably welcomed by the majority of the player base. On the other hand they feel like pushing the main issue down the road. Adding new ranks every 2 to 3 years might relieve the tension. But it doesn’t solve the issue that League of Legends is becoming watered down. The Dota community suffers from crumbling player counts due to it’s high level of entry. While Riot Games is making League of Legends as commercial as they can. With demotion shields in place, no promotion series or games, cheap accounts, and a hidden MMR, the issues plaguing the League of Legends ranked system will continue to be the root of frustration.