The ranked season in League of Legends is now under way, and whether you're a newbie or a veteran, now is the time to face a real test: your placement matches.
This year, Riot is promising an easier, more accurate system, using your performance in normal matches to determine your initial ranked placement. Of course, you'll still have to play your placement matches, but the algorithm will, in theory, be more lenient — or at least it will take all your games into account.
If you were ranked during the previous season, Riot also announces that the reset of the start of the season will be less "drastic". In other words, you should end up pretty close to the rank you were looking to achieve last year.
No more promotion series
The real good news is undoubtedly the elimination of promotion series between divisions (eg Gold III to Gold II). Better yet, excess LP will be retained following your climb to the next division.
That said, it also means that protection against interdivisional demotion has been removed. In other words, you will be instantly relegated if you drop to 0 LP.
Promo series remain between the different ranks, however, such as Iron into Bronze, or Gold into Platinum.
Less impact for League Points (LP)
With the advent of "Informed Ranked Matchmaking", a new system that takes into account not only MMR but also the ranks of your teammates and opponents, Riot Games has had to revise the way League Points work. In other words, on average you will lose and earn fewer LP during the 2021 Season.
Moreover, Riot also announced the arrival of an LP mitigation system for when an AFK player is detected. This mitigation will depend on the level of domination of your team, with it being more significant if you're sizeably ahead.
Diamond enters the big leagues
With the 2021 Season, Diamond tier will adopt the same passive LP loss system that already exists in the Master+ tiers, except that it will be a little more tolerant.
Moreover, all players who have reached Master+ will now be refused access to duo queue, in order to improve the quality of high-level matches.
Viego, the Fallen King, is the latest champion to come to League of Legends, and Riot Games have revealed details of his abilities. Here's what you can expect.
