LoL MMR: What Is It? How Does It Work?

MMR? What does it mean?

Match Making Rating, as known as, MMR, determines the teammates and opponents you face in any League match, ranked or normal, ARAM or even TFT. It also determines how fast you can climb the rank ladder. Each queue type has its own separate MMR so you can have Diamond MMR in Solo/Duo and Platinum in TFT and Gold in ARAM. 

 

MMR and ELO

Both terms are often used to designate the same aspect of the game, the rank, but the fact is that despite being similar they are not the same system.

The ELO rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill of players in 1v1 games, originally created for chess and it is named after it’s creator Arpad Elo, a twentieth century physics professor.
During Season 1, Riot used the elo system, where the rank was just a number, but due to the fact that League of Legends is a 5v5 game they soon developed a more complex and efficient system for match making, shifting to the system that currently exists where the rank is displayed in the form of Tiers and Divisions.
After the change, the terms ELO and ELO Boosting were supposed to disappear from the players dictionaries but the community kept using them, so they stuck and are now part of the League of Legends lexicon.

 

How to calculate LoL MMR

Developers have never explained in full detail how it works, nor have they released the algorithm used to calculate the progression of the players ranks, but the theory is known.

Basically, wins increase MMR and losses decrease it. Several straight wins increase the MMR at a greater pace than the same number of wins with losses in between, therefore having win streaks is something to look for, it’s great for the MMR. MMR and LP progression walk together. Win streaks or several wins with few losses will result in bigger LP earns per win, until the point where you end up skipping full divisions or skipping promotion matches. On the other hand, loss streaks will end up demoting the account or even worse, in some recorded cases 2 or 3 wins are necessary to compensate the LP loss in a single game.

But as you might expect calculating the MMR is not as simple as explained above, that is why each game you earn and lose different amounts of LP. That happens because each team member and opponents have different MMR’s. The MMR tends to be balanced between teams, but the slight differences affect the amount of LP you earn or lose per game.

As an example, let’s say you are in a team of Gold 4 players, and for some insane reason you are queued against a team of five Diamond players. In this scenario, if you win, you can expect to earn an outrageous amount of LP but if you lose you will barely lose anything. On the other hand, for the other team it’s the other way around. If they win, they barely earn LP but if they lose, they will lose a lot of LP. The reason behind this is that higher MMR teams are supposed to win against lower MMR teams, so if they do it they don’t get a big prize, because it’s expected.

LoL MMR and Placements Matches

The most important games of the season are the placement matches. Those games will define if you have a great start to the season or not.

With the current ranking system it’s easier to track progress and understand where you will end up. In any case, it’s important to have the highest win ratio possible on the placement matches to guarantee a higher MMR.

Accounts with the same win ratio after the placements are completed won’t necessarily end up being in the same rank, there are a few situations and rules that affect it. For starters, differences between MMR of opponents and team members change for each account, as explained above. Another important factor that affects it is the MMR of the previous season; as an example, if you were Silver last season you cannot expect to be Diamond right away, even if you have 100% win ratio on your placement matches

In any case, even for accounts that never ranked before, the higher win ratio, the higher you will be in the ranking ladder after your placements are completed. A great performance in those early games will save you a lot of time and grind during the rest of the season. Also, a great start guarantees a high MMR, so if you keep winning after the placements you will end up skipping divisions, which is awesome. 

LoL MMR and Elo Decay

Currently only Platinum or higher players may suffer from decay. What this means is that if you do not play a ranked match in that queue for 28 days you will lose LP and get demoted to lower divisions.

If that happens, your MMR remains the same, so if you start playing once again and winning you are sure to be back to the initial rank faster, since your MMR is way higher than the average player in your ranking.

 

LoL MMR and Dodging Games

While in team selection, if you are not positive of the outcome of the game due to flaming before the game even starts or due to the team drafts, dodging is an option. The first dodge of the day results in -3LP and a 5 minute penalty without queueing for more games, but does not affect your MMR negatively. More than one daily dodge results in higher LP loss and higher time penalties, so it's not advisable to abuse this tool unless necessary.

LoL MMR and Elo Boosting

GGBOOST provides the best service and the most efficient way for you get the rank you desire. With solo options, where the booster logs in your account, or duo options where you queue together with our boosters, we will make sure to provide the most complete and satisfactory experience you will ever find in the LoL Elo Boost world.

This article highlights that a boost raises more than just your visible rank.  It will also increase your MMR and allow you to advance more quickly in your future games.  Just another hidden perk when using our industry-leading ELO Boosting service.

 

GG Boost, the Best Elo Boosting Experience!