Ranked Mode Is Live - Everything You Need to Know

Ranked Mode Is Live

New Ranks, Seasons, and Rules

Ranked Mode is now live. Here are the most important things to know before you queue.

There are 13 Ranks - each with 6 Subranks (I-VI): Obscurus (uncalibrated), Initiate, Seeker, Acolyte, Sentinel, Mystic, Ritualist, Emissary, Oracle, Phantom, Ascendant, and Eternus. Each promotion within a Rank costs 1,000 Rank Points (~250 per win/loss), except the final Subrank before a new Rank which costs 2,000. Eternus Subranks are percentile-based and update daily.

• Requires 60 wins in Standard Mode and at least 3 heroes with 15+ Standard wins each.
• Season 1 runs now through October 7th. Your peak rank is permanently saved at season end.
• Everyone starts with an 8-game calibration phase - max placement is Oracle VI. No parties during calibration.
• Solo or duo queue only. Duo partners must be within 1 Rank of each other. Eternus players must be within 3 Subranks.

After match formation you enter a pre-game waiting area where you can swap to any hero you have unlocked for Ranked (one swap per player). You can also adjust starting lanes here - zipline swaps are disabled after this phase. Enemy team hero changes are not shown live. Bans increase from 2 to 3 per game.

5 games of loss protection at a full Rank boundary (e.g. Mystic I at 0 RP), and 2 games of protection at a Subrank boundary (e.g. Mystic III at 0 RP).

• Abandon before 5 minutes: game is voided for all except the leaver, who takes a loss and leaver penalty.
• Abandon after 5 minutes: leaver takes a loss and penalty; teammates' game is voided but they can stay and win.
• Leaver penalties escalate from queue timeouts to low priority games.
• Active sanctions (low priority, comms ban, etc.) block Ranked queuing entirely.

The ranked pool starts thin - most players haven't unlocked eligibility yet. Queue times, match quality, and team compositions will be rough for the first week or so. Valve will monitor closely and iron out bugs over the next couple of days.