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Players, be prepared to earn your ranks, as Dota 2 has released the new Ranked “medal” system into its game client. Now, instead of relying on a numerical value, players will earn “medals” as they climb higher in Ranked matchmaking.
While medals will change with performance, there’s nowhere to go but up. According to the game client, “The peak of your skill this season is displayed by a rank medal. [...] Medals are a reflection of the highest rank you’ve earned.” This means if you peaked at Tier 4 but now play at a Tier 3 level, the Tier 4 medal will display on your profile.
The medal rankings are as follows, in ascending order:
- Unranked
- Herald
- Guardian
- Crusader
- Archon
- Legend
- Ancient
- Divine
These are also split into five “stars” to indicate progress through the medals. Each player’s medals will be displayed before and during each game.
Players aiming for higher medals will need to work on their solo queue skills. According to an official blog released along with the update, performance in solo queue is the only way the Ancient and Divine medals will be considered.
Those aiming higher will also be rewarded more easily. All Five-Star Divine players will be automatically included in the Leaderboards, and each will be given a number indicating their rank among such players. These will be displayed on profiles, as well as in-game like any other medal.
The blog states the MMR system is maintained in six-month “seasons,” and MMR is re-calibrated at the start of each season, with initial matching based on prior performance. At the end of the season, the medals are “retired” and displayed on a player’s profile through the next season.
It appears, meanwhile, that the numerical MMR system has vanished from the client, including player profiles. However, players will maintain a private MMR that can be found in their personal stats page on their profile.
The old system, based on number credits alone, was in effect for nearly four years, since December 2013. This new MMR system was announced when the Dueling Fates update dropped, though the timeline given for its release was much shorter—two weeks—compared to its actual three-week timeline.
A seasonal MMR system has been requested for a while, though the medal system came as a surprise to many. It now parallels games such as Valve sister game Counter-Strike: Global Offense, RTS classic Starcraft and MOBA rival League of Legends.
[EDITED November 23, 1AM ET, to include private MMR found on personal stats page.]