Hello, everyone!
From May 1 to September 11, Caliber will host our 10th season of Ranked Battles. This season is named Guarding the Thresholds.
For the first time ever, you’ll have to fight for leadership and gain Tokens in Threshold mode. The Ranked version includes a Map Banning stage and an Operator Picks and Bans stage. In addition, friendly fire will be active in battles, so make sure to stay extra vigilant.
Ranked Battles is a competitive mode where participants advance through Leagues. During events, competitors earn Rank Tokens, which they can use to purchase customization items in the Ranked Armory.
Any player can participate in Ranked Battles as long as their Account meets the following criteria:
In season 10, Ranked Battles will for the first time utilize Threshold mode. Each game will start with banning maps, then picking and banning operators.
Only the daytime versions of the maps will be available in this mode.
Mode rules:
Leagues reflect the level of skill of the players participating in Ranked Battles. Each League, except Diamond, consists of three ranks.
There are five Leagues in total: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond.
Your starting League will be determined by the results of your placement matches, and your further advancement—by your performance in battles. Victories add to your Rank Points, while losses deduct from them.
By clicking on each League, you can see 50 players who are a part of it, and their number of victories and Rank Points. While only 50 players are displayed, there are actually a lot more; the list refreshes every minute. This list is not a leaderboard that displays all players and their achievements, but rather an opportunity to look for familiar names that you may have encountered in your battles.
The most prestigious Diamond League has a separate leaderboard, which will include the top eight players with the highest rating. Those eight players will receive additional rewards when the season ends.
To be placed in a League, players have to complete five placement matches. These matches will help estimate the skill of each player and place them into an appropriate League.
The highest possible League after placement is Gold.
All players start their placement matches with the same number of Rank Points. This parameter will be hidden until placement is completed. Each victory earns a predetermined number of points, and losses do not deduct any points.
All players start their placement on equal terms.
Just like in the last season, personal efficiency counts towards placement. The more efficient you are with a particular class, the more Rank Points you will get.
Individual efficiency during placement matches is analyzed to more accurately assign players to Leagues at the start of the season. This helps improve the quality of later matches.
Each consecutive win will grant more Rank Points. This figure is progressive—the highest Rank Points bonus will be awarded for the fifth victory in a row.
But keep in mind that losing will reset your victory streak.
The League you were in at the end of the previous season will be taken into account during placement. Bonus Rank Points will be awarded after five matches.
After each battle, the number of Rank Points will change.
The number of Rank Points you can gain or lose depends on the average rating of the team you are playing against, compared to your team.
If the rating of both teams is similar, then you will either gain or lose 20 Rank Points after the battle.
All changes to the number of Rank Points will be shown immediately after the match ends.
MVP protection will not be active during this season.
As a reminder, previously the MVP who amassed the most Ribbons of a certain type would lose 80% fewer Rank Points in case of a defeat.
Compared to Hacking mode, Threshold is much more complex. You have to not just deal a bunch of damage and heal a lot, but also use the right tactics to get to the enemy’s AA system and gain 5000 points.
Every rank has upper and lower limits. For example, in Gold I, there will be players who have between 800–899 Rank Points. When a player earns 900 Rank Points, they will be immediately moved to Platinum III.
Out of all Diamond League players, only the top 8 with the most Rank Points will be featured on the leaderboard.
When the number of Rank Points falls below the limit, there will be a demotion.
The demotion protection system works as follows:
For example, if a player in Bronze II has a rating of 105, they will only lose 5 points on a defeat, instead of 10.
If you reach an advanced League, you will have to regularly prove your mastery.
In Gold League and higher, your rating will decrease every Wednesday for inactivity. To avoid this, you must play a certain number of matches in Ranked Battles every week.
The higher the League, the more battles you have to play, and the more Rank Points players will lose for inactivity.
In Ranked Battles, the following penalties apply:
If a teammate who is not on your fireteam leaves the battle, you lose only 50% of the normal number of Rank Points.
During matchmaking, the system tries to pick players that are no more than two Leagues apart. The main goal of matchmaking is to compose two teams of equal skill based on rating of their members.
Fireteams can contain players with a big League difference, in which case the matchmaking system will only consider the rating of the players with the highest Leagues in the fireteam. However, a victory with such a fireteam will earn fewer Rank Points.
So, if you are in the Bronze League and another player in your fireteam is in the Platinum League, you will be very likely to encounter players from the Gold, Platinum and Diamond Leagues in your battles.
During matchmaking, the system will always try to allocate fireteams first. For instance, if you are going into battle with a fireteam of 4, then the system will try and match you against a fireteam with the same composition. But these conditions will only be applied if there are enough fireteams in the system during matchmaking.
If the system is not able to find suitable opponents, then priority will be given to fireteams of 3 and 2, then to individual players.
Don’t forget that fireteam rating, the time spent searching for a battle, and the distance of players from the servers are also taken into account.
Sometimes in a battle you may encounter solo players with a large difference in Leagues. This happens when the system fails to find players for a long time. That said, the average rating of both teams is usually equal.
Previously, seasons had a strict rule that prevented players too far apart in Leagues from entering the same battle. But this rule caused matchmaking to take too long.
It is nice to get into a high League, but it’s even better to get rewarded for it. During the event, players will be earning Rank Tokens that can be used to purchase items in the Ranked Armory.
For every first victory of the day, you will receive 50 Tokens. For every fifth victory, you will receive 30 Tokens.
The reward for advancing to the next League is granted immediately. If placement results get you into Gold, you will also get all the rewards for the lower Leagues.
Rewards for being in a League at the end of the season will be given on September 11.
You can spend your Tokens in the Ranked Armory to purchase Epic Outfits, Executions, Emotes, Camos, and HQ Backgrounds.
What’s new: Iris Epic Outfit for Marksman Eima, Neodymium Camo, and Guardian Angel Execution.
The Armory will be open throughout the Ranked Season and for one week after it ends.
Rank Emblems are not given as rewards at the end of the season, but change dynamically depending on the player’s League. You can find your dynamic Emblem on your Account.
This Emblem will represent the player’s League until the beginning of a new Ranked Battles season.
