If you've played Blizzard Entertainment's MOBA Heroes of the Storm, you know that the game's ranked mode has been stuck in preseason ever since the game got officially released. The developer has now announced that the first real ranked season is coming soon, and with it comes a completely revamped ranked mode!
In a blog post on the Battle.net website, Blizzard gives us the skinny on what we can expect when the new ranked mode goes live. The current system, which sees players rank up from level 40 to level 1, will be removed completely in lieu of tiers and divisions.
As you can see in the image above, there are 5 tiers you can play in. These tiers are Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master, and Grand Master. Each of these tiers up to the highest Grand Master tier is divided into several divisions. The lowest division in any tier is 5, and the highest division is 1.
Whenever a new season starts you will have to play 10 placement matches after which you will be assigned a tier depending on how well (or badly) you did during those matches. After your placement, you will earn or lose ranks depending on your performance. When you have earned enough rank points you will be able to play a promotion match which will place you in a higher division or rank if you win. If your rank gets low enough you will be able to play a demotion match where you can defend your current rank. Lose one of these and you will be demoted to a lower division or tier. When you qualify for a promotion or demotion game, you will get a notification in the post-game scoreboard of your most recent game.
The rules change slightly if you've managed to reach either the Master or Grand Master rank. Playing in this rank means you will no longer have divisions. Instead, your badge will display the number of ranked points you've managed to accumulate in the Master League this season. If you manage to accrue enough points to be in the top 500 point earners, you will be placed in the Grand Master tier. While playing in this tier, your badge will display a score between 500 and 1. The closer your score is to 1, the higher in the rankings you are. These scores will be updated once a day.
In order to keep the ranked matches as fair as possible, it will no longer be possible for players to queue together if the difference in rank between players exceeds 1 league tier. While you're playing your placement matches you will only be matched with other players who are also still playing their placement matches. This new system will still use current MMR (Match Make Rating) as a "loose guideline" while determining your initial position within ranked. As an added bonus, players who have been silenced as a result of toxic behavior will no longer be able to queue for ranked matches until their silence expires.
Playing Hero League and Team League matches will also qualify you for new rewards based on your performance once the season starts. These rewards will be awarded to you at the end of the season and are based on the highest rank you've managed to achieve over the course of the season. See the chart below to find out what you can get:
The revamped ranked mode and the first competitive season will be coming to the game during the week of July 14.
There are also 2 new heroes coming to Heroes of the Storm. You can find out more about them here.
Are you looking forward to the revamped ranked mode?
