The Importance of Placements in League of Legends (And How to Ace Them)

League of Legends uses placement matches to determine your starting position on the current season or split’s Ranked Ladder. You only play them if you’re unranked and never played a ranked match before. This also occurs at the start of a new season or split.

When you’re queued up for Ranked, your MMR (matchmaking rating) and tier levels are at stake. Wins and losses affect the MMR while climbing and falling the ranked ladder can wreak havoc on your tier level. If you’re striving to play better than the average LoL gamer, then the importance of placements in League relies on your ability to ace the ranking system.

About LoL Placements

You must play five placement matches in each Ranked queue to lock a starting tier and division. This outcome depends on these matches and the difficulty of the opponents you face. Your rank from the previous season and preseason is also factored in. If you’ve played Ranked in the previous season or split, you’ll undergo a soft reset at the beginning of a new one. All LoL players experience this.

Your new rank will likely be a tier lower than it was at the end of the previous season or split. If you’ve never played Ranked before then your normal MMR will be considered for your placement matches. You also can’t place anything higher than Diamond III regardless of your previous season had you placed among the top tiers.

You also can’t lose League Points (LP) in placement matches. Losses simply grant you zero points. However, be sure to have a good connection as anything recognized as “Away from Keyboard” (AFK) will be chalked as a loss in your placements.

Altogether, there are ten tier levels. From Iron to Diamond, there are four divisions for each tier. Climb above these and you’re among the Apex class of Master, Grandmaster, and Challenger. Here is a thorough breakdown of each tier and their divisions;

• Iron
  
  
  • Iron IV
    
    
  • Iron III
    
    
  • Iron II
    
    
  • Iron I
    
    
• Bronze
  
  
  • Bronze IV
    
    
  • Bronze III
    
    
  • Bronze II
    
    
  • Bronze I
    
    
• Silver
  
  
  • Silver IV
    
    
  • Silver III
    
    
  • Silver II
    
    
  • Silver I
    
    
• Gold
  
  
  • Gold IV
    
    
  • Gold III
    
    
  • Gold II
    
    
  • Gold I
    
    
• Platinum
  
  
  • Platinum IV
    
    
  • Platinum III
    
    
  • Platinum II
    
    
  • Platinum I
    
    
• Emerald
  
  
  • Emerald IV
    
    
  • Emerald III
    
    
  • Emerald II
    
    
  • Emerald I
    
    
• Diamond
  
  
  • Diamond IV
    
    
  • Diamond III
    
    
  • Diamond II
    
    
  • Diamond I
    
    
• Master
  
  
• Grandmaster
  
  
• Challenger
  
  

LoL Placement Promotions, Demotions, and Decay

Promotions

Once placed in a tier and division, you’ll earn LP for each match won. Consequently, you’ll also lose LP for each loss. Breaking 100 LP within a division will promote you to the next division of your current tier. Furthermore, whatever leftover LP you have will be carried over. Once you accumulate 100 LP in Divison I of any tier, you automatically jump to the next one. So, if you’re Iron, Division I, you jump to Bronze, Division IV.

Demotions

As you’re promoted to the next tier, you also stand to face demotion should you lose more LP than you have. If you’re at 5 LP in Silver III and lose 20 LP in a game, you’ll be demoted to Silver IV with 85 LP. You’ll need 15 LP to get to that 100 LP mark to bring yourself back to Silver III.

So, if you’re in Division IV of a tier level, you can lose several matches before being demoted to the next tier down. How many losses depends on your MMR and how it affects potential demotion. You can see where you stand by checking your Ranked Emblem under the Ranked tab.

There will also be a yellow warning icon to indicate you’re facing the danger of demotion. Also, a red icon will inform you that demotion is imminent should you lose again. When this happens, you’ll descend to the top division of the tier below. So if you’re Silver IV and lose, you’ll drop to Bronze I. Where your LP sits at this point depends on your MMR.

There’s also Demotion Shield. This is for players who just got promoted to a new tier. Up to Diamond IV, players are protected from demotion should they experience losses after their first few games.

Decay

From Diamond and up, players face promotions and demotions that run differently. These are among the Apex players who face decay as they struggle to stay among the higher-ranked LoL players. To keep your prestigious position, you need to stay on top of your game.

This includes staying in the game. Letting too many days go by without a match in the queue and the decay process against your LP begins. A set amount will be removed each day once you’ve become idle for too long. It doesn’t mean you have to play daily as you will be assigned banked days. However, for each day that passes, the number of banked days you’ve accumulated will diminish. Once that hits zero, then each day will result in a decay of LP.

You earn banked days by playing matches. How many days and LP you regain varies according to rank. They are as follows;

• Diamond Tier
  
  
  • Banked Days per Match: 7
    
    
  • Maximum Banked Days: 28
    
    
  • Initial Days Before Decay: 28
    
    
  • LP Lost on Decay: 50
    
    
• Master, Grandmaster, and Challenger Tiers
  
  
  • Banked Days per Match: 1
    
    
  • Maximum Banked Days: 14
    
    
  • Initial Days Before Decay: 14
    
    
  • LP Lost on Decay: 75
    
    

If you reach 0 LP or below due to decay, you’ll drop to the next lowest division. If you’re an Apex Tier player, your decay due to inactivity will drop you to Diamond II. From there, you’ll have to climb your way back up again.

How to Win Placements

There are two ways you can win placement matches with LoL. As each new season begins, millions of players worldwide gear up for Placement games. They know how crucial it is to climb the ranked ladder. You can either win Placement matches by following the best guides to help you with your LoL journey or recruit a trusted coach or booster such as Elboost24.

Here are some key strategies for how to win placement matches, regardless if you’re a newcomer or a seasoned player looking for tips that work;

Choosing Champions

Winning Placement games requires your full understanding of your chosen champions. Some players can handle many but most can only handle a few. As a player, decide the leading role that works best for you. Get to know your champion as well as you know yourself. This also applies if you’re looking for a supporting champion as well. Ideally, you shouldn’t have more than five favored champions on your roster. Understanding your champion’s strengths and weaknesses will help you play accordingly.

Preparation & Prioritizing

Choosing the right champions as you play LoL is only the beginning. It’s also about prioritizing your goals as a player. LoL is a massive game with countless variables such as items, jungle paths, matchups, power spikes, and runes. Also, know your champion’s itemization, matchups, and strong points. This combined knowledge gives you an advantage in Placement games.

It may be necessary to dodge your champions wisely to maximize your chances of success. While dodging pre-game scenarios may be limited, this tactic is handy when favoring unfavorable team compositions, auto-filled players, or 1v9 scenarios. This helps preserve your MMR and optimize your climb, even with Placement games.

Stay Updated

Riot Games continually updates games like League of Legends. This includes patch changes and other tweaks to the game that may impact your chosen champions. It will also impact LoL’s performance such as itemization, jungle routes, and other game-related buffs and smurfs. The more informed you are, the better in-game decisions you’ll make.

Limit Playtime

As addicting as playing LoL can be, limit your daily games to no more than five per day. You want to play your Placement matches with efficiency. Gaming statistics reveal peak performance among players typically occurs around the third game. This is when players are usually the best focused.

You need a focused mental state before queuing up for Placements. The idea is to enjoy League of Legends as you play it, not get frustrated.

Placement Boost & Coaching

If you want to ace Placement matches, hiring a professional booster or coach can help you achieve this goal. A professional boosting service such as Eloboost24 can help you overcome game-related obstacles. So can its professional coaching team. Coaches are a great way to understand how LoL works and how you can maximize your potential as a League player.

Placement Matches: Before & After

Before jumping into a LoL Placement match, watch how it's done by experienced players who have winning track records. This is what athletes and coaches do when prepping for their next game. They’ll study to see what’s being done right and try to copy what they saw.

After you’ve played a LoL Placement match, go back and watch the gameplay. What did you do right and what did you do wrong? Studying what you’ve done can help you improve as you focus on your strengths and iron out your weaknesses. This is also where hiring a good coach can help you speed up your progress and become a better player.