What is Elo in League of Legends?
For those of you who aren’t familiar, Elo is the old system for League of Legends ranked – it was used before Season 2013. Today, LoL still uses the Elo metric, as in, you climb and fall based on enemy ranks, but they no longer show it – the name has been changed to MMR.
Today, you will notice players saying “Elo” when they’re referring to their displayed rank, like Gold II and so on. In this post, there are numerous things we’re going to go over regarding Elo, including the difference between high elo and low elo, which ranks are considered high elo, and so on.
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What’s the Difference Between High Elo and Low Elo in League of Legends?
The differences between high Elo and low Elo in League of Legends depends on the role, but generally, there are three key differences.
- Mechanics – This is one of the most significant differences, separating the platinum and low diamond players from the Olympic Elo players (bronze-gold). Having a good waveclear, knowing your limits and extents of the champion pool, and knowing when to back off or dive – all of this is crucial to becoming a good player.
- Confidence – Good League of Legends players know when an opportunity is knocking at their door to help them gain an advantage over their enemy team. There is a noticeable difference between plat 3 – diamond 4 players vs. diamond 3+ players because the former will need to wait for the opposing champion to make a mistake in order to capitalize on it, while the latter will know precisely what to do in order to make that enemy make a mistake.
- Objective Control/Map Awareness – This is probably one of the biggest things that separate players who can carry a game versus winning in the lane – objective control and map awareness are key aspects of League of Legends. This divides a player from being able to carry their team straight to victory compared to a player that is simply able to win their lane and create an advantage for themselves.
What Terminology is Being Used Nowadays? ELO vs MMR
Elo isn’t something that you can see with your eyes, but hey, this doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, right? Like we stated at the beginning of this post, in the early seasons, it was called ELO, and this was used as a public metric that signified your ranking. However, LoL has now switched over to MMR.
This affects how much League Points you win and low in each game. Your MMR is compared to players in the same division, and then it either increases or decreases (gains/losses) to bring your MMR to the division’s average. You can learn more about how MMR works on the League’s official website.
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Cutoff Points
On most servers, it’s common to find a million, maybe even a couple of million players, so percentiles are an on the key representation of how many League of Legend players are inferior to you. Of course, some players idle at Gold IV, but the Season 10 placements were a bit on the brutal side, to say the least. Instead of completing their placements and making their way towards the skin at the end of the year, most players had to earn Gold IV.
Silver II places you above half the League players in Europe and North America (top 49%). With around 4% of Ranked players nesting in Iron, this number may be slightly off. This tier was designed for those individuals who were struggling to grasp the basics of League. As for the Iron population, that currently consists of those who landed there after placements. Look at Korea – the Silver I is the top 45%, while Silver II is the top 54%.
Gold IV tells LoL players that they’re better than 2/3 of EUW and NA players (top 33%). In Korea, the same rank would place you in the top 39%, while Gold III is the top 27%.
Diamond IV is considered the Western definition of being in the top 2%, and Diamon III would take you beyond the top 1%. Anything higher would make you better than 1%. Diamond IV is the top 2.96% for players in Korea, while Diamond III is at 1.14%.
Platinum IV will put you in the top 9.5% on both NA and EUW servers. In order to break into the 10% on KR servers, this would require you to be Platinum III.
Tips on Climbing in League
Are you finding yourself stuck in Bronze, Silver, or Gold in LoL, and you want to raise your rank? If so, I fully understand and would like to end this article with some tips on climbing in League.
1. Choose a Role and Stick to it
I tell everyone this – when you’re jumping from role to role, how can you expect to get good? Choose a role that is suitable for you, and stick to it. I’m not going to lie to you; LoL isn’t exactly an easy game. You should master a single role, instead of becoming mediocre at all five roles. Think about this – who wants to be a jack of all trades, master of none?
No one. If you’re having a hard time finding a role that is suitable for you, then go over to the normal games and give them a try until you find one that’s good – this way, there’s no pressure on your back in Ranked, and you’ll be able to get into the groove.
2. Keep the Champion Pool Small
It’s better to have a small champion pool that you know well than to have a super big one, stretching yourself thin, trying to learn each champion. Knowing match-ups, damage trades, and interactions is an excellent skill to have, and by limiting the number of champions you play, you will have a better idea of how to play your main champion effectively.
3. Stay informed with the Patch Notes
It’s always a good idea to keep tabs on the latest patches. I know some players who don’t read the notes and have no idea what’s going on in the game. Keeping up with the LoL news is almost just as important as learning about your champions.
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4) Utilize the Practice Tool
There’s a reason that practice tool is there – make use of it. Riot handed us LoL players a practice tool so that we could learn the champions and improve. Is there a cool interaction that was just discovered? Instead of jumping in a Ranked match and trying it out, head over to the practice tool and give it a try.
It doesn’t take long to create practice tool games – you can create them in less than a minute, and you can close them at any time. In other words, it doesn’t take much effort at all, and there’s a lot that you can gain from it.
5. Dedicate Yourself
In order to truly climb, you need to put time and effort into League of Legends. This means you need to finish all of your games and learn the mechanics – the ELO system will do its job. Mind you; I’m not telling you to play ten games a day; you can play 10-15 games per week and should see some progress. When you first start out, rotate your three chosen champions out each week so that you get enough practice on all of them.
Also, make sure you take enough breaks so that you stay in a good state of mind.
Conclusion
So exactly what ranks are considered as high Elo ones in League of Legends? Technically speaking, once you hit Silver in the West, this is enough to classify yourself as high Elo. In fact, Gold IV is enough to be higher than 2/3 of the LoL players. Personally, I would brag about being high Elo once I’m in Platinum IV – this is the top 10%. However, when I first hit Gold 1, I was still proud of my accomplishment, and that is perfectly fine.
Take note that these percentages will change as the season progresses. We will see more inactive irons picking up the mouse and keyboard again, and more silvers will chase after that Gold. Still, despite it all, this distribution has been the same throughout the past couple of seasons. While Gold IV is closer to the top 33%, Platinum IV is still around the West’s top 10%.
In the end, regardless, don’t let people down you based on your ranking in League of Legends. What matters is that you’re having fun and you enjoy doing what you’re doing. Plus, you also have to think that those people that are in the matches with you, did, after all, end up in the same match as you.
Check out our following article, which explores the LoL ranking system.
