League of Legends placements are 5 provisional ranked games you play at the start of each ranked year. Your performance in these games, combined with your existing MMR, determines where you land on the ranked ladder. You cannot lose LP during placements, and the highest possible starting rank is Diamond III.
How placements work
When a new ranked year begins (January), every player's visible rank is soft-reset and they enter a 5-game provisional period. During provisionals:
- No LP loss. Losses award 0 LP instead of subtracting from your total.
- Elevated LP gains. Wins typically grant 40-80 LP each. New accounts start with a 74 LP baseline on their first win.
- Only wins and losses count. KDA, CS, vision score, and other in-game stats do not affect your placement. Riot's system considers match outcome, opponent difficulty, and your prior rank.
- Your rank is private. Other players cannot see your rank crest during the provisional period.
After the 5th game, LP gains return to normal (~25 LP per win below Emerald, slightly less above) and your rank becomes public.
How your starting rank is decided
Your placement result depends on where your MMR sits before you queue. There are three main scenarios:
| Situation | How your rank is seeded |
|---|---|
| Never played ranked (new account) | Seeded from your Normal game, ARAM, and Co-op vs. AI MMR |
| Played ranked recently | Soft-reset at least 4 divisions below your previous rank |
| Long break (6+ months) | Heavier MMR decay applied before provisionals, resulting in a significantly lower placement |
The soft reset means a player who finished Gold I last year would start provisionals around Silver I-Silver II. Players who haven't touched ranked in over six months may drop further because Riot applies additional MMR decay to dormant accounts.
What's the highest rank you can get from placements?
Diamond III. This is a hard cap. Going 5-0 with the highest possible MMR still cannot place you above Diamond III. Master, Grandmaster, and Challenger are only reachable by climbing after placements.
In practice, most players land somewhere between Iron and Platinum depending on their MMR history. The Diamond III ceiling mostly applies to former high-Diamond and Master+ players returning after the annual reset.
How placements changed for 2025 and 2026
The biggest recent change is the shift to a single annual reset. Starting in 2025, there is one rank reset per year in January. The year still has three thematic seasons (starting in January, April, and August), but your rank carries over between them with no additional resets.
Before 2025, ranked was split into three splits per year, each with its own soft reset. The current system means you only go through placements once per year instead of three times.
Other relevant changes from recent years:
- All promotion series removed (Season 2023 Split 2). Divisional promos were cut in 2021, and tier promos were removed in mid-2023. Reaching 100 LP now automatically promotes you.
- Placements reduced from 10 to 5 games (Season 2023 Split 2), alongside the addition of Emerald tier.
- Heavier decay for inactive accounts (introduced 2024 Split 3). Players away 6+ months face steeper MMR decay before their placement games.
No changes to placement structure or reset mechanics were announced for 2026.
Common placement questions
Does Riot force a 50% winrate?
No. Matchmaking is MMR-based: the system tries to create fair games by matching players of similar skill, which naturally trends toward a 50% winrate over many games. It does not manipulate individual match outcomes.
Can you dodge during placements?
Yes. Normal dodge penalties apply (queue lockout timer), but since you start with 0 LP during provisionals, there is no LP penalty.
Do wins matter more during placements than normal ranked?
LP gains are higher (40-80 per win vs. ~25 normally) and there is no LP loss, so each win during placements is worth significantly more than a standard ranked win. Your first few games also have an outsized effect on your MMR calibration.
