Ranked 5s is League of Legends' full-premade ranked queue: you queue as a group of exactly five, play tournament draft, earn an individual rank on a separate LP ladder, and fight other five-stacks on Summoner's Rift. It launched June 26, 2026 and runs through September 6, 2026 across 15 regions, available every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 8 PM to 1 AM local server time. No fixed team roster is required — you can assemble a different five each session — and there are no rank restrictions on who can queue together.
Ranked 5s Schedule: Dates, Days, and Times
The queue is active during a five-hour window every weekend. Outside these hours, ranked 5s does not appear in the client.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Start date | June 26, 2026 |
| End date | September 6, 2026 |
| Active days | Friday, Saturday, Sunday |
| Active hours | 8:00 PM – 1:00 AM local server time |
| Regions | NA, EUW, EUNE, LAN, LAS, BR, OCE, SEA, MENA, RU, KR, JP, TW, VN, TR (15 total) |
The 8 PM start time is confirmed in Patch 26.13 notes. Some third-party sites have published a 9 PM start, which appears to be a regional misread — Riot's own patch notes and dev blog consistently cite 8 PM. During inactive hours on weekdays, the queue does not show up in the play menu at all.
Ranked 5s vs Flex Queue: What Is Actually Different
Ranked 5s is not Flex Queue. Both let you queue as a premade group and award individual ranks, but the format, availability, and draft are meaningfully different.
| Ranked 5s | Flex Queue | |
|---|---|---|
| Party size | Exactly 5 — no solos, duos, or partial groups | 1 to 5 (solo, duo, trio, quad, or full premade) |
| Rank restriction | None — any rank combination allowed | Restrictions apply depending on rank spread |
| Draft format | Tournament Draft (10 bans, 10 picks across two phases) | Standard ranked draft (10 bans, 10 picks in one phase) |
| Availability | Friday–Sunday, 8 PM–1 AM only | Always available |
| LP pool | Separate from Solo/Duo and Flex | Separate from Solo/Duo |
| Matchmaking | Five-stacks vs five-stacks where possible | Mixed party sizes in matchmaking |
| Season rewards | Participation icon + Gold+ banner | Standard ranked season rewards |
The practical difference that matters most for competitive groups: Ranked 5s guarantees you are playing against another full five-stack (when matchmaking allows), whereas Flex often pairs premade fours or fives against mixed-party lobbies. The tournament draft format also changes champion select dynamics significantly — see the next section.
Tournament Draft: The Full Pick and Ban Sequence
Ranked 5s uses Tournament Draft, the same champion select format used in professional play and Clash. It differs from standard ranked draft in that bans happen in two separate phases, giving both teams a chance to react to early picks before banning again. The full sequence is:
- Ban Phase 1: Blue team bans first, teams alternate for 3 bans each (6 bans total). Bans are visible to both sides immediately.
- Pick Phase 1: Blue picks 1 champion → Red picks 2 → Blue picks 2 → Red picks 1 (6 picks total, snake order).
- Ban Phase 2: Red team bans first this time, teams alternate for 2 bans each (4 bans total).
- Pick Phase 2: Red picks 1 → Blue picks 2 → Red picks 1 (4 picks total).
- Swap window: A 60-second grace period where teammates can swap champions with each other before the game locks in.
Total: 10 bans and 10 picks, same as standard ranked. The difference is the mid-draft ban phase. Because teams can see several picks before the second round of bans, Ban Phase 2 is often used to deny counters or protect carries who were just picked — a layer of strategy that standard ranked draft does not have. If your group has a go-to composition, you should agree before champion select which picks to protect in Phase 2.
How to Queue Up
- Open the League of Legends client during the active window (Friday–Sunday, 8 PM–1 AM local server time).
- Invite four friends to your lobby — you need exactly five total.
- In the play mode selector, Ranked 5s will appear as an available queue. Select it.
- Queue into matchmaking. The client pairs your five-stack against another five-stack when one is available at a similar skill level.
You do not need to register a fixed roster. Different groups of five can queue together each session, and players can participate in Ranked 5s separately from any other premade arrangement they have in Flex or Clash.
Ranked 5s Ranks and Rewards
Ranked 5s uses a separate LP pool from both Solo/Duo and Flex. A win or loss in Ranked 5s does not affect your Solo/Duo rank or your Flex rank. Each player earns their own individual rank based on how their team performs — the rank reflects your personal record in this queue, not a shared team rating.
Two rewards are available for this season run (June 26 – September 6, 2026):
- Participation icon: Awarded to any player who plays in the queue, regardless of rank or win rate.
- Ranked 5s banner: Reflects your peak rank in this queue. Only players who reach Gold or above earn one.
These are in addition to, and separate from, your standard end-of-season ranked rewards in Solo/Duo and Flex. Playing Ranked 5s exclusively does not put your main ranked rewards at risk, and your Solo/Duo rank does not appear or move during Ranked 5s games. For a refresher on how LoL ranks and LP work in general, see our League of Legends ranks guide.
Riot applies the same anti-boosting and anti-smurfing detection used in Flex Queue to Ranked 5s matches, including monitoring for account-control patterns and coordinated boosting schemes.
Will Ranked 5s Come Back After September 6?
Riot has framed this season run explicitly as an experiment. The dev blog published alongside the launch states: "This isn't set in stone." Whether Ranked 5s returns after September 6, 2026, extends its current run, or gets modified depends on player participation and feedback from this window.
The reason Riot is cautious: the original Ranked 5s (removed years ago) suffered from thin matchmaking pools outside high-rank play, leading to long queue times and poor match quality for everyone else. The weekend-only, fixed-hour approach this time is a direct response to that problem — concentrating players into a smaller time window to keep the pool dense enough to match five-stacks against each other.
If Riot does extend or permanently add the queue, the biggest likely change is expanding the available hours. The current 8 PM–1 AM window draws complaints from players with earlier schedules. Watch the Riot dev blog and patch notes in September for the official decision.
Ranked 5s FAQ
Does Ranked 5s affect my Solo/Duo rank or MMR?
No. Ranked 5s runs on a fully separate LP pool. Your Solo/Duo rank and MMR are unaffected by results in Ranked 5s, and vice versa. The same applies to Flex — Flex LP and Ranked 5s LP are tracked independently.
Can I queue with friends of any rank?
Yes. Ranked 5s has no rank restrictions. A Challenger player can queue with a Bronze player in the same premade. Matchmaking uses balancing mechanisms to account for skill gaps when forming opposing teams, but your own group has no rank cap or floor for eligibility.
What if I cannot get five friends together?
You cannot queue as fewer than five. Ranked 5s requires a full premade to enter the queue. If you have four or fewer players, your options are Flex Queue (which accepts solo through full premade), Normal Draft, or ARAM. You can also join someone else's Ranked 5s lobby if they need a fifth.
Is Ranked 5s the same as Flex Queue?
No. Both are ranked modes with individual LP, but Ranked 5s requires exactly five premade players, uses Tournament Draft, and is only available on weekends during fixed hours. Flex accepts any party size (solo through five), uses standard ranked draft, and is always available. The LP pools are also separate — winning in one does not affect the other. For the full mode overview, see the League of Legends game modes hub.
