Dota 2 Ranks: A Complete Guide to MMR and Ranking

Dota 2 ranks play a vital role in ensuring players are matched to games within their skill level. Of course, that’s not truly the reason why you landed on this segment about Dota 2 ranks, is it? If we had to make an educated guess, you are probably looking at how much matchmaking rank (MMR) points you still need before reaching your next Dota 2 rank. Rest assured that we are covering all the nooks and crannies about Dota rankings here.

What are the Dota 2 Ranks MMR

If we take a trip down memory lane, Dota 2 ranks were essentially numbers that Dota 2 players flex on other players. For the most part, Dota 2 ranks have still been relatively similar, at least for the MMR. You gain approximately 30 MMR for solo matches or 20 MMR for party, assuming you win the match.

Fast forward to Seasonal Dota 2 leaderboards, we have Dota 2 ranks recognized by its Dota 2 ranked medals instead. Essentially, it’s your Dota 2 MMR in silhouette, but like typical MOBAs, having a distinguishable title seems more relevant.

As you grind your way through Ranked Matchmaking, you will be notified when you surpass a certain MMR threshold. While there are only eight medals by category, each medal can be classified further by the number of stars.

The breakdown of Dota 2 rank by MMR are as below:

Image courtesy of Reddit user, CougarDota.

Do note that each rank benchmark is continuously changing as it readjusts based on the statistics of Dota 2 MMR distribution. For instance, if you hadn’t played ranked Dota 2 games for some time, where your MMR remained stagnant. Chances are, you might find yourself greeted with a medal promotion in your next match when it recalibrates your MMR based on the new benchmark.

Nonetheless, the medal benchmark usually deteriorates over time because players are losing MMR, hence pulling down the quality of medals.

How to climb Dota 2 Ranks

It wouldn’t be a proper Dota 2 ranks guide if we didn’t reveal some valuable tips on climbing the MMR ladder. We will start with the Uncalibrated medal, where you will have to play ten calibration games to know your actual MMR. We recommend that you win indisputably in these ten matches, especially the first half, because this is where your hidden MMR is still very volatile.

Losing the first round will basically show that you aren’t cut out for the current Dota tier, hence placing you into a lower MMR match. On the other hand, if you do win, it will grant you a much higher MMR to match you into a higher-skilled game.

Herald Medal

Say you already got your medal, and you are a Herald player. You have many fundamentals to learn and master a single hero you are comfortable with. In this bracket, you should focus less on your skills and learn proper basics.

Guardian or Crusader Medals

When you are in Guardian or Crusader, it’s time to communicate, ideally with the mic or in chat. You will need to understand what roles like support or carry do. However, you can always stick to one role for now. The key here is to climb the ranks, so being a one-trick pony works effectively.

Archon and Legend Medals

At Archon and Legend medals, here are where the majority of player distribution is. This means you will meet more players, more drafts, and different strategies. While communicating, make key objectives to play around your team by purchasing Smoke of Deceit for ganks and take objectives across the map. Map control plays a vital role, so does warding and map awareness.

Ancient and Divine Medals

In the Ancient and Divine bracket, advanced skills and understanding in-game mechanics are crucial. Lane equilibrium alone could affect the outcome of your game, so you will need to know when to pull the creeps. At such a high Dota tier list, drafts and patch meta can provide a massive advantage over opponents who only spam their favorite heroes.

Immortal Medal

Unfortunately, that’s as far advice we can share from an average Dota 2 player perspective, so you might want to check proper guides from Immortal-ranked pros. Alternatively, there are several best heroes to climb MMR Dota 2 that you can utilize too.

The MMR Leaderboard

These days, five-digit MMR is pretty standard among the pro players. 10k MMR was achieved way back in 2017 by Abed Azel L. Yusop, as more pros follow suit. Abed was also the first to surpass the 11k MMR mark three years later.

In March 2021, we have our first 12k MMR player, who goes by the name, Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon. Both prodigies compete in the upcoming International 10 championship, so you do not want to miss these guys in action.

While five-digit MMR is almost impossible to achieve, 6k MMR is still a decent accomplishment to brag to your friends. Being an immortal player can occasionally land you a career as an amateur pro player. And of course, if you have what it takes, you just might climb the Dota 2 rank tier list to become the next Abed.

Resetting your MMR for Recalibration

Given how prestigious MMR is hailed, resetting one’s MMR is a ticket to recalibrate your current MMR in hopes of a better one. That said, don’t expect to leap from Legend to Divine medal in just one recalibration because the most improvement one can expect is about 400-500 MMR.

When you reset your MMR, your current MMR will be hidden, so keep note of your initial MMR beforehand. You will have to complete ten calibration matches, which will reveal your new MMR. During these calibration matches, the amount of MMR gain or loss per match will vary over the standard 30 MMR.

Hence, players use this opportunity to play their best during these matches by either picking their highest winrate heroes or meta picks. Rumor has it that the early calibration matches typically have higher volatility as the Matchmaking system gauges your skill level inaccurately in the first three matches. It will eventually stabilize to a standard MMR gain/loss as one plays their final calibration matches.

Do note that MMR resets are only available during the start of a new Ranked season, where you can access the feature under Settings -> Account -> MMR Recalibration