The Elo rating system in League of Legends, while inspired by Arpad Elo's original system for chess, is adapted to accommodate team play. Here's how it works:
: Each player is assigned a rating that reflects their skill level. This rating changes based on wins and losses against opponents of varying skill levels12.
: Unlike chess, League of Legends is a team-based game. Therefore, the system averages the collective Elo of the opposing team to determine rating changes1.
: Winning against a team with a higher average Elo rating results in more significant rating gains, while losing to a lower-rated team leads to larger rating drops12.
: Riot Games uses MMR, which functions similarly to Elo but is not publicly displayed. MMR is crucial for matchmaking and determining rank changes12.
: Players gain LP by winning matches and lose LP by losing. The amount of LP gained or lost depends on the match outcome and the opponents' ranks23.
: Skilled players can become stuck in lower ranks due to team performance issues, not individual skill12.
: The system primarily focuses on win/loss outcomes, often neglecting individual performance metrics1.
Riot Games has announced plans to replace the current system with TrueSkill 2, aiming to better assess player skill and improve matchmaking1.