The League of Legends Patch 12.1 notes arrived in their entirety today and perhaps one of the most notable changes coming alongside the new ranked season comes in the form of updates to the ranked decay system for players at the game’s highest ranks.
Riot mentioned last year that League’s developers were making a conscious effort to make the game more forgiving to players at the highest ranks of the solo queue ladder, citing issues with the rank decay system that caused players to fall into ranks that weren’t representative of their overall skill level. Heading into the 2022 ranked season, League’s developers have kept their promise to make the upper echelon of the game far less harsh on players who take slight breaks.
This season, Riot is making some extensive changes to the way ranked decay works in League, but only for the game’s highest-ranked players. For starters, players at “apex ranks” (Challenger, Grandmaster, and Master) will be able to bank up to 14 days of inactivity before ranked decay starts to kick in. Additionally, the rate at which their LP will decay is being reduced from 250 LP per day of inactivity to 75 LP.
Related: What are the start times for League of Legends’ 2022 ranked season?
The ranked decay floor for apex tiers is also being shifted from Diamond I to Diamond II. Should high-tier players’ ranks decay entirely, they’ll have to restart their climb from Diamond II. Keep in mind that although ranked decay exists throughout the Diamond tier, these new rules coming with the 2022 ranked season only apply to players in the designated “apex tiers.” The rules surrounding ranked decay for players throughout other divisions in the Diamond tier are even more forgiving.
The changes to the ranked decay system for the game’s most skilled players “are intended to correct misplacements and improve the matchmaking experience,” according to Riot.
The 2022 League of Legends ranked season is scheduled to begin on Friday, Jan. 7.
