Dota Rank Distribution and Medals in Season 2
The Dota 2 rank distribution and estimated MMR by medal during season 2. Data based on 6 million players.
I have been asked numerous times about the rank distribution in Dota 2. We don’t have official and specific info from Valve, but thanks to the work of the community and some tools, it is possible to find a reasonable answer.
The following dataset has the purpose to create a plausible MMR distribution by collecting data from as many players as possible.
A fraction of the player base might not be available as you can’t gather data from Dota 2 profiles that keep their info hidden, but the tool used for this distribution claims that “it covers nearly all ranked players and is not affected by the third-party sharing option” because “it gathers data directly from the Dota 2 system”.
All the Dota 2 ranked seasons
I had to split this analysis into multiple articles due to the excessive number of tables and graphs, which resulted in very long loading times.
Rank distribution - Season 2
January 2019
The table is responsive and sortable. If you are using a phone, you may have to turn it sideways for a full view. Otherwise, zoom in or click the grey area to swipe and sort it.
| Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herald 1 | 0.01 | Crusader 1 | 20.96 | Legend 1 | 69.98 | Divine 1 | 98.01 |
| Herald 2 | 0.08 | Crusader 2 | 25.20 | Legend 2 | 74.75 | Divine 2 | 98.52 |
| Herald 3 | 0.34 | Crusader 3 | 29.72 | Legend 3 | 79.18 | Divine 3 | 98.92 |
| Herald 4 | 1.15 | Crusader 4 | 34.44 | Legend 4 | 83.17 | Divine 4 | 99.21 |
| Herald 5 | 2.71 | Crusader 5 | 39.29 | Legend 5 | 86.53 | Divine 5 | 99.41 |
| Guardian 1 | 4.87 | Archon 1 | 44.43 | Ancient 1 | 89.57 | Immortal | 100.00 |
| Guardian 2 | 7.41 | Archon 2 | 49.63 | Ancient 2 | 92.02 | ||
| Guardian 3 | 10.30 | Archon 3 | 54.84 | Ancient 3 | 93.92 | ||
| Guardian 4 | 13.51 | Archon 4 | 59.97 | Ancient 4 | 95.38 | ||
| Guardian 5 | 17.04 | Archon 5 | 64.92 | Ancient 5 | 97.29 |
Note: The data displayed during this month has been gathered on January 14 (season 2).
MMR distribution by Medal - Season 2
The second Dota 2 ranked season introduced several changes, such as the Immortal rank and a new number of stars per medal; from 1 to 5 instead of 0 to 5.
Learn more: Season 2 changes
Also, for the first time ever, a Valve developer revealed publicly what influences our rank during the recalibration.
I’ve done work on the re-calibration code for this season; I can answer that. For the seasonal re-calibration games, it only uses wins or losses, the relative team rank balance (match fairness) and the estimated uncertainty on your rank.
You will not get additional calibration credit for your performance in the game beyond simply winning the game. For example; hero damage, kills, assists, wards placed, creep score, gpm, hero choice - those kinds of things do not inform the re-calibration system today.
— Jeff Hill - Valve Software Developer
As soon as the new season commenced, many players gathered data to figure out the impact of the win rate in the placement games, the medal received with a specific MMR, and to compare the old MMR with the new one.
The first distribution after about 24h of data:
Herald: 1 - 899
Guardian: 900 - 1749
Crusader: 1750 - 2649
Archon: 2650 - 3349
Legend: 3350 - 4249
Ancient: 4250 - 5099
Divine: 5100 - 5780+
Unfortunately, all that data has almost no value now because Valve released a patch to readjust all the matches.
Dota 2 Update - June 8th, 2018
In the first 30 hours since recalibration, the matchmaker was overly sensitive on wins and losses and it resulted in players calibrating with bigger gains and losses than intended. We are processing all matches again and will be correcting the rank gains and losses throughout the day. Medals will be appear as undefined for a bit during this process.
Before the patch: you could earn or lose a huge quantity of MMR during the placement games. Players who won 8-9 games out of 10 boosted their rank by 500-800+
MMR won/lost per number of victories before the patch - Image by vraGG_
After the patch: the placement matches drastically reduced their impact and assigned just a bit more MMR than standard ranked games.
It helped those who were defeated in most of the games, reducing their MMR loss, but simultaneously punished all players who were extremely successful and secured a place in a higher medal.
Honestly, I am not sure if the patch has been caused by a real sensitivity mistake, or if the devs have been forced to revert the changes due to the community outrage. In fact, alongside the players happy for their new MMR, there were also thousands of negative comments from those who lost their hard-earned medals.
Below, the temporary season 2 distribution used by the Dota 2 wiki:
Herald: 1 - 799
Guardian: 800 - 1599
Crusader: 1600 - 2399
Archon: 2400 - 3199
Legend: 3200 - 3999
Ancient: 4000 - 4799
Divine: 4800 - 5440+
Previous months
December 2018
| Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herald 1 | 0.01 | Crusader 1 | 21.53 | Legend 1 | 70.63 | Divine 1 | 98.10 |
| Herald 2 | 0.10 | Crusader 2 | 25.80 | Legend 2 | 75.38 | Divine 2 | 98.59 |
| Herald 3 | 0.42 | Crusader 3 | 30.34 | Legend 3 | 79.77 | Divine 3 | 98.98 |
| Herald 4 | 1.37 | Crusader 4 | 35.07 | Legend 4 | 83.70 | Divine 4 | 99.25 |
| Herald 5 | 3.03 | Crusader 5 | 39.95 | Legend 5 | 87.00 | Divine 5 | 99.44 |
| Guardian 1 | 5.25 | Archon 1 | 45.09 | Ancient 1 | 89.96 | Immortal | 100.00 |
| Guardian 2 | 7.85 | Archon 2 | 50.31 | Ancient 2 | 92.32 | ||
| Guardian 3 | 10.78 | Archon 3 | 55.51 | Ancient 3 | 94.15 | ||
| Guardian 4 | 14.02 | Archon 4 | 60.65 | Ancient 4 | 95.57 | ||
| Guardian 5 | 17.59 | Archon 5 | 65.60 | Ancient 5 | 97.41 |
November 2018
| Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herald 1 | 0.01 | Crusader 1 | 23.11 | Legend 1 | 72.55 | Divine 1 | 98.32 |
| Herald 2 | 0.12 | Crusader 2 | 27.50 | Legend 2 | 77.19 | Divine 2 | 98.87 |
| Herald 3 | 0.64 | Crusader 3 | 32.12 | Legend 3 | 81.44 | Divine 3 | 99.11 |
| Herald 4 | 1.93 | Crusader 4 | 36.93 | Legend 4 | 85.17 | Divine 4 | 99.35 |
| Herald 5 | 3.86 | Crusader 5 | 41.88 | Legend 5 | 88.28 | Divine 5 | 99.52 |
| Guardian 1 | 6.24 | Archon 1 | 47.06 | Ancient 1 | 91.01 | Immortal | 100.00 |
| Guardian 2 | 8.98 | Archon 2 | 52.30 | Ancient 2 | 93.15 | ||
| Guardian 3 | 12.02 | Archon 3 | 57.52 | Ancient 3 | 94.82 | ||
| Guardian 4 | 15.38 | Archon 4 | 62.63 | Ancient 4 | 96.10 | ||
| Guardian 5 | 19.07 | Archon 5 | 67.57 | Ancient 5 | 97.72 |
October 2018
| Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herald 1 | 0.02 | Crusader 1 | 24.67 | Legend 1 | 74.25 | Divine 1 | 98.52 |
| Herald 2 | 0.18 | Crusader 2 | 29.13 | Legend 2 | 78.81 | Divine 2 | 98.93 |
| Herald 3 | 1.01 | Crusader 3 | 33.81 | Legend 3 | 82.91 | Divine 3 | 99.22 |
| Herald 4 | 2.64 | Crusader 4 | 38.69 | Legend 4 | 86.42 | Divine 4 | 99.44 |
| Herald 5 | 4.77 | Crusader 5 | 43.70 | Legend 5 | 89.36 | Divine 5 | 99.58 |
| Guardian 1 | 7.28 | Archon 1 | 48.90 | Ancient 1 | 91.89 | Immortal | 100.00 |
| Guardian 2 | 10.13 | Archon 2 | 54.15 | Ancient 2 | 93.85 | ||
| Guardian 3 | 13.26 | Archon 3 | 59.34 | Ancient 3 | 95.37 | ||
| Guardian 4 | 16.72 | Archon 4 | 64.43 | Ancient 4 | 96.53 | ||
| Guardian 5 | 20.52 | Archon 5 | 69.37 | Ancient 5 | 97.97 |
September 2018
| Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herald 1 | 0.02 | Crusader 1 | 26.16 | Legend 1 | 75.79 | Divine 1 | 98.67 |
| Herald 2 | 0.32 | Crusader 2 | 30.68 | Legend 2 | 80.24 | Divine 2 | 99.05 |
| Herald 3 | 1.49 | Crusader 3 | 35.41 | Legend 3 | 84.15 | Divine 3 | 99.31 |
| Herald 4 | 3.40 | Crusader 4 | 40.35 | Legend 4 | 87.48 | Divine 4 | 99.50 |
| Herald 5 | 5.66 | Crusader 5 | 45.39 | Legend 5 | 90.24 | Divine 5 | 99.63 |
| Guardian 1 | 8.29 | Archon 1 | 50.61 | Ancient 1 | 92.60 | Immortal | 100.00 |
| Guardian 2 | 11.23 | Archon 2 | 55.84 | Ancient 2 | 94.41 | ||
| Guardian 3 | 14.47 | Archon 3 | 61.02 | Ancient 3 | 95.81 | ||
| Guardian 4 | 18.02 | Archon 4 | 66.08 | Ancient 4 | 96.87 | ||
| Guardian 5 | 21.91 | Archon 5 | 70.97 | Ancient 5 | 98.17 |
August 2018
| Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herald 1 | 0.04 | Crusader 1 | 27.27 | Legend 1 | 76.87 | Divine 1 | 98.76 |
| Herald 2 | 0.60 | Crusader 2 | 31.79 | Legend 2 | 81.23 | Divine 2 | 99.11 |
| Herald 3 | 2.16 | Crusader 3 | 36.55 | Legend 3 | 84.97 | Divine 3 | 99.35 |
| Herald 4 | 4.23 | Crusader 4 | 41.47 | Legend 4 | 88.15 | Divine 4 | 99.53 |
| Herald 5 | 6.53 | Crusader 5 | 46.52 | Legend 5 | 90.81 | Divine 5 | 99.65 |
| Guardian 1 | 9.19 | Archon 1 | 51.76 | Ancient 1 | 93.04 | Immortal | 100.00 |
| Guardian 2 | 12.16 | Archon 2 | 56.96 | Ancient 2 | 94.75 | ||
| Guardian 3 | 15.44 | Archon 3 | 62.12 | Ancient 3 | 96.07 | ||
| Guardian 4 | 19.05 | Archon 4 | 67.18 | Ancient 4 | 97.06 | ||
| Guardian 5 | 22.98 | Archon 5 | 72.07 | Ancient 5 | 98.27 |
July 2018
| Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herald 1 | 0.12 | Crusader 1 | 28.36 | Legend 1 | 77.92 | Divine 1 | 98.83 |
| Herald 2 | 1.09 | Crusader 2 | 32.87 | Legend 2 | 82.13 | Divine 2 | 99.15 |
| Herald 3 | 3.00 | Crusader 3 | 37.64 | Legend 3 | 85.74 | Divine 3 | 99.38 |
| Herald 4 | 5.14 | Crusader 4 | 42.57 | Legend 4 | 88.81 | Divine 4 | 99.55 |
| Herald 5 | 7.49 | Crusader 5 | 47.62 | Legend 5 | 91.33 | Divine 5 | 99.67 |
| Guardian 1 | 10.20 | Archon 1 | 52.85 | Ancient 1 | 93.44 | Immortal | 100.00 |
| Guardian 2 | 13.20 | Archon 2 | 58.03 | Ancient 2 | 95.06 | ||
| Guardian 3 | 16.51 | Archon 3 | 63.16 | Ancient 3 | 96.30 | ||
| Guardian 4 | 20.13 | Archon 4 | 68.26 | Ancient 4 | 97.25 | ||
| Guardian 5 | 24.09 | Archon 5 | 73.16 | Ancient 5 | 98.36 |
Differences between July and June
The percentage of players increased slightly at lower ranks, and decreased at higher ones. Overall, we are talking about 1% to 3% adjustments, but they have an impact considering the vast number of players in the game.
The average Dota 2 player (50 percentile) moved down from high Archon 1 to high Crusader 5.
Note that the data may not be final as we are talking about a very fresh season.
June 2018
| Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herald 1 | 0.54 | Crusader 1 | 24.29 | Legend 1 | 74.11 | Divine 1 | 98.19 |
| Herald 2 | 1.67 | Crusader 2 | 28.36 | Legend 2 | 78.73 | Divine 2 | 98.64 |
| Herald 3 | 3.17 | Crusader 3 | 32.78 | Legend 3 | 82.78 | Divine 3 | 99.00 |
| Herald 4 | 4.79 | Crusader 4 | 37.46 | Legend 4 | 86.24 | Divine 4 | 99.26 |
| Herald 5 | 6.66 | Crusader 5 | 42.39 | Legend 5 | 89.19 | Divine 5 | 99.45 |
| Guardian 1 | 8.81 | Archon 1 | 47.55 | Ancient 1 | 91.60 | Immortal | 100.00 |
| Guardian 2 | 11.29 | Archon 2 | 52.79 | Ancient 2 | 93.52 | ||
| Guardian 3 | 14.05 | Archon 3 | 58.17 | Ancient 3 | 95.05 | ||
| Guardian 4 | 17.09 | Archon 4 | 63.61 | Ancient 4 | 96.25 | ||
| Guardian 5 | 20.53 | Archon 5 | 68.96 | Ancient 5 | 97.56 |
Differences between June and Season 1
The distribution changed at lower ranks. Herald 5 increased from a 2.96 percentile in season 1 to 6.66. Guardian, Crusader, and Archon have been affected by small adjustments as well, but overall there is only a 4% difference between the start of the old and new Legend medal.
Stats and seasonal rank graphs: dota.rgp.io - Header image (Broken Scale loading screen for Anti-Mage): Valve
