Dota Rank Distribution and Medals in Season 3
The Dota 2 rank distribution and estimated MMR by medal during season 3. Data based on 5 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 3
September 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 | 0.00 | Crusader 1 | 18.97 | Legend 1 | 64.01 | Divine 1 | 97.15 |
| Herald 2 | 0.01 | Crusader 2 | 21.66 | Legend 2 | 67.36 | Divine 2 | 97.67 |
| Herald 3 | 0.06 | Crusader 3 | 24.49 | Legend 3 | 70.65 | Divine 3 | 98.09 |
| Herald 4 | 0.19 | Crusader 4 | 27.40 | Legend 4 | 73.76 | Divine 4 | 98.45 |
| Herald 5 | 0.52 | Crusader 5 | 30.42 | Legend 5 | 76.74 | Divine 5 | 98.74 |
| Herald 6 | 1.18 | Crusader 6 | 33.50 | Legend 6 | 79.49 | Divine 6 | 98.97 |
| Herald 7 | 2.20 | Crusader 7 | 36.62 | Legend 7 | 81.98 | Divine 7 | 99.14 |
| Guardian 1 | 3.59 | Archon 1 | 39.96 | Ancient 1 | 84.48 | Immortal | 100.00 |
| Guardian 2 | 5.28 | Archon 2 | 43.33 | Ancient 2 | 86.70 | ||
| Guardian 3 | 7.19 | Archon 3 | 46.81 | Ancient 3 | 88.69 | ||
| Guardian 4 | 9.29 | Archon 4 | 50.28 | Ancient 4 | 90.42 | ||
| Guardian 5 | 11.55 | Archon 5 | 53.76 | Ancient 5 | 91.92 | ||
| Guardian 6 | 13.91 | Archon 6 | 57.18 | Ancient 6 | 93.20 | ||
| Guardian 7 | 16.36 | Archon 7 | 60.53 | Ancient 7 | 96.50 |
Note: The data displayed during this month has been gathered on September 16 (season 3).
Ranked Roles matchmaking
On August 6th, Valve released an experimental update to improve our matchmaking quality. They will follow the community feedback and keep working on this new system to provide a better experience for all the players.
Below, you can find a summary of the main changes and on how they will affect our matchmaking and rank.
Solo and Party MMRs have been combined
Dota 2 ranked games have always emphasized solo play. The developers believe that this mindset created negativity and unhappiness over time because the game is heavily teamplay-based.
They considered several approaches and potential incentives, but in the end they were not enough to reward teamplay, so they decided to give more weight to it in the hierarchy of matchmaking values.
Of course, combining Solo and Party MMR might affect matchmaking quality, especially when playing with a friend with a higher MMR, but they think that everything can be solved with better algorithms.
Achieving a perfectly balanced matchmaker will require time, but they have high confidence on the actual version, and they will keep revising it during and after the experimental period.
Ranked Roles queue
Most players specialize in a determinate role and they have different comfort levels when playing another role. In order to create a really balanced system, the devs also had to introduce a Core and Support MMR.
From now on, all the standard ranked games will be role-based, so before queuing for a game we must indicate the position we want to play: Safe Lane, Mid Lane, Off Lane, Soft Support, Hard Support. Multiple selections are allowed, but once in-game you must play the role that has been assigned to you by the matchmaking.
Over the next year, we’ll be spending more time focusing on various aspects of matchmaking such as intra-team balance, player conduct, new player experience, abusive behaviors, account buying, friend and teamplay aspects, high mmr matchmaking dynamics, and other issues in an effort to make the overall experience of playing Dota more fun for players of all levels.
More changes:
August 8th: Random hero selection has been removed from Ranked Roles matches.
August 9th: Valve issued a ban wave for players found exploiting matchmaking, botting, or transferring accounts.
August 2019
| Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herald 1 | 0.00 | Crusader 1 | 19.66 | Legend 1 | 64.35 | Divine 1 | 97.52 |
| Herald 2 | 0.01 | Crusader 2 | 22.38 | Legend 2 | 67.64 | Divine 2 | 97.96 |
| Herald 3 | 0.07 | Crusader 3 | 25.23 | Legend 3 | 70.87 | Divine 3 | 98.34 |
| Herald 4 | 0.25 | Crusader 4 | 28.16 | Legend 4 | 73.93 | Divine 4 | 98.65 |
| Herald 5 | 0.73 | Crusader 5 | 31.20 | Legend 5 | 76.86 | Divine 5 | 98.89 |
| Herald 6 | 1.56 | Crusader 6 | 34.29 | Legend 6 | 79.56 | Divine 6 | 99.09 |
| Herald 7 | 2.74 | Crusader 7 | 37.42 | Legend 7 | 82.02 | Divine 7 | 99.25 |
| Guardian 1 | 4.22 | Archon 1 | 40.73 | Ancient 1 | 84.48 | Immortal | 100.00 |
| Guardian 2 | 5.92 | Archon 2 | 44.08 | Ancient 2 | 86.69 | ||
| Guardian 3 | 7.84 | Archon 3 | 47.50 | Ancient 3 | 88.67 | ||
| Guardian 4 | 9.92 | Archon 4 | 50.91 | Ancient 4 | 90.39 | ||
| Guardian 5 | 12.19 | Archon 5 | 54.31 | Ancient 5 | 91.89 | ||
| Guardian 6 | 14.57 | Archon 6 | 57.66 | Ancient 6 | 93.17 | ||
| Guardian 7 | 17.03 | Archon 7 | 60.93 | Ancient 7 | 96.96 |
MMR distribution by Medal - Season 3
Initially, Valve declared that each ranked season would have had a duration of six months - It never happened so far ;). The second Dota 2 ranked season lasted for almost eight months, and the third one started on January 29th.
It brought huge changes to the rank distribution as now each medal is split into seven star tiers instead of five. Valve claims that this adjustment will provide an improved rank precision, and more opportunities to rank up to the players who deserve a higher placement.
For the first time ever, the ranked season will have rewards: you will gain access to new emoticons based on your medal.
Your numerical behavior score is now indicated in your profile and conduct summaries: I believe it will have a greater impact on our matchmaking in the near future.
As usual, all the ranks have been soft reset, so our old MMR is considered during the new placement matches. Most players gained/lost an average of 75 MMR per game.
This is a first medal distribution with about 24h of data:
Herald: 1 - 839
Guardian: 840 - 1679
Crusader: 1680 - 2519
Archon: 2520 - 3359
Legend: 3360 - 4199
Ancient: 4200 - 5039
Divine: 5040 - 5879
There are more tiers, so even if you achieve MMR close to the past season, you will get a lower medal.
A bug affected Ranked Roles during the first days of the third season: those who played their recalibration matches via the Ranked Role matchmaking gained/lost only 25 MMR per game. Luckily, it has been fixed promptly:
An issue that caused players completing calibration games using Ranked Roles to not have the correct resulting calibrated MMR has been fixed. Players who have already played calibration games with this behavior have have their MMR updated to reflect the correct values.
— WYKRHM REDDY
If your MMR didn’t change after the patch, just play a game so the algorithm will detect your account and update it.
Below, the season 3 distribution used by the Dota 2 wiki:
Herald: 1 - 769
Guardian: 770- 1539
Crusader: 1540 - 2309
Archon: 2310 - 3079
Legend: 3080 - 3849
Ancient: 3850 - 4619
Divine: 4620 - 5760+
Previous months
July 2019
| Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herald 1 | 0.00 | Crusader 1 | 20.91 | Legend 1 | 65.60 | Divine 1 | 97.81 |
| Herald 2 | 0.02 | Crusader 2 | 23.66 | Legend 2 | 68.86 | Divine 2 | 98.20 |
| Herald 3 | 0.10 | Crusader 3 | 26.54 | Legend 3 | 72.03 | Divine 3 | 98.54 |
| Herald 4 | 0.38 | Crusader 4 | 29.49 | Legend 4 | 75.05 | Divine 4 | 98.81 |
| Herald 5 | 1.07 | Crusader 5 | 32.55 | Legend 5 | 77.91 | Divine 5 | 99.02 |
| Herald 6 | 2.13 | Crusader 6 | 35.65 | Legend 6 | 80.53 | Divine 6 | 99.20 |
| Herald 7 | 3.51 | Crusader 7 | 38.78 | Legend 7 | 82.92 | Divine 7 | 99.34 |
| Guardian 1 | 5.15 | Archon 1 | 42.11 | Ancient 1 | 85.30 | Immortal | 100.00 |
| Guardian 2 | 6.95 | Archon 2 | 45.46 | Ancient 2 | 87.42 | ||
| Guardian 3 | 8.94 | Archon 3 | 48.87 | Ancient 3 | 89.31 | ||
| Guardian 4 | 11.07 | Archon 4 | 52.26 | Ancient 4 | 90.95 | ||
| Guardian 5 | 13.38 | Archon 5 | 55.66 | Ancient 5 | 92.39 | ||
| Guardian 6 | 15.77 | Archon 6 | 58.98 | Ancient 6 | 93.60 | ||
| Guardian 7 | 18.25 | Archon 7 | 62.22 | Ancient 7 | 97.32 |
June 2019
| Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herald 1 | 0.00 | Crusader 1 | 22.09 | Legend 1 | 67.17 | Divine 1 | 98.03 |
| Herald 2 | 0.02 | Crusader 2 | 24.89 | Legend 2 | 70.41 | Divine 2 | 98.39 |
| Herald 3 | 0.13 | Crusader 3 | 27.81 | Legend 3 | 73.55 | Divine 3 | 98.70 |
| Herald 4 | 0.54 | Crusader 4 | 30.81 | Legend 4 | 76.50 | Divine 4 | 98.94 |
| Herald 5 | 1.38 | Crusader 5 | 33.92 | Legend 5 | 79.28 | Divine 5 | 99.13 |
| Herald 6 | 2.60 | Crusader 6 | 37.07 | Legend 6 | 81.83 | Divine 6 | 99.30 |
| Herald 7 | 4.12 | Crusader 7 | 40.24 | Legend 7 | 84.14 | Divine 7 | 99.42 |
| Guardian 1 | 5.87 | Archon 1 | 43.60 | Ancient 1 | 86.43 | Immortal | 100.00 |
| Guardian 2 | 7.77 | Archon 2 | 46.98 | Ancient 2 | 88.44 | ||
| Guardian 3 | 9.84 | Archon 3 | 50.43 | Ancient 3 | 90.21 | ||
| Guardian 4 | 12.05 | Archon 4 | 53.84 | Ancient 4 | 91.74 | ||
| Guardian 5 | 14.42 | Archon 5 | 57.23 | Ancient 5 | 93.08 | ||
| Guardian 6 | 16.85 | Archon 6 | 60.57 | Ancient 6 | 94.21 | ||
| Guardian 7 | 19.39 | Archon 7 | 63.81 | Ancient 7 | 97.58 |
May 2019
| Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herald 1 | 0.00 | Crusader 1 | 23.69 | Legend 1 | 69.07 | Divine 1 | 98.25 |
| Herald 2 | 0.04 | Crusader 2 | 26.53 | Legend 2 | 72.27 | Divine 2 | 98.58 |
| Herald 3 | 0.25 | Crusader 3 | 29.51 | Legend 3 | 75.35 | Divine 3 | 98.85 |
| Herald 4 | 0.87 | Crusader 4 | 32.55 | Legend 4 | 78.20 | Divine 4 | 99.07 |
| Herald 5 | 1.97 | Crusader 5 | 35.70 | Legend 5 | 80.88 | Divine 5 | 99.24 |
| Herald 6 | 3.44 | Crusader 6 | 38.88 | Legend 6 | 82.32 | Divine 6 | 99.38 |
| Herald 7 | 5.13 | Crusader 7 | 42.11 | Legend 7 | 85.55 | Divine 7 | 99.49 |
| Guardian 1 | 7.00 | Archon 1 | 45.51 | Ancient 1 | 87.69 | Immortal | 100.00 |
| Guardian 2 | 9.01 | Archon 2 | 48.92 | Ancient 2 | 89.54 | ||
| Guardian 3 | 11.18 | Archon 3 | 52.39 | Ancient 3 | 91.20 | ||
| Guardian 4 | 13.46 | Archon 4 | 55.79 | Ancient 4 | 92.62 | ||
| Guardian 5 | 15.87 | Archon 5 | 59.19 | Ancient 5 | 93.84 | ||
| Guardian 6 | 18.35 | Archon 6 | 62.51 | Ancient 6 | 94.87 | ||
| Guardian 7 | 20.93 | Archon 7 | 65.75 | Ancient 7 | 97.85 |
April 2019
| Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herald 1 | 0.01 | Crusader 1 | 25.35 | Legend 1 | 71.04 | Divine 1 | 98.43 |
| Herald 2 | 0.07 | Crusader 2 | 28.25 | Legend 2 | 74.17 | Divine 2 | 98.73 |
| Herald 3 | 0.42 | Crusader 3 | 31.29 | Legend 3 | 77.16 | Divine 3 | 98.97 |
| Herald 4 | 1.26 | Crusader 4 | 34.38 | Legend 4 | 79.91 | Divine 4 | 99.16 |
| Herald 5 | 2.64 | Crusader 5 | 37.58 | Legend 5 | 82.47 | Divine 5 | 99.32 |
| Herald 6 | 4.33 | Crusader 6 | 40.81 | Legend 6 | 84.80 | Divine 6 | 99.45 |
| Herald 7 | 6.18 | Crusader 7 | 44.08 | Legend 7 | 86.89 | Divine 7 | 99.54 |
| Guardian 1 | 8.17 | Archon 1 | 47.51 | Ancient 1 | 88.88 | Immortal | 100.00 |
| Guardian 2 | 10.29 | Archon 2 | 50.96 | Ancient 2 | 90.60 | ||
| Guardian 3 | 12.54 | Archon 3 | 54.43 | Ancient 3 | 92.13 | ||
| Guardian 4 | 14.89 | Archon 4 | 57.82 | Ancient 4 | 93.42 | ||
| Guardian 5 | 17.36 | Archon 5 | 61.24 | Ancient 5 | 94.54 | ||
| Guardian 6 | 19.89 | Archon 6 | 64.54 | Ancient 6 | 95.48 | ||
| Guardian 7 | 22.53 | Archon 7 | 67.75 | Ancient 7 | 98.06 |
March 2019
| Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herald 1 | 0.01 | Crusader 1 | 26.86 | Legend 1 | 72.78 | Divine 1 | 98.55 |
| Herald 2 | 0.16 | Crusader 2 | 29.81 | Legend 2 | 78.85 | Divine 2 | 98.82 |
| Herald 3 | 0.68 | Crusader 3 | 32.89 | Legend 3 | 78.73 | Divine 3 | 99.04 |
| Herald 4 | 1.78 | Crusader 4 | 36.02 | Legend 4 | 81.38 | Divine 4 | 99.22 |
| Herald 5 | 3.44 | Crusader 5 | 39.26 | Legend 5 | 83.84 | Divine 5 | 99.36 |
| Herald 6 | 5.34 | Crusader 6 | 42.52 | Legend 6 | 86.05 | Divine 6 | 99.48 |
| Herald 7 | 7.31 | Crusader 7 | 45.83 | Legend 7 | 88.02 | Divine 7 | 99.58 |
| Guardian 1 | 9.39 | Archon 1 | 49.31 | Ancient 1 | 89.88 | Immortal | 100.00 |
| Guardian 2 | 11.57 | Archon 2 | 52.76 | Ancient 2 | 91.47 | ||
| Guardian 3 | 13.87 | Archon 3 | 56.23 | Ancient 3 | 92.88 | ||
| Guardian 4 | 16.25 | Archon 4 | 59.64 | Ancient 4 | 94.07 | ||
| Guardian 5 | 18.74 | Archon 5 | 63.04 | Ancient 5 | 95.10 | ||
| Guardian 6 | 21.32 | Archon 6 | 66.33 | Ancient 6 | 95.96 | ||
| Guardian 7 | 24.01 | Archon 7 | 69.51 | Ancient 7 | 98.19 |
February 2019
| Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herald 1 | 0.06 | Crusader 1 | 28.53 | Legend 1 | 74.85 | Divine 1 | 98.44 |
| Herald 2 | 0.34 | Crusader 2 | 31.53 | Legend 2 | 77.83 | Divine 2 | 98.72 |
| Herald 3 | 1.17 | Crusader 3 | 34.65 | Legend 3 | 80.58 | Divine 3 | 98.95 |
| Herald 4 | 2.72 | Crusader 4 | 37.83 | Legend 4 | 83.08 | Divine 4 | 99.14 |
| Herald 5 | 4.75 | Crusader 5 | 41.15 | Legend 5 | 85.40 | Divine 5 | 99.30 |
| Herald 6 | 6.88 | Crusader 6 | 44.47 | Legend 6 | 87.45 | Divine 6 | 99.43 |
| Herald 7 | 8.94 | Crusader 7 | 47.84 | Legend 7 | 89.27 | Divine 7 | 99.53 |
| Guardian 1 | 11.06 | Archon 1 | 51.33 | Ancient 1 | 90.95 | Immortal | 100.00 |
| Guardian 2 | 13.21 | Archon 2 | 54.79 | Ancient 2 | 92.37 | ||
| Guardian 3 | 15.47 | Archon 3 | 58.29 | Ancient 3 | 93.64 | ||
| Guardian 4 | 17.82 | Archon 4 | 61.73 | Ancient 4 | 94.72 | ||
| Guardian 5 | 20.32 | Archon 5 | 65.14 | Ancient 5 | 95.64 | ||
| Guardian 6 | 22.91 | Archon 6 | 68.45 | Ancient 6 | 96.41 | ||
| Guardian 7 | 25.62 | Archon 7 | 71.66 | Ancient 7 | 98.08 |
Differences between January and Season 3
Season 3 increased the number of star tiers from five to seven. As a result of the change, the average medal decreased from Archon 2 to Crusader 7, but overall the 50 percentile should correspond to the same numerical MMR.
I believe most players had the time to play the placement matches, so the distribution will remain pretty much the same also in the following weeks, but I will wait one month more before any conclusive analysis on the situation.
Stats and seasonal rank graphs: dota.rgp.io - Header image (Hidden Flower loading screen for Templar Assassin): Valve
