League of Legends Rank Distribution in Season 9
The League of Legends rank distribution and percentage of players by tier during Season 9. Solo queue data on the entire player base in all regions.
Thanks to the API implemented by Riot, we have access to reliable statistics on the player distribution by tier. There are several websites that gather and share these data; after examining the most reliable ones, I concluded that there are almost no differences among their tools.
If you notice small percentage gaps, they are probably due to the servers considered and to the last update of their services. Even 30 minutes can create a minimum discrepancy.
The statistics in the graph and the table below consider all the regions and only the ranks in solo queue.
All the League of Legends 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.
New player experience, normal games, MMR
In December, RiotIAmWalrus, Ranked and Clash designer at Riot Games, shared a few info on the new player experience and on the ranked system. I have quoted his words:
Why new players face Gold opponents
Not every new player is below average. Some are well above average, some are well below, but we’re still operating with limited information in all those cases. Starting people too low means that above average new players create disruptions in the system for a longer period of time.
Our goal is to keep the individual matches feeling fair for both the new player and the experienced teammates they eventually get.
Normal vs ranked games
Results in Normals don’t necessarily correlate 100% to results in Ranked.
People don’t always have the same competitive intent in Normal mode, so a player of average skill who tries hard may be slightly above average in normals, while a player of above average skill who messes around may end up below average.
Then, when those two players go into Ranked and start both trying hard, their Normal MMR wouldn’t actually reflect their relative skill.
Rank and Skill Rating
In general, we match on skill rating, not rank, because skill rating matching creates matches that play more fairly, even if they sometimes LOOK less fair.
Let’s hypothetically say you are a player with Platinum skill, playing in Gold II. If we match you against Gold Is in your promos, you will have a much greater likelihood of winning, because we honestly think you’re better than that - but this also means we’ve made a game where 5 players are heavily disadvantaged.
Instead, we try to make a game we think is fair for you based on skill rating, and then let your LP move more quickly for each win, in order to get your rank and skill caught up.
MMR vs LP
MMR is meant to measure your skill, and that is all it’s meant to care about. This means that we want it to be able to adapt quickly, be fine with overestimating, and move around quickly as we get new info.
LP is meant to be more steady and certain, so it moves slower and is less responsive to small trends. This is why it takes more games for your LP to move upwards and sometimes catch up with your MMR - it’s effectively waiting for a larger sample size.
We don’t take KDA, Vision Score, etc. into account for MMR, because those statistics are gameable. We don’t want to create a situation where your support decides their odds of winning the game are too low, so they instead focus on maxing out Vision score to save as much MMR/LP as possible.
Season 9
November 2019
| Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron IV | 0.05% | Silver II | 8.4% | Diamond IV | 2.3% |
| Iron III | 0.26% | Silver I | 7.1% | Diamond III | 0.77% |
| Iron II | 0.57% | Gold IV | 14% | Diamond II | 0.37% |
| Iron I | 0.89% | Gold III | 7.7% | Diamond I | 0.19% |
| Bronze IV | 1.9% | Gold II | 6.7% | Master | 0.07% |
| Bronze III | 2.3% | Gold I | 4.2% | GrandMaster | 0.03% |
| Bronze II | 3.7% | Platinum IV | 8.7% | Challenger | 0.01% |
| Bronze I | 5.7% | Platinum III | 3.1% | ||
| Silver IV | 8.7% | Platinum II | 1.9% | ||
| Silver III | 6.7% | Platinum I | 1.8% |
A summary of the data
Iron and Bronze include 15% of the player base, which is a reasonable amount for the lowest tiers.
Most of the players are ranked at Silver and Gold, and the average player is placed at Gold IV. I believe League of Legends achieved an optimal distribution in the low and mid tiers.
Diamond is an elite group restricted to 3.7% of the player base, but note that a year ago it was limited to 2%. Likewise, now Platinum includes the top 19%, while before it didn’t exceed 10%.
Only the best 0.11% players in the game are able to reach Master and above.
Distribution:
Iron: 1.7%
Bronze: 13%
Silver: 31%
Gold: 33%
Platinum: 15%
Diamond: 3.6%
Master: 0.07%
GrandMaster: 0.03%
Challenger: 0.01%
Riot Blaustoise on the rank distribution
Riot Blaustoise, gameplay data and R&D at Riot, shared on Twitter the following images showing the potential rank distributions they studied while designing the competitive system in League of Legends.
He used the data on Esports Tales to create this second graph displaying the differences between the rank distribution in LoL, Dota 2, and Overwatch.
Overall, Dota 2 is the closest to the optimal “Goldilocks” rank distribution, while League of Legends is similar to the “Salty Splitoon” one, but the Riot dev team achieved great improvements from Season 8 to 9.
He ended this chat listing his suggestions to improve the LoL ranked distribution and the goals they are trying to achieve.
Suggestions:
- More players shifted from bronze/silver into gold/platinum.
- Diamond becomes a real “major division” with 5-8% of the top players, instead of an “elite division” (even makes sense thematically as we go from metals to “masters”).
- Masters becomes a clean 1%.
- Upon reaching masters, your RAW RANK is displayed (i.e. rank 2534 masters NA) similar to Hearthstone.
- Grandmaster is more exclusive at the top 0.1% (around what masters+ is now)
- Challenger stays as a set #.
Goals:
- Make LoL less gate-keepy.
- Center the distribution around gold.
- Make Diamond a major division so more players can feel good about being at the “top” without being “elite”.
- Provide more transparency + competition to elite players.
— Riot Blaustoise - gameplay data and R&D at Riot
Previous months
October 2019
| Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron IV | 0.05% | Silver II | 8.74% | Diamond IV | 2.21% |
| Iron III | 0.31% | Silver I | 7.32% | Diamond III | 0.77% |
| Iron II | 0.68% | Gold IV | 13.62% | Diamond II | 0.37% |
| Iron I | 0.99% | Gold III | 7.66% | Diamond I | 0.20% |
| Bronze IV | 2.32% | Gold II | 6.66% | Master | 0.05% |
| Bronze III | 2.66% | Gold I | 4.20% | GrandMaster | 0.04% |
| Bronze II | 4.00% | Platinum IV | 7.94% | Challenger | 0.02% |
| Bronze I | 5.95% | Platinum III | 3.03% | ||
| Silver IV | 9.07% | Platinum II | 1.99% | ||
| Silver III | 7.20% | Platinum I | 1.95% |
Top percentage of players
| Rank | Top% | Rank | Top% | Rank | Top% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron IV | 100 | Silver II | 66.77 | Diamond IV | 3.66 |
| Iron III | 99.95 | Silver I | 58.03 | Diamond III | 1.45 |
| Iron II | 99.64 | Gold IV | 50.71 | Diamond II | 0.68 |
| Iron I | 98.96 | Gold III | 37.09 | Diamond I | 0.31 |
| Bronze IV | 97.97 | Gold II | 29.43 | Master | 0.11 |
| Bronze III | 95.65 | Gold I | 22.77 | GrandMaster | 0.06 |
| Bronze II | 92.99 | Platinum IV | 18.57 | Challenger | 0.02 |
| Bronze I | 88.99 | Platinum III | 10.63 | ||
| Silver IV | 83.04 | Platinum II | 7.60 | ||
| Silver III | 73.97 | Platinum I | 5.61 |
Distribution:
Iron: 2.03%
Bronze: 14.94%
Silver: 32.33%
Gold: 32.14%
Platinum: 14.91%
Diamond: 3.54%
Master: 0.05%
GrandMaster: 0.04%
Challenger: 0.02%
September 2019
| Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron IV | 0.06% | Silver II | 8.84% | Diamond IV | 2.19% |
| Iron III | 0.34% | Silver I | 7.32% | Diamond III | 0.76% |
| Iron II | 0.74% | Gold IV | 13.15% | Diamond II | 0.37% |
| Iron I | 1.05% | Gold III | 7.51% | Diamond I | 0.20% |
| Bronze IV | 2.54% | Gold II | 6.51% | Master | 0.05% |
| Bronze III | 2.90% | Gold I | 4.11% | GrandMaster | 0.04% |
| Bronze II | 4.15% | Platinum IV | 7.51% | Challenger | 0.02% |
| Bronze I | 6.03% | Platinum III | 2.94% | ||
| Silver IV | 9.30% | Platinum II | 1.97% | ||
| Silver III | 7.48% | Platinum I | 1.92% |
Top percentage of players
| Rank | Top% | Rank | Top% | Rank | Top% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron IV | 100 | Silver II | 65.41 | Diamond IV | 3.63 |
| Iron III | 99.94 | Silver I | 56.57 | Diamond III | 1.44 |
| Iron II | 99.60 | Gold IV | 49.25 | Diamond II | 0.68 |
| Iron I | 98.86 | Gold III | 36.10 | Diamond I | 0.31 |
| Bronze IV | 97.81 | Gold II | 28.59 | Master | 0.11 |
| Bronze III | 92.57 | Gold I | 22.08 | GrandMaster | 0.06 |
| Bronze II | 92.37 | Platinum IV | 17.97 | Challenger | 0.02 |
| Bronze I | 88.22 | Platinum III | 10.46 | ||
| Silver IV | 82.19 | Platinum II | 7.52 | ||
| Silver III | 72.89 | Platinum I | 5.55 |
Distribution:
Iron: 2.41%
Bronze: 16.54%
Silver: 33.65%
Gold: 30.09%
Platinum: 13.62%
Diamond: 3.58%
Master: 0.05%
GrandMaster: 0.04%
Challenger: 0.02%
August 2019
| Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron IV | 0.07% | Silver II | 9.01% | Diamond IV | 2.23% |
| Iron III | 0.38% | Silver I | 7.17% | Diamond III | 0.77% |
| Iron II | 0.84% | Gold IV | 12.52% | Diamond II | 0.37% |
| Iron I | 1.13% | Gold III | 7.31% | Diamond I | 0.21% |
| Bronze IV | 2.84% | Gold II | 6.31% | Master | 0.05% |
| Bronze III | 3.23% | Gold I | 3.95% | GrandMaster | 0.04% |
| Bronze II | 4.38% | Platinum IV | 6.98% | Challenger | 0.02% |
| Bronze I | 6.09% | Platinum III | 2.82% | ||
| Silver IV | 9.56% | Platinum II | 1.96% | ||
| Silver III | 7.91% | Platinum I | 1.85% |
Top percentage of players
| Rank | Top% | Rank | Top% | Rank | Top% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron IV | 100 | Silver II | 63.57 | Diamond IV | 3.69 |
| Iron III | 99.93 | Silver I | 54.56 | Diamond III | 1.46 |
| Iron II | 99.55 | Gold IV | 47.39 | Diamond II | 0.69 |
| Iron I | 98.71 | Gold III | 34.87 | Diamond I | 0.32 |
| Bronze IV | 97.58 | Gold II | 27.65 | Master | 0.11 |
| Bronze III | 94.74 | Gold I | 21.25 | GrandMaster | 0.06 |
| Bronze II | 91.51 | Platinum IV | 17.30 | Challenger | 0.02 |
| Bronze I | 87.13 | Platinum III | 10.32 | ||
| Silver IV | 81.04 | Platinum II | 7.50 | ||
| Silver III | 71.48 | Platinum I | 5.54 |
Distribution:
Iron: 2.41%
Bronze: 16.54%
Silver: 33.65%
Gold: 30.09%
Platinum: 13.62%
Diamond: 3.58%
Master: 0.05%
GrandMaster: 0.04%
Challenger: 0.02%
July 2019
| Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron IV | 0.07% | Silver II | 9.08% | Diamond IV | 2.36% |
| Iron III | 0.40% | Silver I | 7.53% | Diamond III | 0.80% |
| Iron II | 0.87% | Gold IV | 11.94% | Diamond II | 0.38% |
| Iron I | 1.21% | Gold III | 7.17% | Diamond I | 0.23% |
| Bronze IV | 2.93% | Gold II | 6.21% | Master | 0.05% |
| Bronze III | 3.33% | Gold I | 4.01% | GrandMaster | 0.05% |
| Bronze II | 4.45% | Platinum IV | 6.58% | Challenger | 0.02% |
| Bronze I | 6.31% | Platinum III | 2.76% | ||
| Silver IV | 9.53% | Platinum II | 1.96% | ||
| Silver III | 8.11% | Platinum I | 1.69% |
Top percentage of players
| Rank | Top% | Rank | Top% | Rank | Top% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron IV | 100.03 | Silver II | 62.82 | Diamond IV | 3.89 |
| Iron III | 99.96 | Silver I | 53.74 | Diamond III | 1.53 |
| Iron II | 99.56 | Gold IV | 46.21 | Diamond II | 0.73 |
| Iron I | 98.69 | Gold III | 34.27 | Diamond I | 0.35 |
| Bronze IV | 97.48 | Gold II | 27.10 | Master | 0.12 |
| Bronze III | 94.55 | Gold I | 20.89 | GrandMaster | 0.07 |
| Bronze II | 91.22 | Platinum IV | 16.88 | Challenger | 0.02 |
| Bronze I | 86.77 | Platinum III | 10.30 | ||
| Silver IV | 80.46 | Platinum II | 7.54 | ||
| Silver III | 70.93 | Platinum I | 5.58 |
Distribution:
Iron: 2.54%
Bronze: 17.01%
Silver: 34.24%
Gold: 29.33%
Platinum: 12.99%
Diamond: 3.77%
Master: 0.05%
GrandMaster: 0.05%
Challenger: 0.02%
June 2019
| Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron IV | 0.07% | Silver II | 9.26% | Diamond IV | 2.47% |
| Iron III | 0.43% | Silver I | 7.58% | Diamond III | 0.80% |
| Iron II | 0.93% | Gold IV | 11.39% | Diamond II | 0.37% |
| Iron I | 1.26% | Gold III | 7.03% | Diamond I | 0.22% |
| Bronze IV | 3.05% | Gold II | 6.10% | Master | 0.07% |
| Bronze III | 3.49% | Gold I | 4.00% | GrandMaster | 0.05% |
| Bronze II | 4.58% | Platinum IV | 6.14% | Challenger | 0.02% |
| Bronze I | 6.37% | Platinum III | 2.68% | ||
| Silver IV | 9.60% | Platinum II | 1.98% | ||
| Silver III | 8.44% | Platinum I | 1.61% |
Top percentage of players
| Rank | Top% | Rank | Top% | Rank | Top% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron IV | 99.99 | Silver II | 61.77 | Diamond IV | 4.00 |
| Iron III | 99.92 | Silver I | 51.51 | Diamond III | 1.53 |
| Iron II | 99.49 | Gold IV | 44.93 | Diamond II | 0.73 |
| Iron I | 98.56 | Gold III | 33.54 | Diamond I | 0.36 |
| Bronze IV | 97.30 | Gold II | 26.51 | Master | 0.14 |
| Bronze III | 94.25 | Gold I | 20.41 | GrandMaster | 0.07 |
| Bronze II | 90.76 | Platinum IV | 16.41 | Challenger | 0.02 |
| Bronze I | 86.18 | Platinum III | 10.27 | ||
| Silver IV | 79.81 | Platinum II | 7.59 | ||
| Silver III | 70.21 | Platinum I | 5.61 |
Distribution:
Iron: 2.69%
Bronze: 17.49%
Silver: 34.88%
Gold: 28.52%
Platinum: 12.40%
Diamond: 3.87%
Master: 0.07%
GrandMaster: 0.05%
Challenger: 0.02%
May 2019
| Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron IV | 0.09% | Silver II | 9.55% | Diamond IV | 2.82% |
| Iron III | 0.49% | Silver I | 7.47% | Diamond III | 0.70% |
| Iron II | 1.04% | Gold IV | 10.60% | Diamond II | 0.32% |
| Iron I | 1.37% | Gold III | 6.80% | Diamond I | 0.20% |
| Bronze IV | 3.19% | Gold II | 5.95% | Master | 0.05% |
| Bronze III | 3.76% | Gold I | 3.89% | GrandMaster | 0.06% |
| Bronze II | 4.88% | Platinum IV | 5.66% | Challenger | 0.03% |
| Bronze I | 6.41% | Platinum III | 2.59% | ||
| Silver IV | 9.65% | Platinum II | 2.02% | ||
| Silver III | 8.87% | Platinum I | 1.55% |
Top percentage of players
| Rank | Top% | Rank | Top% | Rank | Top% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron IV | 100.01 | Silver II | 60.26 | Diamond IV | 4.18 |
| Iron III | 99.92 | Silver I | 50.71 | Diamond III | 1.36 |
| Iron II | 99.43 | Gold IV | 43.24 | Diamond II | 0.66 |
| Iron I | 98.39 | Gold III | 32.64 | Diamond I | 0.34 |
| Bronze IV | 97.02 | Gold II | 25.84 | Master | 0.14 |
| Bronze III | 93.83 | Gold I | 19.89 | GrandMaster | 0.09 |
| Bronze II | 90.07 | Platinum IV | 16.0 | Challenger | 0.03 |
| Bronze I | 85.19 | Platinum III | 10.34 | ||
| Silver IV | 78.78 | Platinum II | 7.75 | ||
| Silver III | 69.13 | Platinum I | 5.73 |
Distribution:
Iron: 2.98%
Bronze: 18.24%
Silver: 35.55%
Gold: 27.25%
Platinum: 11.81%
Diamond: 4.04%
Master: 0.05%
GrandMaster: 0.06%
Challenger: 0.03%
April 2019
| Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron IV | 0.11% | Silver II | 9.93% | Diamond IV | 2.99% |
| Iron III | 0.57% | Silver I | 7.25% | Diamond III | 0.54% |
| Iron II | 1.18% | Gold IV | 9.79% | Diamond II | 0.30% |
| Iron I | 1.51% | Gold III | 6.59% | Diamond I | 0.17% |
| Bronze IV | 3.45% | Gold II | 5.76% | Master | 0.04% |
| Bronze III | 4.21% | Gold I | 3.95% | GrandMaster | 0.07% |
| Bronze II | 5.45% | Platinum IV | 4.29% | Challenger | 0.03% |
| Bronze I | 6.80% | Platinum III | 2.50% | ||
| Silver IV | 9.84% | Platinum II | 1.93% | ||
| Silver III | 9.45% | Platinum I | 1.27% |
The rank distribution slightly improved after the partial ladder reset that took place at the end of the past month.
In March, 0.30% of the player based was ranked at Master or above, while now this percentage dropped to 0.14%. The players who did not deserve their placement have been relocated to Diamond, and in particular the population at Diamond IV increased by 0.38%.
Officially, the reset did not influence the other ranks, but we can still notice a little bit better curve and a 3% increase at Gold. The average player is still placed at Silver II.
Master players are mostly seeing moderate positive gains, should improve over time, especially as you climb.
Diamond is looking a lot better, very few players above where they should be.
Exception is Diamond IV. We didn’t demote players there, so some players are still above where they belong (so they get net LP losses).
— SapMagic - Riot Lead Designer on Meta Game Systems
Distribution:
Iron: 3.37%
Bronze: 19.91%
Silver: 36.47%
Gold: 26.09%
Platinum: 10.0%
Diamond: 4.0%
Master: 0.04%
GrandMaster: 0.07%
Challenger: 0.03%
March 2019
| Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron IV | 0.15% | Silver II | 10.23% | Diamond IV | 2.61% |
| Iron III | 0.71% | Silver I | 7.25% | Diamond III | 0.55% |
| Iron II | 1.41% | Gold IV | 8.52% | Diamond II | 0.32% |
| Iron I | 1.81% | Gold III | 5.99% | Diamond I | 0.30% |
| Bronze IV | 3.70% | Gold II | 5.36% | Master | 0.16% |
| Bronze III | 4.66% | Gold I | 3.51% | GrandMaster | 0.10% |
| Bronze II | 6.13% | Platinum IV | 4.26% | Challenger | 0.04% |
| Bronze I | 7.44% | Platinum III | 2.19% | ||
| Silver IV | 9.72% | Platinum II | 1.91% | ||
| Silver III | 9.63% | Platinum I | 1.38% |
The statistics displayed this month have been gathered on March 19th.
In the next days, there will be a ladder reset that will affect all players at Diamond and above.
The developers explained that adding the new Iron and GrandMaster tiers introduced a bug that has been exploited by a considerable number of players (up to 155 on one server) to reach GrandMaster even with a win rate below 40%. A related bug has been employed by several Diamond players to get a better placement than they deserved.
The bugs have been fixed, but it would take time to bring these players back to their real rank via decay and normal play, so the devs decided to perform a partial ladder reset to restore the highest area of the matchmaking.
Here are the full details of the reset:
Master, GrandMaster, and Challenger players will become Master 0 LP.
Diamond players will be demoted by one division, floored at Diamond IV.
You’ll keep your rewards, but they’ll match your new rank.
Grandmaster and Challenger will temporarily lock until March 27 and April 3, respectively.
Distribution:
Iron: 4.07%
Bronze: 21.92%
Silver: 36.82%
Gold: 23.38%
Platinum: 9.73%
Diamond: 3.78%
Master: 0.16%
GrandMaster: 0.10%
Challenger: 0.04%
February 2019
| Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron IV | 0.25% | Silver II | 10.63% | Diamond IV | 1.60% |
| Iron III | 0.92% | Silver I | 7.09% | Diamond III | 0.35% |
| Iron II | 1.60% | Gold IV | 7.46% | Diamond II | 0.24% |
| Iron I | 1.99% | Gold III | 5.83% | Diamond I | 0.25% |
| Bronze IV | 3.91% | Gold II | 5.25% | Master | 0.21% |
| Bronze III | 5.25% | Gold I | 3.65% | GrandMaster | 0.12% |
| Bronze II | 6.82% | Platinum IV | 3.65% | Challenger | 0.05% |
| Bronze I | 7.83% | Platinum III | 2.01% | ||
| Silver IV | 9.73% | Platinum II | 1.83% | ||
| Silver III | 10.22% | Platinum I | 1.25% |
A summary of the data
I am honestly very impressed with the improvements on the matchmaking distribution that took place with a single month. Have a good look at the curve showed in the graph above: it is almost perfect.
The average player is still in Silver 2, and this tier goes from the top 59% to 48%.
Bronze and Gold have pretty much the same amount of players.
4.7% of the player base in Iron is reasonable as the players ranked there are the least skilled in the game.
The number of players from Platinum onwards was 11.65% prior the new ranked distribution introduced in 2019. Now their percentage is equal to 11.57.
The developers have massively improved the rank distribution for about 90% of the player base without increasing the number of players placed in the higher skill tiers: this is an outstanding accomplishment.
I am well aware that at high ranks there is a huge skill gap even between players at the same rank. The devs tried solving the situation by adding a new tier - GrandMaster - but apparently it wasn’t sufficient.
In particular, I have read many complaints about the matchmaking quality at Master. This problem doesn’t affect only League of Legends, but almost any competitive game. In this case, I believe that splitting Master in three divisions might be useful to better distribute its population.
January 2019
| Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage | Rank | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron IV | 1.78% | Silver II | 8.47% | Diamond IV | 1.84% |
| Iron III | 0.64% | Silver I | 5.27% | Diamond III | 0.27% |
| Iron II | 0.53% | Gold IV | 17.99% | Diamond II | 0.12% |
| Iron I | 0.64% | Gold III | 4.63% | Diamond I | 0.06% |
| Bronze IV | 3.46% | Gold II | 2.82% | Master | 0.02% |
| Bronze III | 2.34% | Gold I | 3.78% | GrandMaster | 0.03% |
| Bronze II | 3.11% | Platinum IV | 5.35% | Challenger | 0.02% |
| Bronze I | 3.67% | Platinum III | 1.72% | ||
| Silver IV | 19.12% | Platinum II | 1.28% | ||
| Silver III | 10.42% | Platinum I | 0.63% |
A summary of the data
In November 2018, 12% of the player base was ranked at Bronze. This number remained pretty much the same, but now we have also 4% of the players in the new rank: Iron.
Silver, Gold, and in a minor part also Platinum have fewer players. Riot must have redistributed the entire player base, otherwise we can‘t explain the extra 4% in the new low-end rank.
The average player is a Silver II, and this tier goes from the top 52% to 44%. This is exactly the same placement and percentage indicated in the 2018 rank distribution.
Diamond lost a minuscule percentage of players as now the top summoners in the game have been distributed among Master, GrandMaster, and Challenger. At high levels, there can be a huge skill difference among players belonging to the same rank, so I believe the new tier helped to improve the distribution of this critical portion of the player base.
Comparing the actual graph with the one of November 2018, I am not sure if we can claim that the new rank distribution is a complete victory. They look very similar, beside the changes explained above and the odd amount of players at Silver IV and Gold IV. About 37% of the player base is placed in these two tiers.
I guess there is a huge skill gap between Gold IV and the higher tiers (the same goes for Silver IV), so the players who advance in rank are “stuck” in the lowest tier until they improve significantly their gameplay.
Distribution:
Iron: 3.59%
Bronze: 12.58%
Silver: 43.28%
Gold: 29.22%
Platinum: 8.98%
Diamond: 2.29%
Master: 0.02%
GrandMaster: 0.03%
Challenger: 0.02%
More League of Legends articles:
Statistics from LeagueOfGraphs - Header image: Riot
