"Defense of the Ancients 2" (DotA 2) has quickly found its success over the years since it became its own game from DotA 1. However, its ranked system was never actually categorized, and players have only been able to see their matchmaking rating (MMR) in numbers. With a recent update, DotA 2 has finally made specific divisions for different MMRs.
The news was announced in a blog post on the "DotA 2" official website. With the new ranked matchmaking system for "DotA 2," there are seven levels or divisions: Herald, Guardian, Archon, Legend, Ancient, and Divine. For a player to move from one level to the next, the player must accumulate five stars.
"DotA 2" players who have tried playing "League of Legends" (LoL), its rival game for the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) genre, will know that this is similar to their system. "LoL" also has several divisions according to players' MMR. In "LoL," instead of accumulating five stars, players have to go through mini divisions in each major division. "DotA 2" players, on the other hand, could get higher MMR by winning games either while playing solo or in a party.
For the higher divisions, i.e., Ancient and Divine Medals, "DotA 2" players cannot go in a ranked match with a party as it will now only count to their MMR when playing solo. This is similar to "LoL" players' progression at the Master and Challenger tier where they can only go solo ranked games to go higher up the ranked ladder.
One big difference made by Valve, "DotA 2's" developer, is that by the end of the six-month season, players will be awarded according to their highest medal, as per PC Gamer. Whereas in "LoL," whatever division or tier "LoL" players are in once the season ends will be counted as their division for that season. This means that "DotA 2" players who have reached Ancient will still be considered Ancient no matter how many times they lose.
