[i]“Strive to be first, fear to be last.” - Five Stars proverb[/i] We hope you’ve been swapping your heart out in your Spectre Divide matches so far. But competition is the heart of Santai, and Ranked is the home of competition in Spectre Divide. [b]Ranked matchmaking goes live on Friday, September 6. [/b] To play Ranked, you’ll need to have scored 5 Casual wins. [b]Ranked matches also have a win by 2 requirement.[/b] Now, here’s everything you need to know about Ranked and your journey to Champion! [h1]SOLO & TEAM RANK[/h1] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//45129906/fc51b3595685a1cd37567d5470e996605034c1d0.png[/img] When you play Ranked, you can either compete for Solo Rank or Team Rank scores. [h3]Solo Rank[/h3] Solo Rank is your traditional rank. It measures your individual score on the ladder. You can compete for Solo Rank when you’re playing alone or in a party of two or three. [h3]Team Rank[/h3] Team Rank is the competitive rating of your unique 3-person team. It is indepedent of Solo Rank, which means, your unique 3-person team can climb to the top the Team Ranked ladder together. To earn Team Rank, you’ll need to be playing Ranked as a 3-stack, and the Party Leader must select Team Rank before matchmaking . [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//45129906/cb7c70f5f2c0aade423dddb60f33b2ee65338c09.jpg[/img] Keep in mind there is only one matchmaking queue, so individuals can be matched up against duos or trios. However, the matchmaker takes party size into account when creating fair matches. [h2]RANKED SEASONS[/h2] Each Ranked Season will last several months. You can celebrate your Ranked achievements with Seasonal Rewards. Keep in mind, there may be cases where we need to adjust or reset Ranked tunings during a season.We’ll work to avoid these situations, but you’ll be the first to know of any issues. [h2]RANKED SEASONAL REWARDS[/h2] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//45129906/2138156e6ee06a71dd6c040e876a57aed25182aa.png[/img] Ranked Sprays and Charms will be awarded based on the highest rank that a player achieves during a Season. Top Rank Sprays are awarded in both Solo and Team. You can earn both, but you’ll only earn 1 Spray for your best Team Ranked rating (of all your teams). [b]Solo Rank[/b] [list] [*] Spray awarded to all players with a solo rank of Diamond or Champion (Top 3%) [/list] [b]Team Rank[/b] [list] [*] Spray awarded to all players with a Team Rank of Superstars, World Class, or Champions (Top 5%) [/list] [b]Ranked Season Gun Charm[/b] [list] [*] A Gun Charm that shows off your highest Solo and Team ranks [/list] [h2]SANTAI RATING (SR) & RANK TIERS[/h2] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//45129906/e5cd2f2512d97bb648865d096375c5f492125f35.jpg[/img] [b]The Solo Ranks are:[/b] Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Emerald, Ruby, Diamond, and Champion. [b]The Team Ranks are:[/b] Undiscovered, Prospect, Talent, Professional, Elite, International, Superstar, World Class, and Champion. With the exception of Champion ranks, all ranks are split into 4 Tiers, I through IV, where I is the lowest of the Tiers, and IV the highest. [b]Santai Rating (SR) [/b]are the points used to track your progress up and down the ladder, shown at the bottom of the Post Match Scoreboard (more on this below). Earn enough SR to increase your Tier, and move up from the IV Tier to the next Rank. You'll always gain SR on a win, and only ever lose SR on a loss. [list] [*] Your SR changes should fall between -40 or +40 in all but the most extreme circumstances [/list] Ties are forced after 22 rounds without a winner, but you'll never lose SR from a tie. If you reach the Champion rank, you’ll no longer have a cap on your SR. This means you’ll be able to continue increasing your SR by winning more matches. [list] [*] This allows Champion ranks to act as an ongoing “leaderboard” to climb for the very best players. [*] We won’t have viewable Leaderboards at launch, but we’re working to bring them back online for future Ranked seasons. [/list] [h2]RANKED PLACEMENT[/h2] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//45129906/708701e4ad3b2ce79190efc41ad028c79380b46a.jpg[/img] When entering Ranked matchmaking for the first time, with a new team, or at the start of a season, you’ll need to play in 5 Ranked Placement Matches before the system can calculate your initial ranking. When you or your team are still in the process of completing your Placement Matches, you'll see a tracker that shows how many placement matches remain before your initial ranking. . You’ll see a green check ✅ for a win, a red X ❌ for a loss, and ⚪ white circle is shown for any ties. [h2]RANKED PROGRESS[/h2] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//45129906/f23e3fabf255bb4e05f61123b122db4248cb157c.png[/img] After completing placements and playing more Ranked matches, you’ll see additional UI elements on the Post Match Scoreboard that communicate your SR progress. [list] [*] The progress bar spans 200 SR, indicating the Promotion (200) and Demotion (0) thresholds [*] After promotion, you start with 50 bonus SR points [*] This buffer is to give you some breathing room after jumping into a new Rank [*] Along with the bonus 50 SR, you’ll retain any leftover SR you had since the promotion [*] Demoted players will drop a Tier and the formula is 200 - 50 - leftover rating [*] The bonus 50 SR previously gained from a Rank up is removed to prevent any point inflation. [/list] [b]Here are a few examples —[/b] Silver II promotion scenario: [list] [*] You are Silver II with 190 Santai Rating. [*] You win and receive 25 SR, break the 200 SR threshold and are now promoted as Silver III. [*] Because you were only 10 SR away from a promotion, you are now sitting at Silver III with an SR of 65 [*] You get any SR over the 200 threshold, so 215 SR will carry over as +15 SR to your next division, in addition to the 50 SR bonus [/list] Silver II demotion scenario: [list] [*] You are Silver II with 10 SR. [*] You lose a ranked game and lose 25 SR, break the 0 SR threshold and now demote to Silver I. [*] Because you were only 10 SR away from a demotion, you are now sitting at Silver I with and SR of 135 [*] You get a reduction of SR below the 0 threshold, so -10 SR will carry over along with the -50 SR correction [/list] [h2]POST-LAUNCH[/h2] We know how important it is to nail Ranked and maintain competitive integrity with fair matchmaking throughout. Launch has introduced a huge new pool of players at different skill levels, so we’ll be keeping a close eye on where we can make things even better based on data and your feedback. Best of luck out there on your rise to Champion! 🫡