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League of Legends Rank Distribution: Where Do You Rank?
In League of Legends there is a ranked mode, what is the ranked distribution in LoL like? Let's go over everything we know about the different ranks and where most players land.
League of Legends is one of the most popular online games. Not even a faltered start to the newest season can stop players from logging in to the game to get started on their promo games to see where they end up on the ranked ladder.
With a player count of over a million players, it's got us thinking of how all of these players are distributed. How big is the gap between the lowest and highest parts of the player base? So let's go over everything we know about player distribution in League of Legends.
League of Legends Rank Distribution – Which Ranks Are The Most Populated?
League of Legends has ten ranks in total. The highest rank is 'Challenger' while the lowest is 'Iron'. The top three ranks – Challenger, Grandmaster and Master – have no sub-ranks, while all other ranks below are categorized into four more sub-ranks. For example, if someone is in the Silver rank they will also be categorized into a number between 1 and 4.
The highest sub-rank is always 1 and the lowest 4, which means that when you move up from Silver I you'll move to Gold IV. But from all of these ranks, which ones are the most populated?
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The Top and Bottom Of the Ranked Ladder Are the Least Populated
In League of Legends, the top ranks, as well as the bottom ranks are the most sparsely populated in the ranked distribution. According to League of Graphs, Only 0.5% of players are in Master, Grandmaster and Challenger combined.
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Iron tier, which is the lowest tier for anyone to be in, only has 7.9% of players. This means that even when players play League for the first time, they often make it out of Iron quite quickly and move onto the next rank which is Bronze.
Complete List of Rank Distribution in League of Legends
Of course, rank distribution varies from region to region, but looking across multiple regions, these numbers are all almost eerily similar, with the same tiers being the most populated in the distribution chart. Only a few percentages differ from region to region, but in the grand scheme of things, it seems that most servers have more or less the same player distribution.
| Tier | Player Distribution Percentage |
| Challenger | 0.02% |
| Grandmaster | 0.05% |
| Master | 0.47% |
| Diamond | 2.7% |
| Emerald | 11% |
| Platinum | 16% |
| Gold | 20% |
| Silver | 20% |
| Bronze | 20% |
| Iron | 7.9% |
These are the numbers of all regions combined according to League of Graphs. It shows that the most populated ranks are Silver and Bronze, making up 60% of the entire player base across the World. Of course, when looking at regions specifically we can see some differences.
For example, in Korea 21% of players are in Gold, while in EUW that number is down at 18% for Gold players.
Does Rank Distribution Differ Depending on Game Mode?
League of Legends offers solo queue, wherein you play alone or with a friend, or flex queue where you can queue up with a party of five, three or two. Of course, the ranks will differ in flex queue from solo queue, which belongs to the above shown rank distribution.
Looking at the stats on League of Graphs, we can see a similar distribution rate amongst all ranks to the distribution of solo queue games. Silver is the most populated rank with Bronze in second place.
All Sett Skins in League of Legends
Rank Distribution: Why Are High Elo Ranks So Sparsely Populated?
High elo is considered Master and over. As already mentioned these are the ranks with the least amount of players, but there is a simple reason for that. In high elo there is a cap of how many players can be a part of the tier. If a player loses League Points (LP), they have a chance of demoting out of the rank.
That's why there are also no sub-ranks like in all the other tiers. Depending on how populated the server is, there are different caps.
| Region | Grandmaster | Challenger |
| BR | 500 | 200 |
| EUNE | 500 | 200 |
| EUW | 700 | 300 |
| JP | 100 | 50 |
| KR | 700 | 300 |
| LATAM-N | 500 | 200 |
| LATAM-S | 500 | 200 |
| NA | 700 | 300 |
| OC | 100 | 50 |
| RU | 100 | 50 |
| TR | 500 | 200 |
In the high elo tiers players will simply get more LP by winning games, moving between tiers. Each day the Grandmaster and Challenger tier refreshes and reorders Master+ players to their tier according to their LP, making these very fluid tiers with players constantly fluctuating.
So, with all this new information, what tier are you in and are you part of the higher elos with fewer players or are you hardstuck Silver like a huge chunk of players? Well, starting in 2023 even silver and bronze players will be able to earn the ranked skin reward thanks to some changes, so more players will receive the victorious skin this year.
Introduction Of Emerald Tier In LoL Seaosn 13
In LoL Season 13, Riot also added in a brand-new tier called the Emerald tier. This was done to try and even out the curve of the League of Legends player base, which has since been very bottom heavy, with most of the player base falling between Bronze and Gold.
Riot added in Emerald between Platinum and Diamond so that players that should be in Plat, but were always place in Gold to find their spot, without the curve trending to the lower end of the player base. Whether this will make the experience in the lower tiers better and help even out the playing field is yet to be seen.