The end of the Pre-Season means one thing: the grind for the next year starts now. Season 16 is officially live, bringing with it the customary soft ranked reset that shakes up the ladder and determines the starting point for millions of players. While the term “soft reset” implies gentle placement, it is a crucial system that dramatically compresses the high-end of the ladder.

Riot Games’ goal remains twofold: to reward previous commitment while ensuring players have to earn their way back to their peak rank.

The Algorithm: The Compression Effect

The soft reset works by pulling every player’s hidden MMR (Matchmaking Rating) closer to the “average” of the ladder, typically around the Gold or Platinum level. This compression primarily impacts players in the upper tiers:

  • The Master/Grandmaster Drop: If you finished Season 15 in the Master, Grandmaster, or Challenger tiers, you will experience the most significant drop. After your 5 to 10 placement games, you should expect to land somewhere in the high Diamond or low Master divisions. This ensures the top of the ladder is not immediately saturated, forcing the best players to compete intensely right from the start.
  • The Diamond/Emerald Shuffle: Players who ended the previous season in Diamond will likely find themselves placed in the high Emerald or low Diamond divisions. This makes the Emerald rank the central staging ground for the competitive mid-to-high ELO players in the opening weeks.
  • Lower Tiers: Players below Gold will see a less dramatic shift, often placing one division below their previous rank (e.g., Silver I drops to Silver III).

The Emerald Question: Distribution Stability

The introduction of the Emerald rank in prior seasons permanently changed the landscape of the reset. Riot’s goal with Emerald was to better distribute the large volume of players previously stuck in Gold and Platinum.

This season, the system continues to use Emerald as a filter. If your MMR is deemed solid but not exceptional, you will land in Emerald, which serves as a necessary bottleneck before the Diamond and Master tiers. Climbing out of high Emerald will be the first major obstacle for most seasoned players.

What to Expect in Placements

Placement games are more volatile than regular ranked games:

  1. High Volatility: The system is searching for your true skill level. Wins and losses during placements carry significantly more MMR weight than standard games. A 5-0 record will give you a massive boost, while a 0-5 start will pull you down quickly.
  2. Increased Queue Quality (Eventually): The compressed nature of the reset means that for the first few weeks, players across Diamond, Master, and even low Challenger will be grouped together in the same queues. This initially creates high-quality, though intensely competitive, games.

The message is clear: the ladder is wiped clean, and your final rank in Season 16 will be the direct result of your performance starting today.