Dota 2 Ranks System – Distribution of Rank In Dota – Guide

dota 2 ranks distribution

It’s been almost 9 years since Dota 2 was released by Valve. However, the amount of players and competitive structure of Dota 2 still maintains the excitement and number of the first day. Even though some players have won a few matches and left, we can say that hundreds of thousands of players are still trying to rise in the ranked system. That’s exactly why we’re going to review Dota 2 ranks for you today.

As we are used to in most competitive games, Dota 2 has a skill system. The rough road to Immortal with dozens of heroes is part of this skill system. If you play the game well or can make strategic moves, then your job is easier.

However, if you are a new player to Dota 2, ranking up is not that easy. First of all, we would like to say that you must have a couple of solid choices of heroes that you’re comfortable with. Then you need to master Dota 2’s MMR and ranked system.

You don’t need to worry though. We make things easier for you. In today’s article, we will tell you everything you need to know about the Dota 2 ranks system. Let’s take a detailed look at our article.

What are Dota 2 Ranks?

Dota 2 has an extremely complex ranking system. Beginners have a total of 8 ranks in front of them, from Herald to Immortal. At the same time, each rank has five sub-ranks. In short, we can say that there are 36 ranks in Dota 2, including the lower ranks. Each rank from the lowest to the highest reflects the MMR of the players. For example, there is a 150 MMR point difference between Herald 1 and Herald 2. Likewise, when players play a certain number of matches, they are placed in a rank according to their performance. Now let’s take a look at the Dota 2 ranks one by one.

Herald – 0 to 616 MMR

It is the starting phase of the game. You may encounter extremely toxic players. But don’t worry, you can get out of this rank quickly without wasting much time. All you have to do is focus on one or two heroes and play the same heroes all the time.

  • Herald I – 0 MMR
  • Herald I – 154 MMR
  • Herald III – 308 MMR
  • Herald IV – 462 MMR

Guardian – 770 to 1386 MMR

Guardian is one of the transition ranks in Dota. So most players don’t get stuck here. It is a stage in which casual players generally take part. You can get out of here by specializing in one or two heroes, as you did in the Herald.

  • Guardian I – 770 MMR
  • Guardian II – 924 MMR
  • Guardian III – 1078 MMR
  • Guardian IV – 1232 MMR
  • Guardian V – 1386 MMR

Crusader – 1540 to 2156 MMR

Players with this Dota 2 MMR value are usually the ones who have devoted hundreds of hours to the game. And since most players specialize in a few heroes like you, you’ll have the same skill set. In order to rise from the Crusader Rank, you must have set some small strategies for yourself.

  • Crusader I – 1540 MMR
  • Crusader II – 1694 MMR
  • Crusader III – 1848 MMR
  • Crusader IV – 2002 MMR
  • Crusader V – 2156 MMR

Archon – 2310 to 2926 MMR

Archon is the rank with the most players among Dota 2 Ranks. Frankly, we can call it a swamp. The multitude of toxic players can alienate you from the game. But don’t be alarmed, focus on your personal performance. Because if you don’t have your own teammates in this kind of stage, you have to shoulder the whole burden on your own. You can get out of this cluster by dominating the matches in the hero you specialize in.

  • Archon I – 2310 MMR
  • Archon II – 2464 MMR
  • Archon III – 2618 MMR
  • Archon IV – 2772 MMR
  • Archon V – 2926 MMR

Legend – 3080 to 3696 MMR

If you managed to climb the Legend rank, your Dota 2 MMR score should have improved a lot. Now you are ready to enter the high-level competition. What you need to do now is to train consistently and follow the game meta.

  • Legend I – 3080 MMR
  • Legend II – 3234 MMR
  • Legend III – 3388 MMR
  • Legend IV – 3542 MMR
  • Legend V – 3696 MMR

Ancient – 3850 to 4486 MMR

We can say that Ancient is perhaps the most important among Dota 2 ranks. Because Ancient has taken on the role of a transition stage for the ranks where the Elite group is located. You will probably waste a lot of time in Ancient. That’s why you should try to find good teammates for yourself as much as possible. Because you can no longer carry the matches easily by yourself. Because of the Dota MMR system, you will encounter skillful games just like you.

dota 2 mmr ancient
  • Ancient I – 3850 MMR
  • Ancient II – 4004 MMR
  • Ancient III – 4158 MMR
  • Ancient IV – 4312 MMR
  • Ancient V – 4466 MMR

Divine – 4620 to 5420 MMR

Congratulations, you’ve stepped into the final part of the Dota Ranks system before the Top Tier. Fierce competition, thousands of hours of game time, flawless team games and many more details will suffice to explain the importance of this rank. Most players here are also considered Professional Esports players. The skill level is so high that it may take you years to get here.

dota rank divine
  • Divine I – 4620 MMR
  • Divine II – 4820 MMR
  • Divine III – 5020 MMR
  • Divine IV – 5220 MMR
  • Divine V – 5420 MMR

Immortal

Dota 2’s most legendary players are found in this rank. When we look at the Dota Rank distribution values of the players in this rank, we encounter a figure much less than 1.7%. In other words, it is an extremely limited and elite group. If you have managed to rise to the Immortal rank, you may find yourself in a popular Esport team.

Players at this level are professionals who constantly follow the Dota 2 Tier List and the meta.

dota 2 ranks system
  • Placed
  • Top 1000
  • Top 100
  • Top 10
  • Top 1

How Dota 2 Rank and MMR System Work?

There is a term we are used to hearing in Dota 2 and most other competitive games. The name of this term is MMR (Matchmaking Rating). In short, a secret MMR point is given to your performance in the matches you play to settle in Dota 2 ranks. With this MMR score, you will encounter players with the same skill as you in every match you enter in Dota. MMR is vital for fairer in-game matchmaking.

Dota 2 Ranked Match Unlock

As it is known, you cannot directly enter ranked matches that you need to play in order to be placed in the Dota 2 ranking system. This system is commonly found in most competitive online games. This key, which is an important detail of the Dota 2 rank system, is designed so that no player can start the rank without learning the game. So, let’s take a step-by-step look at how you can open this lock.

Dota 2 has blocked ranked matches in order to protect new players. Accordingly, Dota 2 does not want any player to enter ranked matches without learning the game. In this way, inexperienced players are prevented from failing in ranked matches.

So let’s see how you can unlock this ranked match.

  1. If you have just started Dota 2, you must have encountered a lock when you want to enter ranked. To unlock ranked matches, you first need to play Dota 2 for 100 hours. However, this playing time is not the same as the time on Steam. In order for the clock to progress, you need to actively play for 100 hours in any game mode in Dota.
  2. In this way, you can understand the mechanics of the game in unranked matches before moving on to ranked matches. If we need to do a simple calculation for you, you need to score more than 100 unranked matches in total. If you get tired of playing unranked matches all the time, you can try Dota 2’s turbo mode. It is extremely fun and you can easily fill your time.
  3. Now let’s say you have passed 100 hours. Finally, there is only one thing left to do. And that is to have your phone number verified via Steam. When you do this, you can now log into ranked matches.
  4. After logging into Ranked matches, a new question mark will come to your mind. How many ranked matches will I get to Rank after playing in Dota 2? Let’s answer this right away. You only need to play 10 ranked matches. After that, you will be placed in a rank according to your performance in the game. And your performance will be revealed by the joint calculation of your wins, losses and personal achievements.

How is Dota 2 MMR Calculated?

As with most competitive games, the MMR varies depending on the outcome of the matches you win and lose. However, more specific and detailed statistics are not important for calculating MMR. For example, achievements such as assists, kills and MVPs in a ranked match will never affect your MMR positively or negatively.

  • Although this rate changes with the updates in Dota 2, you will now earn between 20-30 MMR points for each match you win. While you get 20 MMR points in ranked matches that you play as a party, you usually get up to 30 points when you play alone.

Dota 2 Rank Distribution – Season 5, 2022

With February 2022, Dota 2’s rank and MMR distribution information for the last season has been updated. There are no official statistics from Valve for the rank distribution in Dota 2. However, it is possible to access this data through Esporttales, which does some community work.

In short, Dota 2 MMR distribution is a statistical tool that shows the percentile of your rank in the game. For example, you belong to the rank of Immortal. And if you want to understand what percent of the Dota 2 community you belong to, the table below will help you.

RankPercentileRankPercentileRankPercentileRankPercentile
Herald 10.04Crusader 127.60Legend 171.51Divine 195.13
Herald 21.57Crusader 231.75Legend 275.23Divine 296.27
Herald 33.21Crusader 336.04Legend 378.61Divine 397.14
Herald 45.34Crusader 440.49Legend 481.62Divine 497.79
Herald 57.75Crusader 544.99Legend 584.30Divine 598.31
Guardian 110.44Archon 149.70Ancient 186.90Immortal100.00
Guardian 213.36Archon 254.34Ancient 289.09  
Guardian 316.54Archon 358.87Ancient 390.90  
Guardian 419.96Archon 463.20Ancient 492.39  
Guardian 523.61Archon 567.35Ancient 593.67  

Other Details

  • When we look at the statistics in detail, only a small part of Dota 2 players managed to reach the high skill group. In addition, the Rank with the most players appears to be Archon 1 and 2.
  • Considering the MMR distribution of Dota players in Divine Rank, it only covers a 5% player base. Considering that the Divine rank is spread across different servers, it will be extremely difficult to gather people with similar skill levels.
  • Likewise, those with a rank higher than Divine 5 appear to be a restricted elite group. They are probably waiting for a long time to find a match in ranked matches. Because of this, they are forced to enter matches with players who are probably much less skilled than themselves.
Posted by
William Westerlund

William is an author, editor, and an avid gamer with over 10.000 hours in CS:GO. He also enjoys playing Rust, Dota 2, and TF2 but never became a top 1% player in any of those games.