Ranked Play

Ranked Play is play mode of Heroes of the Storm, where players will be able battle it out in a semi-competitive environment. In Storm League players can queue up to play ranked games either solo or in a party of any size. The same rank is used for both solo and team play.

Overview
In Heroes of the Storm, your skill level, or Rank, is expressed in the form of League Tiers and Divisions. At the start of each Season, a series of Placement Matches determines your initial rank. As you play ranked games, you gain (or lose) Rank Points. Earn enough rank points, and you'll move up to the next division or tier. If you consistently lose points, however, you may end up demoting to a lower division or tier. Players at the top of the food chain enter first into the Master tier and ultimately can earn the title of Grand Master by making their way to regional leaderboard.

Leagues
The ranked system is divided into League Tiers and Divisions.
 * A League Tier is a large bucket meant to give a general idea of a player's skill level. The tiers in ascending order are: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master, and Grand Master. Each tier up to Master League is then broken down into divisions, with the lowest division within a tier being five, and the highest being one.
 * Each tier from Bronze through Diamond is further divided into five Divisions. The lowest division within a tier is 5; division 1 is the highest. A player's division within their tier tells you how close that player is to advancing to the next higher tier via promotion (or whether they risk dropping down one tier via demotion). For example, a player in Platinum 1 (Platinum tier, division 1) has a higher ranking than a player in Platinum 4, and that Platinum 4 player is ranked higher than a Gold 2 player.



Ranks
Players will be able to easily tell how they rank across the Heroes competitive game modes. At the beginning of each season, a series of ten Placement Matches will determine their initial rank. With each ranked match played after initial placement, players will gain (or lose) rank points and upon exceeding 1,000 points at their rank, players will be automatically promoted to the next tier, or demoted, if they drop below 0.

Masters and Grand Masters
The unique Master and Grand Master tiers will have slightly different rules. Instead of divisions, Master league badges will display the total number of rank points accumulated in Master league for the current season, so players can easily track their progression against other Master League players.

Grand Master league will be comprised of the top 100 point earners in each region's Master League. For players in this league, badges will display a number ranging from 100 to 1. This number is a player’s position in the overall Grand Master rankings for their region, which will be updated on a daily basis.

Silenced Player Restriction
Ranked Play is meant to be the place to play for competitive, high-intensity matches. This means that communication will be integral to a team’s success. With this in mind, silenced players’ ability to queue will be removed in this game mode until their silence penalty expires.

Seasons
Ranked seasons typically last a couple of months. The first 3 games in Storm League are placement matches. Until these games are completed for a league, a player does not have a rank in that league.

Battling it out in Ranked play every season is truly an epic challenge, and all epic challenges deserve epic rewards. Players who participate in Storm League seasons will be rewarded with a practical pile of treasure at each season’s end based on their ranked performance in Storm League.

Players earn a ranked portrait based on the highest rank achieved during the season, and by racking up enough wins players can earn Loot Chests and an exclusive Mount.