Even Silver: What Is the High Elo in League of Legends?

We’ve all been there: some toxic SoloQ teammate tells you to do unspeakable things to yourself after “throwing”, as you ruined some self-proclaimed smurf’s day. Such people would normally claim that they are anywhere between high Diamond or Challenger, but does it take this much to be high Elo? Let’s look at the stats.

Is It Actually Elo in League of Legends?

Just to stay transparent, Elo is not something you can see. Early seasons had Elo as a public metric that defined your ranking but the game has now switched to the hidden metric of MMR. It affects how much League Points you win and lose per game. League compares your MMR to people in the same division and then increases or decreases gains/losses to bring your MMR to the division’s average.

Elo in League of Legends (Season 2, Platinum)
Elo in League of Legends (Season 2, Platinum)

Although the concept of Elo stayed in League as MMR, the word has now got muddier. The original meaning refers to the Elo rating system, but League players have long used the word Elo when talking about visible ranks (Gold II, Gold I, etc.). We adopt this meaning as well.

Cutoff Points

Most servers have a million or few million players, so percentiles are a pretty accurate representation of how many players are superior or inferior to you. Sure, some people idle at Gold IV, but Season 10 placements were quite brutal. Most players actually had to earn Gold IV instead of merely completing their placements and riding on for the skin at the end of the year. 

Silver II puts you above half the player base in North America and Europe (top 49%). Note that this number is slightly misleading with about 4% of Ranked players chilling in Iron. This tier was designed for players who struggle to grasp League’s basics. The Iron population is currently bloated by people who landed there after placements and noped out of the climb. In Korea, Silver II gives you top 54% while Silver I is top 45%.

Gold IV indicates that you’re better than ⅔ of NA and EUW players (top 33%). The same rank in Korea would give you top 39% while Gold III is top 27%.

Victorious Aatrox was part of LoL Season Rewards in 2019
Victorious Aatrox was part of LoL Season Rewards in 2019

Gold II is where ⅘ of Americans and Europeans bow to you (top 17%). Contrary to previous ranks, it would be about the same in Korea at top 20.3%.

Platinum IV puts you in top 9.5% on both EUW and NA. Breaking into the 10% on KR would require Platinum III (top 7.7%)

Diamond IV is the Western definition of top 2%, and Diamond III would even take you beyond top 1%. Anything higher makes you even cooler than 1%. For Korea, Diamond IV is top 2.96% while Diamond III is 1.14%. 

Bottom Line

Technically, hitting Silver II in the West is enough to call yourself high elo (after all, top 51%>49%). Even Gold IV is enough to be higher than ⅔ of the players. Platinum IV is the top 10% and this where I personally would boast about being high elo. Didn’t stop me from getting quite proud when I first hit Gold I though. 

Note that the percentages will certainly change toward the end of the season. More Silvers will chase for Gold and inactive Irons will start playing again. Still, this distribution has been more or less the same for the past few seasons. Platinum IV remains at about top 10% while Gold IV is closer to top 33% here in the West.

Also, no matter what, don’t let people gatekeep you based on League ranking. And certainly don’t let people in your matches do that: after all, they did somehow end up there with you. 

Related

Guides And Tutorials
League of Legends
by Denis Matusovskiy
May 25, 2020

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