League of Legends Ranked Rules: Decay, Placements & Party Limits

Rank decay, placement games and who you can duo with in League of Legends Ranked Solo/Duo. These are the current rules from Riot's patch notes and support pages, checked against each new patch.

Pro Divisions

At a glance

Rank decayYesfrom Diamond upDetails ↓
Placement games5per season or resetDetails ↓
Duo and squadLimited by ranksee who you can queue withDetails ↓

Last reviewed against official sources November 8, 2026

Inactivity

Rank decay in League of Legends

Only Diamond and above can decay. Every ranked game you play adds days to a bank, and the bank drains by one day for each day you do not play. When it is empty you start losing LP every day until you play again. Emerald and below never decay.

Iron
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Platinum
Emerald
Diamond
Master
Grandmaster
Challenger

Can decayNever decays

Diamond
28days banked at most
Each ranked game banks 7 days, up to 28. With an empty bank you lose 50 LP per day, and decay can drop you into Emerald.
Master · Grandmaster · Challenger
14days banked at most
Each ranked game banks 1 day, up to 14. With an empty bank you lose 75 LP per day, and decay drops you out of Master into Diamond II.

New season

Placements and the season reset

5placement games

Each ranked queue needs 5 placement games before it shows a rank. Solo/Duo and Flex are placed separately.

Season reset

Ranks fully reset once per ranked year, at its start in January. Your placements start from your hidden MMR after a soft reset, so returning players usually land a little below where they finished. Splits within the year do not reset your tier.

Duo and squad

Who can you queue with?

Ranked Solo/Duo allows one partner, and the partner has to be close to your rank. The window is about one tier for most of the ladder, narrows to divisions in Diamond, and is closed at the very top since patch 26.15 (29 July 2026). Hidden MMR can block a duo that the visible ranks would allow.

Iron · Bronze
Iron, Bronze or Silver
Silver
Iron, Bronze, Silver or Gold
Gold
Silver, Gold or Platinum
Platinum
Gold, Platinum or Emerald
Emerald
Platinum, Emerald, or Diamond up to Diamond III
Diamond
Players within two divisions of you
Master
Only players close to your own rank (narrowed in patch 26.15)
Grandmaster · Challenger
Nobody. Grandmaster and Challenger cannot duo in Solo/Duo since patch 26.15

Party sizes: Solo/Duo: one or two players. Ranked Flex: parties of 1, 2, 3 or 5.
Exceptions: Ranked Flex has looser restrictions than Solo/Duo. Grandmaster- and Challenger-level hidden MMR blocks duo even on an account showing a lower rank.

Sources

Where these rules come from

Every rule on this page comes from the developer’s own patch notes, support pages or announcements, and is re-checked whenever a new season or patch lands. Rules we could not confirm there are left out rather than guessed.