The changes to Dota 2’s ranked system in Patch 7.33 left many players expressing frustration and disappointment after completing their recalibration matches. Adding his voice into the mix, former professional player Dominik “Black^” Reitmeier shared his displeasure with the system in a recent stream after playing his calibration matches and spectacularly dropping from the Immortal to Crusader rank.
A drop of this magnitude equals a loss of roughly more than 3,000 MMR, which left Black^ at a loss for words.
“I went from the highest bracket, top 1,000, to the third lowest bracket. What algorithm does that?” Black^ said.
Former pro and panelist backed up the situation with a traditional sports example, asking his viewers to imagine Lionel Messi having to play with amateur league players after taking a break from soccer for two years.
Despite drawing the short end of the stick, the community didn’t side with Black^ due to his smurfing past. The former pro has a history of smurfing on Twitch in the 3,000-4,000 MMR bracket, which prompted fans to question whether this was the ideal situation for him. At the time of writing, Black^ has a low-Rank Confidence, and that means the ranked system could still detect him as a smurf and allow him to rise up the ranks faster.
Related: Biggest winners and losers of Dota 2 Patch 7.33
Considering the switch to the Glicko system is fairly new, there are bound to be growing pains. The fact that the calibration matches were combined with one of the biggest Dota 2 patches in recent years makes it difficult for players to retain their original ranks. Players having difficulties adjusting to the new patch or who have been inactive for a long time may want to prepare themselves for starting their journey with a lower rank.
