If you’ve been playing League of Legends or Teamfight Tactics ranked for some time now, you might have come across a message following your shield on your profile saying your “Demotion Shield” is “expiring.”
While the answer is pretty straightforward, you should know a few things about Demotion Shields: what they are and how long they last.
What is a Demotion Shield in League?
After being promoted into a new League division or tier for the first time, you’ll gain an effect known as a Demotion Shield, which will prevent you from dropping down a tier or division if you lose additional games. This ensures you don’t return to a division after a few unfortunate games at your new ranking, which was one of the main issues with the ranking ladder in the past. A few years back, players complained how some of them were afraid to play ranked games after being promoted, since they could immediately drop back to the lower division.
What does “Demotion Shield Expiring” mean?
Demotion Shields still can expire—and that’s what “Demotion Shield Expiring” signifies. If you lose your next few matches right after being promoted, there’s a high chance you’ll drop a division or tier. Then, you’ll be forced to climb back up the ranked ladder again. After you’ve been demoted, your LP will be set between 25 and 75, depending on how many losses you had when you were at zero LP. More losses will put you at a lower amount of LP.
How long do Demotion Shields last?
The Demotion Shield usually lasts about three games after advancing a division and ten games after advancing a tier. For Master Tier, however, everything is just three games. For example, if you’re in Platinum Five, you won’t drop to Gold One briefly.
These Demotion Shields can expire, so you do have to be mindful of that when playing ranked matches. Being demoted can feel like you’ve failed, but it can be an excellent opportunity to figure out how to improve if you need to focus on meta champions and catch up on the ever-evolving state of the game. And with the Demotion Shield, you have time to work this out before diving back into your ranked games.
And if you’re a high enough rank in League, you may also have to worry about decaying—dropping ranks because you haven’t played enough.
If you’re at risk of being demoted and your Demotion Shield is expiring, the best way to bounce back is to try to master a meta champion at the moment in normal games. Then, try to claim some wins in ranked with them so you get into a safe spot.
How demotion works in LoL
Losing more LP than you currently have or going in the negative will have you reduced to 0 LP. This puts you at risk of demotion. One loss between divisions within tier ranking will end in your demotion. However, you can quickly reclaim it with one or two victories.
