Whether you’re thinking of getting into Valve’s premier MOBA or just looking to understand the Dota 2 ranking system better, we’re going over the game’s competitive meta and tips to become a better player in 2025. After playing 100 hours unranked, you’ll be eligible to play at the higher level. 

This guide goes beyond the Dota 2 ranks explained, of course. We’ll explore the Matchmaking Rating (MMR) system in detail and how your ranking score relates to each rank. You’ll also learn how to avoid rank decay and stay on top of your game. 

There are a total of 40 Dota 2 ranks in the game in 2025, which are split across eight tiers. These are Herald, Guardian, Crusader, Archon, Legend, Ancient, Divine, and Immortal. The five numbered ranks (or levels) dividing each tier are based upon your MMR (Matchmaking Rating) with a score spectrum deciding each rank. 

The lowest Dota 2 rank is Herald 1, where everyone will start, with requirements of 0 to 153 MMR. This level is affixed to players who understand the basics of the gameplay but want to try and compete at a higher level than unranked/casual encounters. 

The only rank in Dota 2 that does not have a tiered level system is Immortal, as it carries a 5,620+ MMR. 

Valve has been transparent about how the Dota 2 ranking system works compared to some other esports games. That’s because your rank is determined by the MMR, with the range determining your rating. 

An individual player scores (or loses) 30 MMR with each win and loss, respectively, and 20 MMR for the party’s win (or loss). As the years have passed, the system has been made more straightforward to bring it up to date with other competitive releases. 

According to Hawk Live, the current Dota 2 rank distribution for each category is:

That means the highest majority of competitive Dota 2 players are within the five Archon levels, which is roughly halfway up the tier list. 

The highest rank in Dota 2 is Immortal, with just under 2% of players holding at the top level of the game. However, it’s not the most obscure rank, as just 0.06% of players are at Herald 1, the lowest possible rank. It’s deceptively rare because it’s only held through the initial calibration games, meaning (almost) every single player will reach Herald 2 by just playing the game. 

The key to improving your Dota 2 MMR rating is to master the fundamentals of the game, but that’s easier said than done. Dota 2 is a MOBA (Massive Online Battle Arena) that is played with a mouse and keyboard; the former guides your hero’s movement and interacts with the environment, with the latter being used to bind hotkeys to use abilities, shortcuts, chat, the shop menu, etc. 

There are currently 126 Dota 2 heroes to choose from, but there’s no possible way that you could master all of them and retain a high level of play. For optimal results, you should keep your pool of heroes to anywhere from three to five, which will give you the spectrum across the three major attributes of strength, agility, and intelligence. 

You should start with the simplest characters and then (as your experience and rank improve) start folding in the more challenging heroes. 

Consistency is the key to get better at Dota 2. As soon as you’ve played your first few ranked matches, you’ll begin to understand the type of role you’ll play. By specializing in the likes of support, mid, offlane, or carry, and having a handle on your responsibilities, you can deepen your skill and knowledge of the MOBA. 

With the different roles come varying objectives when playing on the field, whether that means destroying enemy towers, collecting runes, or progressing on the map. 

Effective communication is essential to improve your Dota 2 player ranking. The game has a communication score, which is tied to the quality of your voice chats, text chats, tipping, and pings. 

It’s a rating spectrum where a score under 3,000 restricts all communication to a shared 30-second cooldown; under 6,000 disables text chat; under 7,000 disables tipping; under 8,000 disables voice chat; and under 10,000 means you can’t coach or ping ally abilities. A score between 10,000 and 12,000 is considered “excellent.”

Valve hasn’t published guidelines on improving this score, but it’s essential to be polite and respectful if you want it to increase. 

Learning the Dota 2 map thoroughly can also make a massive difference in competitive play. Unlike other competitive games, which have hundreds of available maps outside of the hundreds of community-made maps, there’s just one map to worry about. 

While the Dota 2 map has remained largely unchanged over the years, recent patches have seen the terrain expanded by around 40%, meaning additional resources and new strategies have been available since the game first debuted in 2013. It’s vital to learn the right lanes, how to best navigate the jungle, where the shrines are, and how to best use the trees’ cover when making plays. 

Dota 2 rank decay is known as “rank confidence” or “rank calibration,” in which your MMR range will be tested to ensure you’re in the right bracket. This will change depending on the game’s updates, with some players citing only having to play a minimum of 10 games to assert rank and others saying it took just between two and three games before things had solidified. 

Dota 2 ranks are more transparent than many other esports titles, with a total of 40 levels across eight distinct tiers. Your MMR decides each rank, and the specific range is set between one of five levels. With each win (or loss), you’ll earn (or lose) 30 MMR, which could see you scale up (or down) the ladder. 

Most Dota 2 players are in the midrange bracket of the Archon tier, between Crusader and Legend, with less than 2% of players holding the rank of Immortal, which is usually reserved for esports professionals. 

For more on the Dota 2 esports scene, we recommend checking out our coverage, which goes over the top players, teams, world cup prize pool, major league events, and developments from the game at its top end. By following our guide on ranks and how to skill up, you may find yourself on the path to pro with enough persistence. 

After months of multiple rumours and reports, Team Falcons has officially announced the signing of Ilya ‘m0NESY’ Osipov, a day after G2 Esports CEO confirmed his transfer.

He will be replacing Abdulkhalik ‘degster’ Gasanov, the PGL Bucharest MVP, who was benched by the Saudi Arabian organisation just hours before m0NESY’s move was made public.

“In a game of milliseconds, where every flick can make history, speed isn’t just an advantage, it’s a weapon. And no one controls it like him,” the official announcement video stated.

“They call him the Yellow Flash. The game slows down for him. The rest are just trying to keep up. The Baby Goat, sure, but don’t let the name fool you. He’s not here to grow. He’s here to dominate.”

m0NESY is set to make his Team Falcons debut at BLAST Rivals Spring 2025, scheduled to take place at BLAST Studios in Copenhagen starting from April 30th, making PGL Bucharest his final tournament under G2’s banner.

Said m0NESY when asked about joining Team Falcons by Jonatan ‘Devilwalk’ Lundberg and James Banks: “Yeah, I had multiple offers from teams and choices. I can’t say which ones, but I did have them. But when I looked at the other teams, there was only one team I wanted to join i.e. Falcons.

Just because, you know, when I looked at the others, I didn’t really have that much belief. I really wanted to play with NiKo. And yeah, I believe we can win a lot of tournaments and a lot of trophies together.”

With m0NESY’s arrival, here’s the complete Team Falcons roster:

According to Aleksey ‘OverDrive’ Biryukov, the trade cost Team Falcons between $2m and $2.5m, which is a record-breaking amount paid for a single player in CS2 history.

m0NESY served G2 Esports for over two years, helping the German organization secure six Counter-Strike trophies during his tenure.

Team Falcons has become the PGL Bucharest 2025 champions after beating G2 Esports in yesterday’s Grand Final.

With this victory, the Saudi Arabian esports organisation has secured its biggest Counter-Strike trophy so far, and the lion’s share of the event’s $625,000 (~£493,156) prize pool.

PGL Bucharest 2025 was the tournament organiser’s second international Counter-Strike event of the year. From April 6th-13th, the competition saw 16 teams battle through a Swiss System Group Stage and the single-elimination Playoffs.

Both Team Falcons and G2 Esports were directly invited to the tournament. However, the two teams had very different journeys throughout the event. G2 Esports’s run kicked off with a dominant 3-0 score in the Group Stage, while Falcons was among the bottom three teams to make the playoffs after winning three out of five matches.

Still, Falcons went on an undefeated Playoffs run. The team first eliminated GamerLegion (2-1) and FaZe Clan (2-1) to finally take down G2 in a dominant fashion.

According to esports data platform Esports Charts, 518,849 tuned into the Grand Final. This makes PGL Bucharest the sixth-most popular Counter-Strike tournament in 2025 so far, slightly below PGL Cluj-Napoca with 539,700 peak viewers. At the top of the list is IEM Katowice, with nearly 1.3m peak viewers.

PGL Bucharest also marks the last competition for player Ilya ‘m0NESY’ Osipov under the G2 banner. Yesterday, G2’s CEO, Alban ‘Stilgar’ Dechelotte, confirmed that m0NESY will transfer to Team Falcons. The Russian prodigy has been competing for G2 throughout his entire tier-one career thus far, winning  numerous IEM and BLAST titles.

The AWPer will now reunite with his former teammate Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač, who was already part of the Falcons roster during PGL Bucharest. The two players will represent Falcons at the upcoming IEM Melbourne from April 21st-27th.

Call of Duty League (CDL) franchise Las Vegas Falcons has recorded its first win since entering the league in August 2024.

The franchise, owned by Saudi Arabian esports organisation Team Falcons, secured a 3-1 victory over OpTic Texas during qualifiers for the third Major of the season.

Vegas Falcons was one of several franchises opting to make roster changes before the online qualifiers for Major 3 began.

After initially backing an all-Saudi player lineup, three of the four original players were replaced with the aim of climbing the league table and qualifying for the season-ending Championship Weekend.

Former OpTic Texas player Amer ‘Pred’ Zulbeari joined the team alongside Preston ‘Priestahh’ Greiner and Alec ‘Arcitys’ Sanderson, all three of which have won a world championship in Call of Duty. The trio of North American and Australian players joined Saud ‘Exnid’ Alotai to complete the roster.

Defeating OpTic Texas as its first CDL victory is a significant milestone for Vegas Falcons, which had struggled to compete with North American and European talent for the first two Majors of the season. Major 1 and 2 saw two top-12 placements with the team only able to win a handful of maps resulting in a roster change.

For Pred, the result follows his departure from OpTic Texas after returning to the North American franchise in February before leaving for Vegas Falcons on April 1st, 2025.

With one victory on the board, the focus for Vegas Falcons turns to the final week of qualifiers before the CDL heads to Boca Raton, California for the third LAN event of the season.

The team plays against Atlanta FaZe and Boston Breach in its final two matches. Winning both could see the team start a Major in the Winner’s Bracket for the first time.

Additionally, a strong showing could give the team enough points to book a place at the Championship Weekend. After the win, the team sits on 10 points but a high placement at the final two Majors could see it secure a top-eight placement.

Mobile MOBA title Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) has announced several format changes for Season 9 of its popular regional league, MPL Singapore.

Changes include several first-time initiatives aiming to ‘transform the local esports scene’ in Singapore and the surrounding region.

According to a release, MPL Singapore Season 9 will be ‘the most community-driven edition’ thanks to more opportunities for fans and aspiring MLBB talent to get involved with the league.

Beginning with Season 9, MPL Singapore will move to a roving format resulting in regular season matches taking place across several locations.

“The changes for MPL Singapore highlight our focus on empowering the community and building a sustainable foundation for Singapore’s esports scene,” commented Daniel Chew, Head of Esports for Singapore and Cambodia at MOONTON Games.

“These changes go beyond immediate growth – they’re designed to create lasting impacts for the future moving us toward a more inclusive and robust esports ecosystem.”

The regular season will feature both professional and community rosters competing alongside each other as part of a revised format. The regular season will feature four stages:

The seeded stage will feature five invited MPL Singapore teams competing while the Challenger qualifiers involve up to 64 amateur teams looking to secure a place in the Challenger stage.

The Challenger stage will provide a platform to ‘nurture emerging talent,’ with the top four community teams earning an opportunity to compete against the invited teams from the seeded stage.

Following the conclusion of the regular season, the top four invited teams will earn a place in the playoffs, while the fifth-placed team and Challenger teams will compete in last-chance qualifiers.

Playoffs involves six teams competing for a SGD$40,000 (~£23,075) prize pool and an opportunity to qualify for the MLBB Mid-Season Cup taking place at the 2025 Esports World Cup.

MPL Singapore has also released a video breaking down the format visually.

Alongside format changes, MPL Singapore has announced haircare brand Head & Shoulders as an esports partner alongside CapitaLand, which has become the league’s official Venue Partner.

Head & Shoulders products in Singapore will feature limited-edition packaging promoting the league with characters Zilong and Layla featuring on the brand’s product range.

CapitaLand will assist with event operations as the league travels around Singapore for the first time.

MPL Singapore, a regional Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) league, has launched a nationwide talent search to bolster the local ecosystem.

The aim of the initiative is to uncover the next generation of esports talent alongside providing a pathway for participants to embark on a career within the industry.

According to a release, the programme will enable participants to gain ‘hands-on experience’ across a range of areas including event hosting, content creation, event production, and esports commentary.

In addition to the talent search, MPL Singapore has launched an ambassador initiative. The MPL SG Ambassador Programme aims to grow the local esports scene and to ‘collaborate with emerging KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders)’ operating within the region.

Registrations for the MPL Singapore Talent Search are open now. Once registrations close, participants will take part in three weeks of ‘qualifiers’ taking place throughout May. The location of the qualifiers is yet to be revealed.

The programme will provide those who qualify with a variety of essential skills alongside mentorship and insight into the wider esports ecosystem.

Launching a talent search is one of several changes arriving to MPL Singapore in 2025. Starting from Season 9, the league will visit several locations within the region and provide amateur teams with an opportunity to compete against the best teams in the country.

Alongside adjustments to the league format, teams will compete for a place at the MLBB Mid-Season Cup which is one of several events taking place as part of the 2025 Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The concept of launching a search to find new talent within the esports industry is a method several organisations and federations have used in recent years.

In 2024, German organisation BIG launched a programme designed to build the skills of young esports talents to assist them with making a career out of competing.

In 2023, the Saudi Esports Federation and Japan Esports Union signed a Memorandum of Understanding to bolster the development of talent across the industry.

VCT China Stage 1 has concluded its group stage with EDward Gaming (EDG) and Bilibili Gaming on top of their respective groups.

Both Chinese teams finished the stage with 4-1 records and have qualified immediately for the Upper Bracket Semifinals.

China is one of four global regions in the tier-one VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) circuit. Following the regional Kickoff events and the season’s first international competition, Masters Bangkok, VCT has continued on a regional level with Stage 1.

VCT China’s Stage 1 tournament sees twelve teams compete through a single-round robin Group Stage followed by a double-elimination bracket.

After a dominant 2-0 result against FunPlus Phoenix yesterday, EDG has positioned itself at the top of its Group Alpha. The 2024 World Champion defeated group members TYLOO (2-0), Dragon Ranger Gaming (2-1) and Titan Esports Club (2-1) and was only bested by Nova Esports (0-2).

The final Group Alpha standings are:

Meanwhile, Group Omega leader Bilibili Gaming successfully faced XLG Esports (2-1), JD Gaming (2-1), All Gamers (2-0) and Wolves Esports (2-1). However, the roster lost its winning streak last weekend against Trace Esports (1-2).

Similarly, XLG ended the Group Stage with a 4-1 match score yet was placed below Bilibili due to a slightly worse overall map score.

The final Group Omega standings are:

The top four teams from each group have now qualified for the playoffs, set to take place April 17th until May 4th. Thanks to their Group Stage results, EDG and Bilibili Gaming have already advanced to the Upper Bracket Semifinals.

The Upper Bracket Round 1 matches will see Titan Esports Club face Wolves Esports and XLG compete against Nova. As the lowest-performing rosters from the Group Stage, Dragon Ranger and Trace Esports will start their Playoffs run in the lower bracket.

The top three VCT China Stage 1 contestants will qualify for Masters Toronto, the second global event of this year’s VCT season. Moreover, teams will earn points based on their Stage 1 performance, contributing to qualification for the season-ending world championship, VALORANT Champions.

The trend of esports organisations expanding into chess shows no signs of slowing down. In recent months, several teams have signed the best players in the world with the aim of competing on the biggest stages the strategy game has to offer.

Chess was unveiled as a tournament at the Esports World Cup in December 2024, and since then, esports organisations participating in the competition have continued to attract talent from across the world — and from the top of the chess leaderboard.

Updated on 14/04/25: With more organisations entering chess, this article has been updated with all of the confirmed signings so far.

French esports organisation Team Vitality was one of the first to expand its operations into chess for the EWC. In February 2025, it signed Grandmaster Maxime ‘MVL’ Vachier-Lagrave to represent the organisation across the international chess circuit.

In addition to the EWC, MVL represents Team Vitality in the Champions Chess Tour. He placed in the top 23 for the Chessable Masters event which concluded on February 21st, 2025.

The esports division of the English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers has also embarked on fielding chess players.

On February 27th, the organisation signed Yu Yangyi, China’s youngest Grandmaster, who will represent the organisation at the EWC, featuring a $1.5m (~£1.2m) prize pool.

Ukrainian organisation NAVI (Natus Vincere) announced a significant expansion into chess on February 17th, 2025, with the signing of three players to its ranks.

Sixth in the world Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Wesley So and Oleksandr Bortnyk all competed in the first Chessable Masters competition of 2025, with So finishing in the top 16.

All three players look to represent the organisation at the EWC, a competition where NAVI is part of the Club programme.

Serbian organisation Aurora Gaming has also made the leap into the world of professional chess with the signing of Blitz Chess World Champion Ian Neopmniachtchi.

Currently ranked tenth in the world, the Russian pro will compete in the Champions Chess Tour under the organisation’s banner at the EWC beginning on June 28th.

Saudi Arabian organisation Team Falcons will also field a chess Grandmaster at the EWC and other competitions. On February 18th, it announced the signing of Hikaru Nakamura, who’s currently ranked second in the world, according to the Chess.com rankings.

Nakamura is no stranger to representing esports organisations. In 2020, he represented North American organisation TSM as a streamer in a deal worth six figures.

In March, the organisation announced the signing of Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja, taking its chess roster to two. Team Falcons is one of the only esports organisations to field two players ranked in the top ten.

Leo Team is the second Ukrainian esports organisation to field a chess player.

The organisation signed 2003 Grandmaster Anton Korobov to its roster with the aim of qualifying for the EWC.

Russian organisation Team Spirit has also unveiled its representative for chess. In April, grandmaster Vladislav Artemiev joined the organisation following a string of victories in March.

The Russian player sits in ninth place in the CCT rankings, with 20 points earned from the Chessable Masters event. In the same announcement, Team Spirit also announced Daniil Dubov as a signed player.

The next ranked event is the CCT’s May event and will be the last chance for players to earn points to earn qualification for the EWC.

Another notable name to expand into chess is Team Secret. In April, the organisation signed Anish Giri to its roster.

Currently ranked in joint-ninth place in the CCT rankings, Giri is one of several players in contention of qualifying for the EWC later this year.

The top 24 players from the CCT’s May Event will earn points that determine rankings for the inaugural tournament, with 100 awarded to the winner and guaranteeing a place in Saudi Arabia.

Chinese organisation LGD Gaming is one of a handful of esports organisations from Asia fielding a chess player so far.

On February 14th, it announced the signing of former World Champion Ding Liren, who’s returning to chess after taking a competitive hiatus in December 2024.

Similar to NAVI, LGD Gaming is one of 30 organisations that form part of the EWC’s Club programme, which offers financial capital aiming to ensure the stability of organisations.

Weibo Gaming has also expanded into professional chess. On February 16th, the Chinese organisation signed world number seven Wei Yi to its roster.

The first tournament under the organisation saw Yi finish the Chessable Masters with a top 12 placement.

Founded in 1999, All Gamers is one of the oldest esports organisations in the world. Like many, the Chinese organisation expanded into chess in February with the signing of Volodar Murzin.

Murzin is the defending Rapid Chess World Champion and recently placed fourth in the Djerba International Chess Festival.

Global esports organisation Gen.G is another notable name that has ventured into the world of professional chess.

In February, the organisation signed Indian grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi to represent it across several tournaments including the EWC. Currently ranked fifth in the Chess Champions Tour standings, Erigaisi is poised to secure a place at the multi-title event taking place in July and August.

The most recent esports organisation to enter chess is S8UL Esports through the signings of Nihal Sarin and Aravindh Chithambaram.

Like several top names in chess, Sarin and Chithambaram compete in the Chess Champions Tour. The latter is ranked 17th and the former sits in 24th position. The top 12 players will earn direct qualification to the EWC meaning some strong performances are required for S8UL Esports to earn a place in Riyadh.

North American esports organisation Team Liquid has already cemented its place at the top of chess with the signings of Fabiano Caruana and world number one Magnus Carlsen.

The organisation was one of the first in the world to expand into chess and immediately made an impact by adding two of the world’s best players to its lineup.

Most recently, Carlsen won the Chessable Masters competition, while Caruana finished in the top 12.

So far, Team Liquid’s Carlsen, Team Falcons’ Nakamura and Aurora Gaming’s Nepomniachtchi are the only players to qualify for the EWC so far.

The tournament will feature the top 12 players based on CCT points along with four who make it through a last-chance qualifier.

First published: 03/03/25