Apex Legends pro ImperialHal pleads for deranking to save Ranked matchmaking

Team SoloMid pro Phillip ‘ImperialHal’ Dosen pleaded for Respawn to finally add deranking to Apex Legends as matches keep getting “ruined” by players with “nothing to lose.”

Apex has a Ranked League playlist that anyone can queue up for to start winning Ranked Points (RP). With the exception of Master and Apex Predator, every ranked tier has four divisions.

While players can get knocked down from different divisions, they cannot rank down from tiers. This is something that ImperialHal and many others think needs to change to save the game.

“Please for the love of God allow deranking for stupid Master players and Diamonds,” ImperialHal said. “Completely ruins the gameplay of the game when you have nothing to lose.”

Plenty of people chimed in after Hal made his request to Respawn. With many high-level players expressing similar sentiments to that of the TSM pro.

“4800-7200-10k RP, 2 games of free -RP as a safety net,” TSM teammate Mac ‘Albralelie’ Beckwith said, building on ImperialHal’s idea. “Game 3 gives you a message on screen like ‘Next loss of RP will result in demotion.’

This imo would increase the overall quality of matches for all players, including Solo-queue players and would encourage people to always play to win.”

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Many complaints revolve around people who rank up to certain tiers and drop off almost immediately for time not played or just losing their skill.

Respawn Entertainment

Respawn introduced Ranked Leagues in Season 2, and said they would revisit demotions if needed.

While rank protection serves to keep players in their tiers for longer, it’s something that some have seen as a problem.

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Conversely, if there were ranked demotions, especially in higher ranks, it could adversely affect rank queue timers that can already get long.

This is a growing issue that Respawn are bound to look into considering it’s starting to be a hot-topic among the Apex Legends community.