What level do you need to play ranked in Dota 2?

Although Dota 2 is a game that you can play casually and still enjoy yourself, most people prefer matchmaking. These games are more intense due to their competitiveness. However, Valve has made a system that would prevent absolute newbies from participating in ranked games.

Before you can start playing ranked games, there are a few prerequisites that you should meet. For example, you need to have a certain number of unranked games and account levels. 

What level can you play ranked in Dota 2?

To play ranked in Dota 2, you need to have an account level of 20. This can be done by playing arcade and normal games. Before you can participate in the ranked games, you will also need to play 10 calibration matches. Based on them, you will be assigned a specific MMR in Dota 2, and you will be placed in a tier according to your skill. 

Keep in mind that your skill assessment will start prior to calibration games. The algorithm will also check your unranked stats and will use them as the starting point when assessing your ranked matchmaking rating. There is also an MMR for unranked games, but it is hidden (unlike for example the Dota 2 behavior score).

What are the other requirements for ranked matchmaking? 

Besides having an appropriate account level, you will need to meet a few other requirements:

• First, make sure to link your smartphone to the Steam account. You might have already done this if you often use the platform.
• Make sure to play at least 25 games in unranked (this doesn’t include 10 calibration games)
• After playing these 25 games, the algorithm will assign a number of games from 0 to 100 that you need to play prior to calibration, and eventually, matchmaking.
• Players must have played at least 100 hours on their Dota 2 account to gain access to Ranked Matchmaking. Parties with any player below this time will not be able to queue for ranked matches.

Always remember that this doesn't have anything to do with the account level. However, if you play all these games, your account level will rise accordingly. So, these requirements are not separate, but instead, they go hand-in-hand

Why are there so many requirements? 

There are a lot of requirements so that the old players (with a lot of hours in Dota 2) would have a better experience when new gamers join ranked matchmaking. 

Obviously, Valve doesn’t want newbies to start playing matchmaking. Even if you are a very low tier (like Herald), you should at least learn some basic controls and features. The game is very complex as it is. However, there is something even more important than this.

Dota 2 is full of smurfs and account sellers. Smurfs are high-tier players who go into lower tiers to simply have fun and basically harass players who are well below them in terms of skill. 

The game also has a lot of account buyers. Previously, players would create an account and boost it to a high MMR. When they wish to sell it, the higher MMR account (find out what’s the highest MMR in Dota 2) will yield them more money. So, Valve has introduced all these initial placement games, which would make it harder for players to do these things.