The Rainbow Six: Siege Ranking System Explained

Rainbow Six: Siege is one of the most competitive FPS titles out right now. In actual fact, it’s been that way for several years now and the game only seems to be going from strength to strength in its long lifespan. A key, important aspect of a competitive FPS is the ranked mode - this is double the case for Rainbow Six: Siege.Despite the importance of the game’s ranked mode, there’s a lot to know and learn about the rank system in this game. There’s plenty of information that the game doesn’t outwardly tell you and what the game does tell you is easy to forget if you’ve been playing the game for a while.As a result of this, we’ve pieced together a guide to help you understand all the little nuances of the ranked system in Rainbow Six: Siege to encourage and improve your knowledge!

What are the Ranks in Rainbow Six: Siege

As with any ranked mode, there are several different ranks that you can achieve and the subsequent MMR that is needed for each of them. Depending on how well you play in each match, MMR can vary up or down. This is dependent on the MMR system, which will be approached further on in this article.Below will be a list of the possible ranks you can achieve in Rainbow Six: Siege and the level of MMR you need to have to accomplish that rank:

• Copper: 0 – 1,600 MMR
• Bronze: 1,600  - 2,100 MMR
• Silver: 2,100 – 2,600 MMR
• Gold: 2,600 – 3,200 MMR
• Platinum: 3,200 – 4,400 MMR
• Diamond: 4,400 – 5,000 MMR
• Champions: 5,000 MMR Onwards

How Does Rainbow Six: Siege Ranking Work?

When looking at all of the algorithms and systems that make up the Rainbow Six: Siege MMR ranking work in the first place, it is far from simple. A lot of people seem to think that the game works off of the ELO method, which will be explained in further detail later on. That method however is designed around 2-player games (originally Chess) and does not accurately reflect a 5 vs. 5 FPS game. Instead, it uses Microsoft’s TrueSkill rating system, which has been specifically researched and designed to work for multiplayer games. Again, there will be specifications on TrueSkill further on.Through the use of TrueSkill technology, the game will give you MMR points through wins and take them away when losses are experienced. Against higher-ranked players, though, the lower-ranked team are set to win a lot more points through a victory, due to the skill-gap developed. This means the game will reward those that play at their best through each of their games and punish those that won’t take a lower-ranked team seriously enough.

Microsoft’s TrueSkill Technology

Ever since 2005, Microsoft has had a ranking system in place, called TrueSkill. The way it works is through using complex algorithms to determine a player’s individual skill and match them with/against players of similar levels.To make an incredibly complex set of algorithms and systems simple, it works through tracking your overall progress, successes, and failures throughout the lifetime of your profile. Every shot, miss, death, kill, win, and loss is all taken into account. The same exact system that Rainbow Six: Siege makes great use of, since it’s a system that specifically works for more than 2 people in comparison to other rank ratings.

What Is MMR and how does it work in R6

MMR is quite simply the abbreviated version of Matchmaking Ranking. This ranking is a numerical number that indicates your overall skill. Typically, a higher ranked player is considered more skilful, due to MMR only increasing when wins are recorded.Matchmaking Ranking does not take into account players who have only started, however. You could be an incredible player that consistently won all 10 of their placement matches; it doesn’t mean you’re going to be immediately put into Diamond rank. With MMR, the more you play and the better you play, the more the system ends up working in your favour.

The ELO System in R6 explained

ELO is a rating system that was originally created by a Chess Grandmaster, known as Arpad Elo. He devised this rating system to determine the differences of skill between two players, to ensure that even games of Chess were being played.Just like Microsoft’s TrueSkill – of which is an extension of the original ELO system – ELO takes points away from the losing player and gives them to the victor. To make up for a disparity between skill levels, if a high-ranking player lost to a lower-ranked player, they would end up losing even more points than if they played someone of equal standing.ELO is a familiar system that’s used by many games and is the basis that makes up Microsoft’s TrueSkill rating system, and in essence, the basis for Siege’s MMR ranking system also.

Determination of MMR Ranks: what affects Your Matchmaking Rank?

The crux of the ranking system in Rainbow Six: Siege is revolved around taking away MMR points or rewarding them. As of right now, the system will only reward you with points if one of these occurrences happens:

• The match is won
• A cheater has been identified in the losing match

By winning the match, through legitimate means or a cheater has been located on the other team, your MMR points will increase, along with the rank. Any decreases work in a similar fashion, but in the reverse order:

• The match is lost
• A cheater has been identified in the winning match
• Left early in the match
• Idle kicked
• Vote kicked

Losing a match is the standard way of losing MMR points and rank. Although, it should be noted that if you don’t play the game until the end, are idling or vote kicked, you will also be denoted points.Every time your points reach the number threshold for the next or previous rank, it will be changed to reflect that gain or loss of points.

How to Get Your First Rank

This is a nice and simple one, but can be a little scary if you’ve never played ranked before. Before the game will assign you one of the several ranks that are available, you are required to play 10 placement matches.Once all 10 matches have been played, the system will calculate your wins and losses for you. This will automatically be done by the system the moment you complete your 10th match, at which point you will be shown your rank and the MMR score you’re currently at.Even if you feel like you’ve done terribly during placement matches, it’s still more than possible to climb back up through the ranks – even if you’ve been placed in copper. Don’t expect to stay at your given rank forever; things can change.

How to Check MMR, Stats, & Compare Progress with Other Players

As to be expected, there’s going to be a lot of players out there who want to be able to check their MMR, stats, and their overall progress as players. The best place to find all of that is through the Ubisoft website for Rainbow Six: Siege.Follow all of the steps below to find everything you could ever need about your Siege profile:

1. Go online and head to the Ubisoft main website for Rainbow Six: Siege. At the top-right of the page will be an option to log into your Ubisoft Club profile.
2. Once logged in; at the top of the page – closest to the middle – is a tab that reads “Player Resources.” Highlight the mouse over it and click on the option that says “My Profile.” This will lead you to Ubisoft’s stat-tracking website.
3. It will automatically take you to your profile, providing you already logged in before. It will show all sorts of stats, like your rank, kills, deaths, accuracy, win-loss ratio, and so much more.
4. If you want to look up the stats for other players, like professionals or friends, there’s a “Search for Players” search-box at the top of the page. Input the name of any player profile, and you’ll be able to see their overall stats. An added benefit of this feature is the follow button .
5. On the player’s profile will be a bright-yellow buttonthat says “Follow.” Click that and you’ll save their profile to a following tab, which can be found on the upper-right on the WebPage. Now, you can keep track of all of your friends and favourite player’s stats with nothing more than a couple of clicks.

Ranking Distribution

Over the years, the rank distribution has changed somewhat. First of all, the seasons in-game were originally designed to be regional, rather than globally. This regional setting allowed for MMR abuse and was eventually changed upon realisation. The change to a global MMR system means that no matter what region you play in, your profile remains the same and doesn’t alternate depending on the region you’re playing on.At the minute, this is nothing more than a prediction, but one we’re starting to see in other titles, such as Rocket League. This is through a phenomenon, known as MMR lean – specifically leaning to the right on the ranking scales. What this means is that lower-ranked players/teams are more likely to come across higher-ranked players, encouraging more MMR gain and lighter MMR punishments for them. At the moment, it’s nothing more than a prediction, but does seem to be the trend at the moment.

Classifying Each Rank: what your rank say about your skill

Each rank has its own classification and play-style – both of which can demonstrate exactly what kind of player you are, based on your current rank.Read on and find out which one you are:

Copper

For those new players that don’t have too much experience with playing ranked or competitive shooters, this is going to be the first rank for a lot of players.Now is the perfect time to work on your own fundamentals, such as accuracy, positioning, and just learning the main mechanics of the game as a whole. There’s a lot to learn in the game and Copper rank is the ideal place to do it.

Bronze

In Bronze, you’re still learning the ropes of the game, but you’ve certainly improved through the small handful of ranked experience you have so far. Shots most likely will not always be where you want them to be.Your understanding of the maps still may fall short in comparison to other players, but you’re still having fun with the game as you learn to be a better player and increase that overall consistency.

Silver

With each game that you’ve played, your consistency has only gotten better. Shots are starting to land where they’re meant to, the map layout now is making a lot more sense to you, and the key mechanics of the game are under your belt.This is the level for the average player and will be the stomping grounds for those players that are looking to take their ranked career seriously and that starts here.At this point, you’re bound to have a couple of Operators that you prefer for Attack & Defence and with every game played, you become that little bit closer to hitting Gold.

Gold

Once hitting Gold, you’re already making the push for Platinum, a long-term goal that’s going to set you back a fair few games before you get any higher. The amount of time and focus you put into the game is really starting to pay off and show, considering that your understandings of the game as a whole is finally getting to a level you’re more than happy with.Your accuracy is slightly higher than the average-player and this going to be the level where you need to decide on just how serious you intend to play the rest of the season. It can mean the difference between plateauing at Gold and improving all the way to Diamond or Champion!

Platinum

This is it – this is where dedication and consistency needs to become a reality for you if you’re looking to continue your Rainbow Six: Siege rankings and career. There’s a large gap between Platinum and Diamond, so to reach that rank you’re going to need to be putting in some serious time with the game on a near-weekly basis and consider the game one of your mains.In terms of utility, you’ve definitely picked up more than a thing or two and your accuracy is no longer the thing that’s holding you back. Practice your calls, positioning, and overall team-player effectiveness to see yourself dragged out from Platinum and into the next set of rankings.All of which could lead to a more professional position for you in this game!

Diamond

Once hitting Diamond, you’re only short a few 600 MMR points from being amongst the top 1% of players and demonstrating your unprecedented skill for all to see.There are very few positions and calls that you don’t know and your shots will almost always find their mark. With some pure dedication, constant analyses of your best and worst games will ultimately mean the difference between Diamond and Champion.Making that next step up is going to require some serious dedication, along with 100’s of hours of practice, but you’re so close to reaching that goal already – so why stop now?

Champion

At this rank, you’ve effectively become the crème de la crème of Rainbow Six: Siege players. You’ve memorised every single map down to the last inch. Every single weapon in the game is a deadly tool with your pin-point accuracy and your understanding of other player’s behaviour is a great way of dealing with the competition.At this stage, it would be worth going professional, as only the very best of players have ever even reached this rank before.It won’t be easy to improve from this point, unless you consider going into the eSports circuit – and with that level of skill, it would make for a worthy challenge and possible career prospects with talent like that!

Rank Decay – Does it Exist?

Anyone that is unsure of what rank decay is: it’s the act of progressively lowering your in-game rank, due to not playing a game of ranked for a predetermined amount of time.Want to know the quick and simple answer to this question? No, it does not exist. Even if you didn’t play for the entirety of the ranked season after the first 10 placement matches, your rank would remain the same.

What is the MMR Rank Lock?

Surprisingly, MMR rank lock is a relatively new addition to Rainbow Six: Siege. For a number of years the game did not have this system implemented, which allowed for the abdication of rank boosting.With these rather new changes, an MMR rank lock has been implemented so that players can’t group up together if there is a 1,000 MMR range between them. For example, if you’re rank 3,100 and your friend is rank 1,800, there’s more than 1,000 MMR points between you, and the game will not allow you to join one another’s squads in ranked.Now, this might seem like a negative addition, but it’s quite the opposite. This feature is designed to prevent people boosting their accounts unfairly, which can result in some less than favourable games for you. Usually, if you play ranked with a regular squad, your MMR is going to be so similar that the system shouldn’t get in your way.

Rank Resets and How They Work Each Season

Rainbow Six: Siege seasons last a maximum of three months and gets what is considered a “hard reset” at the end of each season. What this means for you is that no matter what your rank is at the end of the season, it’s going to be completely wiped before the start of the next one.Once the next season starts, you will be required to do 10 placement matches again to see where in the MMR system you are ranked.

Differences between Ranks, Levels & Season Rewards

Ranked, unsurprisingly, wouldn’t be that interesting if there wasn’t some kind of reward for the player at the end of the season. Thankfully, Rainbow Six: Siege has that exact system in place, so depending on your highest rank by the end of the season; you’re set to get a reward of some kind.To be eligible for this reward, you will need to have played your 10 placement matches in the first place; otherwise you won’t be getting any season rewards.Each season, the rewards are a set of weapon charms that you can equip on your favourite gun. These weapon charms will display a colour that corresponds with your highest rank for that season. The higher rank bracket you reach, the more impressive the season rewards usually.What’s nice about these rewards is that they will take into account the highest amount of MMR you had for that season. If you started the season and got to Platinum rank, but ended up finishing the season in Silver, you’ll be rewarded for hitting Platinum in the first place. So, get out there and play some ranked games!

Tips & Tricks to increase your rank faster

Now that you have a good understand on how the MMR system works and its nuances, the next step is improving overall gameplay.As you will see below, there are several tips & tricks that will get your rank up and make you an even better player overall:

• Use a Coach: Coaches typically have a lot of experience in the game and will look over your gameplay or play with you in matches to give you advice on what could be improved and what’s working.
• Watch Streamers/Live Gameplay: Watch some of the top players, either on YouTube, Twitch, or whatever their chosen platform is. Watching another person’s gameplay can give you some ideas on new strategies and tactics that you might not have otherwise thought about.
• Play with Mouse Settings: Don’t settle for the default mouse settings in-game. A lot of mice nowadays have their own weights and DPI settings that can be changed on the fly. Try out some different settings to see what works best for you.
• Don’t Be Scared to Talk: Siege is a team game. You’re going to need to work as a team – that’s very difficult if no one is communicating. Making appropriate calls for your team can be the difference between an embarrassing wipe and an incredible game!
• Warm-Up Before Games: Many professionals take 30-minutes to an hour to warm-up, get a feel for the controls again, and just give their fingers a chance to warm-up. Play against the AI in Training Grounds and give yourself that warm-up before heading into ranked.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the MMR ranking system’s inner-workings are quite complex, but the system from the outside is very simple. Just remember that win’s equal points and losses will take points away from you – there’s really not much more to it than that.When playing ranked, take your time to enjoy it and don’t play it so seriously that you’re finding yourself getting frustrated. It makes for bad gameplay and a bad experience, so a break is very beneficial when you see yourself getting tired.Go out there, have fun, and best of luck climbing the ranks to Champion!

For more articles about the game, check our guide on how to check total playtime in Rainbow Six Siege.