Ranked Ladder
Every ranked online duel moves you on the station's ladder. Climb the Duel Academy ranks from Beginner through Slifer Red, Ra Yellow and Obelisk Blue to the Pro League, and take the top of the list to become King of Games. Every month a new season starts.
Online play is in an early test phase. Numbers and rewards may change before release.
Ranked or friendly
When you challenge someone (ONE DUEL or BEST OF 3) or go LOOKING FOR A DUEL, a switch picks RANKED or FRIENDLY. Ranked is the default, and the game remembers your choice.
- Ranked needs both duelists to be logged in with Discord.
- At most 3 ranked results a day (UTC) against the same duelist. After that you can keep playing them, but those duels are friendly. The switch tells you why.
- A Best of 3 counts as one result.
- Your tournament matches count too (1 vs 1, one result per match), and so do ranked duels in a team Gauntlet.
- Duels against NPCs and friendly duels never count.
The ranks
Every rank has five sub-ranks, counted like in Master Duel: 5 is the lowest, 1 the highest. Everyone starts at BEGINNER 5. Each sub-rank is 100 rank points (RP) wide.
| Rank | Rank points | Boosters at the season's end |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 0 to 499 | 1 |
| Slifer Red | 500 to 999 | 2 |
| Ra Yellow | 1000 to 1499 | 2 |
| Obelisk Blue | 1500 to 1999 | 3 |
| Pro League | 2000 and more (Pro League 1 has no top) | 4 |
| King of Games | #1 of the list, in the Pro League | 4 |
For example, 1250 RP is RA YELLOW 3. King of Games is the duelist at the top of the list, as long as they are in the Pro League.
Your rank medallion shows the rank's god (Beginner a card back, the Pro League a laurel), and its ring fills up as you climb from 5 to 1. You see it next to names in the player list, the online window, challenges and the ACCEPT window, and the top 10 wear theirs over their heads in the city.
Rank points
Behind your rank there is a second number, your Elo: it measures how strong you play. Elo decides how many rank points a result is worth.
| Your opponent | Win | Loss |
|---|---|---|
| 400 Elo stronger | +86 RP | −14 RP |
| 200 Elo stronger | +80 RP | −20 RP |
| As strong as you | +70 RP | −30 RP |
| 200 Elo weaker | +60 RP | −40 RP |
| 400 Elo weaker | +54 RP | −46 RP |
A draw against an equal duelist moves nothing. Winning half your duels against equals still climbs slowly; winning more climbs fast, and beating only weaker duelists does not carry you to the top.
- No falling out of a rank: you can lose sub-ranks inside a rank, but once you reach a rank this season you never drop below its sub-rank 5. Elo has no such floor.
- A duel that ends before turn 2 does not count for the winner. Whoever gives up (surrender, leaving, losing the connection, forfeiting a match) still loses.
After every ranked duel, the result screen shows your line, such as
RANKED +70 · RA YELLOW 3 · 40/100 · #7. A banner with your new medallion tells you about a new
sub-rank (RANK UP), a new rank (PROMOTED TO OBELISK BLUE) or becoming KING OF GAMES.
Placement
Your first 5 ranked results of a season are your placement: they count twice, for your rank points and your Elo. Five wins against equal duelists take you straight to SLIFER RED 3. You see your rank from your first duel; you appear on the list after the fifth.
The LADDER tab
Open the TOURNEY window from the bottom bar and switch to LADDER at the top:
- Your season: your medallion and rank, your RP with a bar to the next sub-rank, your place, your Elo, wins and losses, your best rank this season, and when the season ends.
- ALL: the top 50 with rank and RP. FRIENDS: you and your friends. LAST SEASON: the final top 10.
- Past seasons: your badge for every season you finished, with rank and place.
Your Duelist Profile shows your rank and place under RECORD, and the Arena screens can show the ladder's TOP 10.
Seasons
A season is a calendar month. It ends at 00:00 UTC on the 1st.
- Everyone on the list gets a badge (for example
SEASON 2 · RA YELLOW 3 · #7) and Astra Tournament Packs by rank (see the table above). - King of Games earns the title KING OF GAMES, the rest of the top 10 the title ASTRA DUELIST. Wear them in your Duelist Profile.
- Then everyone's rank points are halved (PRO LEAGUE 5 becomes RA YELLOW 5, RA YELLOW 3 becomes SLIFER RED 4), Elo moves halfway back to 1000, and a new placement begins. The floors start again from the rank you land in.
Rewards wait for you if you are offline when a season ends; they arrive the next time you log in.