Riot Games is taking the rare step of resetting the top end of League of Legends’ ranked ladder in several regions after months of instability, inconsistent LP gains, and widespread frustration from Apex-tier players.
Starting with Patch 26.9, all current League Master, Grandmaster, and Challenger players in NA, EUW, EUNE, BR, LAN, and TR will have both their visible rank and MMR reset to Master 0 LP. The developer says the move is designed to restore ladder integrity after a turbulent start to the 2026 season.
According to Riot Phroxzon, the developer team made several aggressive matchmaking changes at the start of the year aimed at improving the Ranked experience. These included better autofill handling, increased satisfaction in some ranks, and allowing duos in Apex-tier play. But those changes created unintended problems.
Players in affected regions reportedly bounced between wildly different LP gain systems depending on the patch, including +10/-30 LP in one version and +/- 20 LP in another. Riot admitted that the patch a player queued on became a major factor in how high they could climb, which damaged competitive fairness.
With Patch 26.6, the developer says many of the core matchmaking problems were solved. However, the ladder itself no longer accurately reflected player skill, leading to the decision for a hard reset.
Once Patch 26.9 goes live, every affected Master+ player will be sent back to Master 0 LP, wiping current ladder standings and resetting top-end MMR. Players will need to restart their climb from the same starting point, effectively resetting the race for Grandmaster and Challenger spots across the impacted regions.
The developer says the reset is intended to create a level playing field for everyone, although it acknowledges that there may be short-term matchmaking chaos once the changes take effect.
Since previous rank data will not immediately shape matchmaking, players may run into uneven games early on, including former Challengers being matched against former Masters until the ladder stabilizes over the next few months. Riot considers that a necessary tradeoff for improving long-term ladder health. To make the fresh climb feel less grindy, the developer is also increasing baseline LP gains and losses to 30 LP.
The updated LP gains should help players progress faster while still rewarding consistent performance over time, according to the devs. At the same time, minimum LP cutoffs are being raised to 800 LP for Challenger and 400 LP for Grandmaster in affected regions.
According to the studio, the higher thresholds should reduce cases where early win streaks or heavy grinding allow players to reach top ranks too quickly.
Season 1 rewards will still be granted as normal. For Season 2, the developer says Season 3 will act as a final reconciliation pass for Apex-tier rewards. If a player reaches a higher rank in Season 3, that higher finish can also count for Season 2 rewards. So if someone reaches Master in Season 2 and Grandmaster in Season 3, they would receive Grandmaster rewards for both seasons.
The developer says only NA, EUW, EUNE, BR, LAN, and TR experienced enough instability to justify a reset. Other regions will continue normally. While Ranked resets mid-season are extremely uncommon, the developer says this was necessary to repair trust in the ladder and give top players a cleaner climb heading into the rest of the year.
