Sloclap’s Rematch is rolling out a significant change to its competitive system with its latest update, introducing two new key features: League Demotion and Dynamic Ranking. These additions mark a shift in how the game evaluates and evolves player skill within its ranked system.
Rematch Has Higher Stakes
Under the new League Demotion system, once a player’s Ranked Points (RP) drop to zero in Division 3 of a League, they no longer face immediate relegation. Instead, they enter a “Risk of Demotion” phase and lose one of two protective Shields. A subsequent loss strips the second Shield and places players in a “Last Chance” state, where the very next loss triggers demotion. On the flip side, a win at any point in that window resets one Shield and grants the win’s RP reward.
According to Sloclap’s dev blog, the aim here is twofold: they want the Rank to “actually matter and represent your real skill level,” while also softening the blow of unlucky results or short-term performance dips. The system introduces tension through potential demotion, but offers multiple safeguards before it happens.
Tracking Hidden Skill With Dynamic Rating
The second major pillar is Dynamic Ranking. In addition to the standard RP gains and losses at match end, the system now applies a slight adjustment (up to +3 points per game) based on a player’s hidden Matchmaking Rating (MMR) relative to the expected MMR of their current Rank.
In essence, a player performing at a higher skill level than indicated by their visible Rank may gain RP faster and drop less on losses. Conversely, players over-ranked relative to their current MMR may see slower ascent or bigger RP losses.
Sloclap says the mechanism was “intended at launch,” but delayed while stability and performance concerns were addressed. Even with it going live, the function will still be under observation for potential tuning.
What It Means For Rematch Players
For competitive players, these changes could provide a more accurate ladder of skill — your rank is now more closely tied to underlying MMR, and you’re less likely to tumble into a lower league because of a single bad streak. For more casual players, the extra demotion Shields may reduce frustration and afford more breathing room so that variance doesn’t kill Rank progression.
Sloclap also hints at what’s next: analysis of solo queue vs premade performance is coming, with the aim to better balance unfair pairings where skill disparity or team composition skews results. They affirm the dataset to date “doesn’t show a huge impact on win-rate” for premades vs solo, but they’re expanding tools to track this.
As the developers note, this update is about changing the Ranking experience for all players and will “settle in” over time before further tweaks.
