/dev: Apex Tier Ranked Reset

Hey everyone, we’ve been monitoring the situation at the top of the Ranked ladder since the reset in January, as well as watching conversations Apex-tier players have been having. As a result of the volatility we’ve seen since January, we’ve decided to do a hard Ranked reset for Apex players (Master+) in NA, EUW, EUNE, BR, LAN, and TR.

All current Master, Grandmaster, or Challenger players in these regions will have their visible rank and MMR reset to Master 0LP when Patch 26.9 goes live at the start of Season 2.

We know that having a hard reset mid-year is disruptive to climbs, but due to the issues many of you (and we) identified from the start of the year, and the disparity between the top and bottom of the Apex ladder, this reset should make the Ranked ladder healthier. 

With that, let’s talk about what happened, and why we’re taking this path.

What Happened

We took some larger swings this year with matchmaking to try to create a more satisfying Ranked experience—improving the autofill experience, increasing satisfaction in certain ranks, and enabling duos in Apex, to name a few. In doing that, we made a number of mistakes in how we configured the Ranked system for the 2026 Season start. We heard the feedback around these mistakes and surveyed some Apex players in the affected regions to get more specific thoughts on their experiences. And it was obvious that the climb this season hasn’t felt good to many of you.

Attempting to fix these issues resulted in multiple patches of Apex players in the aforementioned regions bouncing between states of +10/-30LP on one patch and +-20LP on another patch, which created a subpar and inconsistent climbing experience. Ultimately, this meant the patch that you played on was a factor in how high you climbed, undermining ladder integrity.

Fast forward to today: With the roll out of improved matchmaking on 26.6, better balance of duos, uncapping LP at the top of the ladder, and a variety of other smaller changes, we feel like the underlying issues for mismatched LP gains have been resolved. However, that leaves us with a ladder that doesn’t feel truly representative of players’ skill.

All of that led us to the decision to implement a hard reset for Masters+ on patch 26.9.

Why a Hard Reset

When we surveyed groups of Apex players in the affected regions, the thing we heard the most was that they wanted us to prioritize Ranked ladder integrity above all else, even if that meant feeling a medium term drop in matchmaking quality. 

A hard reset means everyone starts from the same place at Master 0 LP. Nothing in the current ladder will be preserved, and it puts everyone on an equal playing field at the cost of fairer games. 

Because there will be no memory of previous ranks in matchmaking, you may see yourself in some wonky matchups. For example, you could have 5 ex-Challengers vs 5 ex-Masters and that would be considered a fair game in the system. This will be a known, short-term trade-off as the state of the ladder will take several months to shake out post-reset.

Ladder LP Gains and Cutoffs

Another thing we’ve heard is how grindy the ladder can feel, especially when looking at the top and at the Grandmaster and Challenger LP cutoffs. A common point of feedback in the surveys was the need for more breakpoints within the Apex ladder and this is something we’ll be adding in 2027. 

The Grandmaster and Challenger cutoffs will not be adjusted in these changes and LP values will still be higher than in previous years. However, we’ll be increasing the LP gain win / loss to be +-30 LP at a baseline, which will make the climb to the top feel less grindy. 

We expect LP gains and losses to be between +35 / -25 LP and +25 / -35 LP, with a baseline of +-30 LP, which we think strikes a better balance between requiring appropriate investment to reach the top of the ladder while also making climbing more achievable for players who have commitments. 

We’ll also be increasing the minimum LP cutoffs required in the reset regions to 800 LP for Challenger and 400 LP for Grandmaster. One of the criticisms of seasonal Ranked resets (for many years now) has been how early season lucky winstreaks and playing a lot of games in a short period of time can catapult someone over 500 LP (the current LP cutoff for Challenger). By increasing the cutoffs, we believe we can strike a better balance of consistency required to hit Challenger, while also not feeling impossibly grindy (which we’re mitigating with LP gains increasing to +30 LP at a baseline).

Apex Tier Ranked Rewards

We also want to take a moment to acknowledge Apex tier Ranked rewards. This reset, mixed with the shorter Season means that it will feel harder to get back to your peak rank in time. We’ll be giving out Season 1 rewards as usual, and then we’ll use Season 3 as a final reconciliation pass for Season 2 rewards for Apex tier players in affected regions. And, if you hit a higher rank in Season 3, that will also count as your rewards for Season 2. For example, if you hit Master in Season 2 and Grand Master in Season 3, you’ll receive Grand Master rewards for Seasons 2 and 3 at the end of the year.

Moving Forward

We don’t believe that any other regions have experienced the level of instability that would undermine ladder integrity enough to warrant a reset like this.

As always, we appreciate the conversation we've been seeing from those impacted. It's through your comments and stories that illustrated the severity of all these system changes that made us resort to a more drastic and rare reset.

And while we know that a hard reset mid-Ranked season is unideal—and an exceedingly rare event we’ll always avoid—we wanted to take the steps necessary that fix the instability you've been feeling this season, despite the tradeoffs.

Thanks so much for your patience this season as we worked to get a fix in place that would target the root of your concerns. Happy climbing.