Dota 2 rankings and leaderboards, explained

The Dota 2 rank system and the leaderboard system associated with it serve as the best way to figure out how you stack up to your fellow gamers, and the ups and downs of your ranking will serve as the main gameplay loop over the course of the season.

It isn’t just pub players, either, who are interested in their all-important Dota 2 ranks – be it top players at the highest levels of the official leaderboards or the absolute elite pros in the biggest esports teams, understanding the game’s ranking system is a key part in getting even more enjoyment out of your favorite game.

Here’s everything you need to know about how the Dota 2 rank and leaderboards work, courtesy of Bitsler.

Dota 2 MMR and ranks, explained

The ranking system is the bread and butter of progression in any MOBA game, and this is especially true in Dota 2, which is one of the most competitive titles out there. (Seriously, every single person you will encounter playing is a bona fide massive tryhard.)

The ranks in Dota 2 are displayed by a rank medal, with each medal coming with five stars of progress before you get promoted to the next. The only exception to this is Immortal, the highest level of the matchmaking rank that all players strive for.

While you might think that the various ranks represent a linear distribution of the player base, that is not the case at all. In fact, the fattest part of the player bell curve is around Crusader 5 and Archon 1, meaning even a 2250 MMR would put you in the upper half of all Dota 2 players in the world! It just goes to show how truly excellent the best players of the game are.

Image courtesy of Esports Tales based on 2022 stats, as corroborated by OpenDota in 2025

The Dota 2 rank thresholds are distributed as follows:

Herald (1-769 MMR)

• Herald 1: 1-154 MMR
• Herald 2: 154-308 MMR
• Herald 3: 308-462 MMR
• Herald 4: 462-616 MMR
• Herald 5: 616-769 MMR

Guardian (770-1539 MMR)

• Guardian 1: 770-924 MMR
• Guardian 2: 924-1078 MMR
• Guardian 3: 1078-1232 MMR
• Guardian 4: 1232-1386 MMR
• Guardian 5: 1386-1539 MMR

Crusader (1540-2309 MMR)

• Crusader 1: 1540-1694 MMR
• Crusader 2: 1694-1848 MMR
• Crusader 3: 1848-2002 MMR
• Crusader 4: 2002-2156 MMR
• Crusader 5: 2156-2309 MMR

Archon (2310-3079 MMR)

• Archon 1: 2310-2464 MMR
• Archon 2: 2464-2618 MMR
• Archon 3: 2618-2772 MMR
• Archon 4: 2772-2926 MMR
• Archon 5: 2926-3079 MMR

Legend (3080-3849 MMR)

• Legend 1: 3080-3234 MMR
• Legend 2: 3234-3388 MMR
• Legend 3: 3388-3542 MMR
• Legend 4: 3542-3696 MMR
• Legend 5: 3696-3849 MMR

Ancient (3850-4619 MMR)

• Ancient 1: 3850-4004 MMR
• Ancient 2: 4004-4158 MMR
• Ancient 3: 4158-4312 MMR
• Ancient 4: 4312-4466 MMR
• Ancient 5: 4466-4619 MMR

Divine (4620-5620 MMR)

• Divine 1: 4620-4820 MMR
• Divine 2: 4820-5020 MMR
• Divine 3: 5020-5220 MMR
• Divine 4: 5220-5420 MMR
• Divine 5: 5420-5620 MMR

Immortal (5620+ MMR)

The best of the best. Of course, there is still a long way to go from the bottom of Immortal to the top of the Dota 2 leaderboard…

Dota 2 leaderboard: regional rankings and how you can get on

The absolute best of the Dota 2 ladder players, meaning the top 5000 players in each of the four divisions (Americas, Europe, Southeast Asia, and China) are shown separately on the official live Dota 2 World Leaderboards in a regularly updated bracket, which refreshes on an hourly basis. It goes without saying that you need to be a fantastic player and a fully dedicated gamer in general to earn yourself a spot on this coveted list.

The various server regions are organized into the four divisions mentioned above in the following way:

• Americas: US West, US East, South America
• Europe: Europe West, Europe East, Russia, South Africa
• China: Perfect World Telecom, Perfect World Unicom
• Southeast Asia: South Korea, SE Asia, Australia

If a player plays on multiple servers or would be eligible for multiple divisions’ leaderboards, then they will appear in the division where they have the most ranked games played over the course of the past 21 days, with the most recent game serving as the tiebreaker in the case they have an even number of matches across two or more of them somehow.

Beyond having an extremely high MMR (and no bans to your name), there are three other requirements for you to qualify for a Dota 2 leaderboard position. These are as follows:

• At least 300 lifetime matchmade games played (either ranked or unranked PvP matches)
• At least 100 lifetime ranked games played
• A minimum of 14 solo ranked games played in the last 21 days in the relevant division

This means you can’t just sit on your rank without active play or take a brand-new account and boost it into the elite positions.

Once you become eligible to appear on any of the four leaderboards, you will have to provide what is called Official Player Information to Valve, something a bit more permanent than your Steam username. This information carries over to any tournaments the leaderboard player may play in rather than their Steam account information.

This includes their display name and country of residence, any professional team they may play on and any professional sponsors they may have (so that they get added before and after their username), and their player role. This can be changed once every two weeks.

Not all divisions are the same – quite literally, in fact. To quote Valve’s FAQ on the leaderboards page, “the MMR of each division is on a different scale, and comparing MMRs across divisions is not currently meaningful,” so the current system is not at all an equivalent of a global Dota 2 leaderboard.

So, how do you find out who are the absolute best at the game? Well, this is where the esports side of things comes in.

How to track the best Dota 2 esports teams?

While individual players are tracked via the World Leaderboards, the absolute elite gameplay occurs on the greatest arena stage, and the best way to follow their exploits and identify the best teams is to watch and bet on competitive Dota 2 esports events. You can also take a look at third-party rankings and trackers like this one created by GosuGamers, a well-renowned gaming news site, but there is nothing quite like the eye test and the second-hand experience you get by watching the biggest Dota 2 esports events yourself.

It is also a fantastic tool to get better at your own gameplay: by paying close attention to how the greatest players do it under the bright lights, you will get the best and most up-to-date insights on how to play the game well, which you can then use in your own ranked games – from item choices to hero selection, team coordination and individual prowess, nothing can match what Dota 2 pros dish out as they vie to become esports champions.

So, to rank the best esports teams in the world of Dota, you can either read expert articles like the ones on the Bitsler blog or pay attention to what the pundits say, but the best way, without a doubt, is to get involved in the action yourself! By betting on Dota 2 esports events, you truly challenge your own predictive skills and will have to pay close attention to the games you are looking to wager on – and, of course, have some fun along the way. Create your Bitsler account now, and check out the great odds and even greater bonuses on offer, and have fun on the Dota 2 leaderboard!