Apex Ranked Matchmaking
Opening Statement
Matchmaking in Apex Ranked is fundamentally broken. Matchmaking is no longer according to your rank but your MMR. What then what is the point of ranks?
Info About Me
I have 1600 hours on Apex. I reach diamond consistently in ranked (not going to count master from season 17 as it was a joke). I do very well and am usually the top player in my mixtape games. All in all, I feel like I am pretty good at the game.
As a solo, my preliminary matches put me in Bronze 1. I played two matches in which I got 6 and 9 kills. The 9 kill game was a win. I made it to Silver 4.
I played 5 more matches and lost every single one.
Here's what happened.
After the two good games, the matchmaking paired me with Bronze players (even though I was Silver) and put me against current Diamonds, Masters, and Preds. Obviously, we were no match for any team in the lobby and died off rip every game. Even though I am a competitive player and might outplay single players on another team, I CANNOT be expected to 1v3 every team since my teammates are not near as skilled as the opposing team.
It seems to be a complete waste of time for me to struggle as a Silver against Diamonds, Masters, and Preds. I am being punished by my MMR in ranked.
So again I ask, what does ranked actually mean?
If I get stuck in Silver playing against other Diamonds, Masters, and Preds while having Bronze teammates, does that mean I truly belong in Silver?
If a much lower MMR player is only matched against players his MMR or slightly better and is able to climb to Master, does that really mean he is a Master? Look at what happened last season with over 30% of players reaching Master.
My Final Thoughts
Solo high MMR players are literally being punished by the matchmaking system. Ranked doesn't make sense if we don't play against players in our current rank as we climb.
Ranked matchmaking should be determined by the rank that you are currently in. That way, if you cannot climb out of your rank, it truly means you belong in that rank. If you are much more skilled than your rank, then you can climb out quickly and waste less time.
The matchmaking currently implemented is done so in order to allow all MMR levels to reach the rank they want with enough time invested. This is because the top skilled players make up a much smaller percentage of the player base.
EA is concerned about revenue, so they want to please the majority of the player base which is low to medium MMR.
That's the smart move for revenue but completely ruins ranked as it is now meaningless and punishes players who invested the most time getting better.
Worried about smurfs ruining lower ranks? Know how to fix that? Require a phone number to have an Apex account. Smurfing fixed. Know why they won't do that? Because more accounts means more revenue.
