MMR Vs ELO Rating: Comprehensive Guide
MMR and ELO rating systems highly improve the players’ experience of many online multiplayer games.
MMR is a hidden system used by multiple games including League of Legends, Dota 2, CS: GO, and more, to make their Matchmaking and matches more fair and balanced between players.
Here is a detailed guide about MMR and ELO ratings.
About MMR & ELO Rating Systems
About MMR: MMR in games is a score/rating, which helps the Matchmaking system to combine the same skilled players during Matchmaking to compete with one another for a better and highly enjoyable gaming experience.
There are multiple tools available that can help you to check MMR.
About ELO: ELO is a rating system used by many online games to know about the players’ skill levels.
The ELO rating system was developed by Arpad Emmerich Elo, a Hungarian-American physics professor, especially for 2 players game, chess.
But after some time, many other games have started using the ELO system in their games.
How ELO works: You might have questions about how ELO rating works. Let me explain.
If you win the game, your ELO will go up and will go down, if you lose the game. Remember that winning is not the only factor in the ELO rating system.
But what is the actual difference between MMR and ELO? Let’s dive deep into it.
MMR Vs ELO
| MMR | ELO rating |
| It is for online multiplayer games. | It is for games which are based on 2 players. |
| Its calculations are based on multiple factors. | Its calculations are based on performance. |
| It is hidden. | It is visible in most of the games. |
| It is a factor in Matchmaking. | It is used to know about the player’s skill level. |
Let’s discuss it more in-depth.
About Matchmaking Rating ( MMR )
MMR is a hidden score system that is specially used by MOBA games including League of Legends and more.
Why games are using the MMR system: The purpose of the MMR system is to make Matchmaking fair and balanced for each player.
How MMR is calculated: The MMR score is calculated based on multiple factors that are hidden, but win and lose are the factors that fluctuate MMR told by Riot Games.
About The ELO Rating System
ELO was first used by chess, after that other games brought the ELO system into their games. It is a system that rates the players based on multiple factors.
Why Chess uses the ELO system: The ELO rating system was first used by chess to measure the skill level of players.
How ELO rating is calculated: The player gains an ELO rating, when he wins and also the gain depends on the performance and the ELO rating of the opponent. If the opponent has a high ELO rating and has performed badly, you will gain more ELO rating.
Loss of the ELO rating also depends on your performance and the ELO rating of the opponent. if an opponent has performed well and has a low ELO rating, you will lose more ELO rating.
Note: These are not the only factors, there are many more factors.
Which One Is More Important, MMR Or ELO Rating
Both are important. MMR is used by the games to combine the same skilled players during Matchmaking.
Example: A player who has just started the game will face the player of his skills, which makes the game fair and balanced between them.
Accordingly, the player with years of experience will face the player with years of experience. This is what the MMR system is used for.
So now it is clear that MMR is important, useful, and helpful.
On the other hand, ELO also has the same importance. ELO is used to rate the players, which helps the games and also the players to know about their ratings.
The rating is calculated based on:
Current ELO rating: Your current ELO rating.
Expected outcome: Prediction of the game result based on your ELO and your opponent’s ELO ratings.
Actual outcome: The actual and real result after the game.
K factor: It helps them to know about the maximum change in the ratings.
Here is the formula that is used after the game to update the ELO rating:
Elo change = K ( K factor ) × (S ( actual outcome ) – E ( expected outcome ).
It is now clear, that both are Important.
Games That Use The MMR And ELO Rating Systems
Here are the games that use the MMR system and ELO rating system:
Games That Use MMR System
Games That Use The ELO System
ELO rating system is mostly used in zero-sum games and sports games.
The games and sports that use the ELO rating system are:
Tips To Increase MMR And ELO Rating
You might have questions about how can I increase my MMR or ELO rating, let me clear up that there are multiple factors involved that can fluctuate your MMR and ELO.
Let’s learn about the factors that can help you to increase your MMR and ELO ratings. Firstly, let’s discuss how to improve MMR.
Method To Improve MMR
These are the factors that can influence your MMR toward the stars.
Do you know, why your MMR is not improving in League of Legends, it is because you are not meeting the MMR improvement factors, such as a high win ratio, top-notch performance, and more.
There are a lot of questions, regarding MMR improvements, the most frequent question is, how much MMR increase per win in LoL, the answer to this question is; that the MMR increase per win depends on multiple factors and the MMR system is dynamic.
So the score for each win will be different from each other.
Now let’s dive deep into factors that can help you to increase your ELO rating.
Method To Increase ELO Rating
Strong opponents: Play against opponents, who have a high ELO rating. As a result, you will gain an ELO rating after winning the game.
Playing games every day: As per chess, the players who are playing consistently can gain more ELO ratings.
Improvements: Bring improvements in your game by reviewing your games through the chess engine and coaches. It will help you to know about your weaknesses and gaps where you can improve your ELO rating.
Final Words
ELO rating and MMR ( Matchmaking Rating ) are both important scores used by many online games. As a player, you should focus on both ELO rating and MMR.
It is important to track both matrices and make yourself a top player in the list of MMR and ELO ratings because ELO defines the outcome of the games that you have played.
MMR defines your skill level and your opponents’ skill level. It is also used in the Matchmaking system to make the matches fair for each player.
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Author: Haroon Munir
Haroon Munir has been a passionate gamer since 2015, and he has a strong understanding of League of Legends. He has helped multiple players in the game to solve their issues regarding the MOBA game League of Legends, such as helping them understand their skill level.
Now, based on that experience, Haroon Munir created a website, lolmmr.com, to help the players understand their skill level score, also known as MMR. Additionally, he has provided great updated insights and in-depth information about the MMR and League of Legends.