How To Improve MMR

Matchmaking rating (MMR), which is raised by winning matches, is a vital resource in Dota 2. Not only does it track your performance in competitive play, but it also shapes your gaming experience. It determines who you will be competing against, affecting everything from ranked matches to the Battle Cup (as the initial tier assignment is based on MMR). Assuming you want to compete at a higher level alongside other dedicated players, you should definitely try to improve your rating. However, doing so requires a serious and methodical approach, as you can’t just rely on winning games through sheer luck forever. Here are some good practices that can help you along the way.

Take It Slow

The key to raising your MMR over the long term is finding a way to win consistently. That necessitates some forward planning outside of matches. The ladder may be divided into rough skill brackets within which players with similar skill levels are likely to face each other:

Each skill bracket offers a noticeably different gaming experience. Higher brackets naturally have more experienced players with faster reaction speeds, more map awareness, and better teamwork. Also, the strategies and heroes that performed well on lower brackets may not be as applicable on higher levels of play.

Although there are ways to game the calibration matches by teaming up with more skillful players or focusing on getting as many kills as possible, that may actually hinder your progress in the longer run. Instead, use calibration as a tool to find out your initial level of skill. Once you have done so, start to study your skill bracket, especially its character meta and the common tactics used and mistakes made by your fellow players. There is plenty of information to be found in online discussions, but you can also observe many of those things during play.

Rather than try to climb out of the bracket as soon as possible, try to master it instead. Make sure that you can beat your enemies consistently. Work on your weak points and common errors. That will provide you with a solid foundation as you move up to higher rankings. When you feel ready to climb, set limited goals, like climbing up by 100 MMR. That will let you make steady progress over short periods of time while letting you learn and recover if you hit a snag without too many risks to your advancement.

Focus on Winning

Ranked play is serious business. It can be downright unforgiving in higher brackets, where any misstep is likely to be swiftly and ruthlessly exploited. While experimenting with different characters, builds, and tactics can be both fun and crucial for your growth, you should use normal games for those purposes. When playing competitive matches, you should pick one of the champions that you already know well and who you know will hold up within the current meta. Also, you should play seriously, rather than showing off or toying with your opponents. Anything less would be disrespectful to your fellow players and may expose you to a sudden defeat.

That generally means playing it safe. Death prevents you from influencing the battlefield until you respawn, and that delay can be critical. Don’t take reckless risks, ignore enemy bait, and stick close to your teammates so you could support each other. Map awareness will go a long way towards prolonging your survival. Keep an eye on the mini-map and call out enemy movements so that they can’t get the drop on any member of your team. Observer and Sentry Wards are also essential, especially when facing stealthy heroes. A quick death early on is the surest way to hand your enemies a victory, but basic caution should greatly improve your chances of surviving and winning.

Stay Flexible

The urge to specialize is understandable. There are over a hundred heroes in the game, and you can’t possibly master all of them at the same level. Also, not all of them are equally viable in the latest meta and within your current bracket. Nor will they all fit your preferred playstyle. As such, it makes perfect sense to concentrate on learning a handful of heroes. However, it can be dangerous to become too narrowly focused. In addition to being nerfed by patches, heroes can be banned at the beginning of the game. Also, some team compositions will obviously require picks that will fill specific holes, and it may fall to you to make an optimal pick to round them out.

As such, you should prepare to play a variety of heroes, especially if you are queuing on your own to improve your solo MMR. It is a good idea to master two or three characters in each role. When deciding which heroes to pick, you should, of course, pay attention to the current meta and your own strengths as a player. However, one other thing to look out for would be versatility. A character that can fill different in-game roles depending on your allies and circumstances will serve you much better than a more narrowly focused hero. For that matter, you should be ready to play Support – those characters tend to be more in demand, and they are crucial for your team’s survival.

The same principle extends to actual play. No plan survives contact with the enemy, and you are unlikely to make much of a pre-game plan in the solo queue anyway. You should be ready to adapt in order to support your teammates’ moves or account for their failures. In that spirit, acting as Roaming Support is one of the most rewarding strategies for rank climbers. By moving between lanes, you can pick off exposed enemies or at least keep them from getting too far ahead of your allies, significantly improving your chances of winning.

Find Reliable Allies

While it is possible to make the solo queue work for you as described above, being able to play in a premade team offers an enormous advantage. After all, who you play with can make an enormous difference to the outcome of the match, especially in lower brackets where the less skillful players have not yet been weeded out. Being able to control this factor is obviously beneficial, but there are other advantages as well.

One obvious benefit to going for duo MMR is that you can coordinate ahead of time with regard to what characters you are going to play. Picking heroes in different roles that have synergies with each other can give you a major edge, provided that you are both well-versed in those heroes’ mechanics. Being able to offload a role to someone reliable will give you more freedom in picking your own hero, as you will not have to worry about needing to fill in all holes yourself.

Another benefit is in communications. Pre-made groups can make use of voice chat, which does not require you to waste time typing during a heated situation. Having a strong rapport is at least as valuable, though, since it means that you wouldn’t have to worry about toxic communications throwing you off your game. You should be able to offer constructive criticism and suggestions while knowing that they won’t just be ignored. For those reasons and more, you should definitely consider queuing up with friends if they have similar MMR, or else befriending competent players you have encountered in your matches.

Never Stop Learning

Dota 2 is a remarkably complex game, with many possible team compositions, hero builds, and synergies that evolve over time. Continuous learning outside of the game is necessary if you are to keep up with the changes and attain a higher level of skill. There are several things you can do to improve your skills outside of playing more ranked matches:

• Practice and experiment inside normal games, especially when mastering new characters. After you start to win with them consistently in unranked play, you can begin using them in the competitive mode;
• Study patch notes and accompanying online discussions to determine how the meta is changing and whether you will need to switch out some of your regular heroes;
• Read build guides for your heroes, as well as other characters that are popular at present or have simply caused you trouble recently. That way, you will know what to expect from those heroes in the future and how to counter them;
• Get coaching from more experienced players to take your skill to the next level, especially ahead of moving to a new bracket. Even if you have been playing for a while, professional coaches are bound to have some useful tricks you don’t already know that may give you an advantage;
• Watch professional players in tournaments and streams to learn their strategies and get ideas and inspiration for further experiments with your heroes’ ability sets. As you move up the ladder, their experience will be more and more relevant to you;
• Watch replays of your own games to determine what you could have done better. If you play in a duo or larger pre-made team, discuss your actions after games to see if your allies will have some additional insights to offer from their perspectives;
• Try to write your own guides for your favorite characters. It may prove helpful to others, but it will definitely help you get your thoughts about your tactics in order and may reveal some possibilities or risks that you have not yet considered.

Conclusion

Perhaps the best advice for moving up in the competitive mode is to stay calm. While it rewards quick reactions, Dota 2 is, at its heart, a very strategic game. A level head is required to see the opportunities that can seal the outcome of a battle or let your team come back from the brink of defeat. Conversely, if you let yourself get rattled, you might do something rash that can cost you the match or even push you into Low Priority, which would greatly delay your climb. If you find yourself getting too stressed, take a break and come back later. Following this and other tips consistently can get you into the upper tiers sooner than you might expect.