Dota 2: How does the new matchmaking system affect the game

Valve recently introduced some small but radical changes to the ranked matchmaking of Dota 2. This is not the first time the company has changed its matchmaking and not the last.

The new ranking system has removed core/support MMRs and replaced it with a single number that represents different roles. Valve has implemented a pentagon graph that has empty bars. These bars fill automatically depending on the players’ style of play and strength in each role.

How does this affect the queue?

According to the developers, a player who queues for his/her best role (Role with most bars filled) will get a match utilizing his/her full MMR. The other roles with lesser bars filled will queue the player in a lower rank, compensating for his/her weaknesses in the role. The adjusted badge levels show to the player after he/she is in the picking phase of a ranked game.

Impact

The impact of these changes will be visible after a reasonable time has passed. However, there are certain things that are clear. Players having a huge difference in their skill level for different roles may abuse this system. For example, a player who has 5000 MMR for carry role and 3000 MMR for support can queue for support roles and pick a carry role after communicating to his/her teammates. This will be unfair, as there is a 2000 MMR difference between both roles. The developers have not made it clear the amount of change they have made between different roles, which leads to a big confusion and uncertainty.

Dota Roles Update, picture via Dota 2 blog

Valve is trying hard to make matchmaking as fair and player friendly as possible. They have already made many changes to matchmaking and are practically testing every new method they implement to see which ones the best for the future of Dota 2.

Please note that the impact of these changes is only an opinion and can different from the actual outcome.