RoA2/Ranked Mode

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Ranked play in Rivals of Aether II uses an Elo system with skill-based matchmaking.

Ranks

Title	Minimum Elo	Maximum Elo
Stone	0	499
Bronze	500	699
Silver	700	899
Gold	900	1099
Platinum	1100	1299
Diamond	1300	1499
Master	1500	1699
Grandmaster	1700	1799
Aetherean	1800 Top 100	No limit

Leaderboard

Current standings with Elo ratings are available on the Steam Community page. Additionally, an in-game ranked leaderboard can be found in the online ranked menu. Here you can find stats such as a player's win-loss ratio, Elo, and their most used character. You can quickly jump to your own entry on the leaderboard as well!

Placement

Your first few matches in ranked will be placement matches. Here, the game will pit you against players of varying levels of skill in order to assign you an appropriate rank. Placements last until you get four wins, at which point you will be assigned a starting rank and Elo rating. Your initial rank will be determined based on your win/loss ratio across your placement matches as well as your performance within each match.

Ranked Match Format

Ranked matches are always played in a Best of 3 format, meaning the first player to win 2 games will win the set. You can forfeit the match before the set is over, but this will count as a loss for you and will result in the reduction of your Elo.

Character Selection

In ranked, character selections are hidden from the opposing player until both players have chosen. You will first be able to see your opponent's character on the stage select screen, allowing you to counterpick to an appropriate stage. Additionally, you can change your character between games, allowing you to choose a character with a better matchup against your opponent's character. Character selections in the second and third rounds are still double blind, meaning your opponent will also have the opportunity to swap their character without you knowing.

Stage Selection and Bans

The stages you'll play on are determined by a stage striking system. For the first game, bans are assigned in a 1-2-1 format. One of the two players will be chosen at random for the first ban phase. This player can ban 1 stage from the list of available stages. Then, the opposing player will be given the chance to ban 2 more stages. Finally, the ban phase returns to the first player, where they will be able to choose which of the remaining two stages will be played on. If any bans are not assigned within the duration of the timer, a random stage will be picked to be banned.

For subsequent games, the winner of the previous game will be allowed to strike 2 stages from the full list of legal stages. Then, the loser of the previous game will choose the stage to be played on for the next game from the list of remaining stages.

In Game 1, only the 5 starter stages are able to be chosen. These stages are considered to be more balanced and fair for the entire cast and thus are the only stages allowed initially. In Games 2 and 3, the 5 counterpick stages become available. These stages can be more divisive or provide specific advantages in layout to certain character's toolkits. For more specifics on each stage, be sure to reference the Stages page.

DSR

DSR, or Dave's Stupid Rule, is a common platform fighter tournament modifier for stage striking. DSR states that a player cannot counterpick to a stage they have already won on in the same set. DSR only comes into effect on Game 3, and is built directly into the game so the player does not have to worry about keeping track of the stages played. A DSR banned stage is marked with a dark gray lock during Game 3's stage banning phase. In essence, this makes for 3 banned stages in Game 3 - 1 from DSR and 2 from the winner of Game 2.

For example, consider a ranked set where Player 1 wins Game 1 on Godai Delta and Player 2 wins Game 2 on Hyperborean Harbor. It is now Player 1's turn to choose the stage. However, since they won on Godai Delta already, they cannot choose Godai Delta again.

(Because Ranked is only played in Best of 3 sets, the distinction between Full DSR and Modified DSR is irrelevant. This distinction may matter for in-person tournaments where Best of 5 sets or more may be used.)