From a Fresh League of Legends Account to Your First Ranked Game

There are various League of Legends ranked requirements to fulfill, and in this article we’ll walk you through them all.

• Ranked asks for three things: player level 30, twenty champions on the account, and ten Swiftplay (faster mode with shorter games, quicker progression, and simplified gameplay) or Normal Draft games (faster League of Legends mode with shorter games, quicker progression, and simplified gameplay.)
• ARAM games (stands for “All Randoms All Mid,” a mode where two teams fight on a single lane with randomly assigned champions) do not count toward those ten games.
• The free rotation (set of champions everyone can play for a week without owning them) gets you into Normal Draft, not into ranked.
• Champion prices were cut across the board, so the cheapest tier now sits at 225 Blue Essence (currency you earn by playing rather than buying).
• Changing regions costs 2,600 Riot Points (the game’s premium currency, also known as “RP”) and it resets your rank.

The three gates on a new account

There are three requirements to playing ranked: player level 30, at least 20 champions acquired on the account, and 10 Swiftplay or Normal Draft games played. You must have done all of these in order to unlock ranked, meaning that just doing one doesn’t automatically unlock the mode. The client only shows the requirement it checks first, which is why an account can reach level 30 and still find Ranked locked.

Level 30 is the requirement that will probably be the toughest hurdle to pass for those players who don’t have as much gaming time as they wish they did. Champion count will likely hold back those that misread the instruction and think that their free rotation Champions count towards this number. The ten-game requirement will hold back those players who don’t notice that ARAM doesn’t count towards the 10-match requirement the way that Swiftplay and Normal Draft games do.

All of these requirements belong to the account, not the player. A new account must finish all of these requirements from scratch, while moving an existing account from one region to another keeps your Champion levels but wipes your rank, which is why a League of Legends player who also keeps a Teamfight Tactics or Valorant account running tends to check one such hub before committing thirty levels to a server they are not sure about.

Acquired, not borrowed, and what twenty champions cost

There’s an important distinction between Ranked and Normal Draft, both requiring 20 Champions, and that is that Normal Draft counts the free rotation of Champions towards the requirement, while Ranked does not. You will have to unlock champions in League of Legends to fulfill all Ranked requirements. Meaning, these champions must be earned and not borrowed, so even players who have been drafting Champions for weeks can still have too few.

Riot cut Champion prices across the board in March 2025, and these are the tiers that came out of it, as stated on Riot’s Champion pricing page.

There are two Champions that do not follow the tiers because they have joke prices: Vel’Koz at 1,570 Blue Essence and Jhin at 2,222. For a new account, buying from the two cheapest tiers can clear the 20-champion requirement for far less Blue Essence than choosing 20 champions from the top tier, so the lower end of the price ladder is the practical place to start.

You can get Blue Essence by leveling up, which also awards capsules (rewards that contain items used for unlocking Champions or cosmetics). Those capsules contain champion shards (items that let you unlock or upgrade champions using them), which can either be redeemed for the champion or disenchanted into additional Blue Essence.

What each player level actually opens

The road to 30 isn’t just a waiting game; Riot’s game mode unlock page shows the new modes that are unlocked throughout your journey:

You can begin your progress towards the 10-game requirement once Swiftplay is unlocked at level 3, so there’s no reason to arrive at level 30 with that requirement unfulfilled. Remember that League of Legends level rewards are comprised of Blue Essence and Capsules, which is how most of the 20 champions will get funded.

Region is the choice you make once

The region you pick is extremely important in every online game you play. It decides your ping, the language of your teammates, and who you can queue with. In LoL, it’s also the one setting that costs money to change.

A League of Legends server transfer costs 2,600 Riot Points, and it’s a one-way move with a 90-day cooldown before you’re allowed to do one again. You get to keep your account level, Champions, your Champion Mastery (a system that tracks your experience and progress with each champion you play), skins, honor level (a behavior rating raised by the honor votes teammates hand out after a game), emotes, rune pages (saved presets of the pre-game rune setup), icons, experience boosts and battle pass progress. Your Blue Essence balance, friends list and Hextech crafting inventory (the account’s stock of chests, keys and shards) move with you too.

Riot’s account transfer FAQ states that the things that don’t come with you when you move regions are your rank, meaning you need to play fresh placement matches on the new server; Victory Points, Your Shop offers; and Clash data.

Pick the region you will actually play on before your placement matches, not after. A League of Legends server transfer later on costs 2,600 RP, locks you into the new region for 90 days and sends you back through placements, while everything you bought along the way comes with you.

Placements and what the first ranked games decide

The five placement games in each ranked mode lock in the starting rank and division of the season; this is the case whether the account is brand new or you’re a returning player. Solo/Duo and Flex (Ranked modes that vary in party size) have different placement matches and ranks, as Riot states on their support page.

Once you have a rank, you will need to get League Points (LP), the points a ranked win adds and a ranked loss takes away. You have to win your way onto 100 LP, and once you cross it, you are promoted to the next Division, with any extra LP carrying over; crossing Division I of a rank moves you into the next one.

All of these requirements are not a test of skill but a test of time and ownership; the only part worth rushing is the Champion pool, since this will still be useful to you even if you’re level 200. If you also spend time in other Riot games, such as Legends of Runeterra, you can use the RuneterraFire deck library to keep your deck ideas organized while you work through the League of Legends requirements.

FAQs

Why do you have to be level 30 to play ranked?

Riot uses the level as a time barrier: it gives a new account enough games to learn the map and the roles before a rating is attached to the result, and it makes disposable accounts more expensive to produce.

Can I play ranked without 50 wins?

Yes, there is no win requirement at all. The three gates are player level 30, twenty champions acquired, and ten Swiftplay or Normal Draft games played.

Do you need 100 LP to rank up?

Yes, you promote the moment you cross 100 LP in a division, and any extra LP carries into the next one, and 100 LP in division I of a tier moves you into the tier above. Promotion series were removed, so there is no series to win.

How do I get Blue Essence in LOL?

Leveling up is the main source: every level pays out Blue Essence and capsules, and the champion shards inside those capsules can be disenchanted into more.

Where can I spend my Blue Essence?

On champions first, and on cosmetics such as chromas and icons when the Essence Emporium is open.

Do champions from the free rotation count toward the twenty needed for ranked?

No. The rotation counts toward the Normal Draft requirement at level 10, but ranked counts only champions acquired on the account.

Does a server transfer keep my rank and champions?

Champions, skins, and account level move with you, but the rank does not. You will need to play five fresh placements on the new server.