How HubMatch ELO Works

HubMatch tracks competitive skill with a chess-style ELO rating system, refined for the realities of team-based Rematch play. Your ELO is the single number teams, recruiters, and league organizers look at first when they want to know what level you compete at. Understanding how it moves - and what it actually measures - helps you make better choices about which matches to play, which queues to grind, and when to push for ranked games.

Two Separate Ratings

Every HubMatch player carries two independent ELO values. They never mix.

Ranked ELO is your solo competitive rating. It only updates from matches played in the 10-Mans queue, where ten individual players are matched together and drafted onto two teams in real time. Because the teams are temporary and the draft randomises roster strength, Ranked ELO measures what you personally bring to a game - your positioning, your decision-making, your individual mechanics. It is the cleanest signal of solo skill on the platform.

Tournament ELO is your team competitive rating. It updates from tournament matches, league matches, and scrims - every game played with your registered team. Tournament ELO follows the player, not the team: when you change clubs your rating moves with you. A team's effective rating in matchmaking and seeding is the average of its players' individual Tournament ELO values, so adding a strong player lifts the whole roster's standing immediately.

Both ratings start at 1200 on account creation. This is the universal entry point - every player begins at the same number, regardless of background.

What the Numbers Mean

A 1200 rating is the entry baseline. Anyone who has just signed up sits there until their first match resolves. Most active players settle between 1400 and 1700 after a few weeks of regular play. A 1500 rating means the system has measured you as roughly average for the active competitive pool.

1800 marks the threshold where you are demonstrably above the casual majority. Players at this level have usually played a hundred or more matches and win consistently against mid-tier opponents.

2000+ is the top tier. These are the players who win regional tournaments, captain the strongest clubs, and qualify for national teams. A player above 2000 has typically logged several hundred ranked matches with a sustained positive win rate against other 1800+ opponents.

Peak Ranked ELO - the highest value you have ever held - is tracked separately on your profile. It does not decay or reset, so a strong run that briefly pushed you to 1950 stays visible even if you later settle back to 1800.

The Chess-Style Formula

After every match, your rating moves according to the standard ELO formula. The size of the move depends on two factors: who you played, and what the expected outcome was.

• Beat a stronger opponent and you gain more points than usual. The system assumed you would lose; you proved it wrong, so the correction is larger.
• Lose to a weaker opponent and you lose more points than usual. The system assumed you would win; you proved it wrong in the other direction.
• Win against a peer (someone within roughly 50 points of your rating) and you gain a moderate, predictable amount.
• Lose to a peer and you lose a similar moderate amount.

Over hundreds of matches, this pushes every player toward the rating that best predicts their results. Streaks of luck wash out. Consistent improvement is rewarded. Consistent decline is reflected. ELO is, fundamentally, a long-run measurement instrument.

K-Factor and Placement Phases

The amount your rating can move in a single match is controlled by a value called the K-factor. HubMatch uses a graduated K-factor schedule to balance two competing needs: quickly finding a new player's true level, and keeping established ratings stable.

• Placement phase (matches 1-10). K-factor is high. Your rating jumps significantly with every result so the system can quickly triangulate your skill. A single dominant performance in this phase can push you 100 points in either direction. Expect volatility - it is intentional.
• Provisional phase (matches 10-29). K-factor is moderate. Movements are still larger than for established players, but the system has enough data to make smaller corrections. Your rating starts to stabilise.
• Established phase (30+ matches). K-factor settles at the standard value. Per-match swings are small (typically 8-20 points), making your rating a reliable long-term indicator.

This means your early matches genuinely matter more for calibration. If you start strong, you settle into a higher band faster. If you stumble, the system corrects quickly once you find your form.

Match Format Weighting

Match format (BO1/BO3/BO5/BO7) does not change how much your rating moves — ELO is applied once per series regardless of how many games it takes. Only the series type (ranked play vs scrim) and your games-played tier affect the size of the change.

The opposite end of the scale is scrims. Only ranked scrims affect ELO, at a reduced 60% rate; unranked scrims do not move your rating at all. Scrim matches are practice, not formal competition - the reduced weighting acknowledges that teams may rotate substitutes, experiment with strategies, or play with less focus than they would in a sanctioned match.

Why Playing Regularly Matters

ELO is most accurate when you have a meaningful number of games on the books. A player with five matches sitting at 1300 has very little signal value - the rating could be 200 points off in either direction simply due to small-sample noise. A player with one hundred matches at 1300 has demonstrated that rating against a wide variety of opponents and contexts.

Teams and recruiters look at both your rating and your match count when evaluating you. A high match count with a stable rating is a stronger signal than a high rating with few matches. Stay active, play across formats, and your rating will tell an honest story of who you are as a competitor.

ELO does not punish you for trying. The system corrects toward your true level over time. The only mistake is letting fear of rating loss stop you from playing the matches that would teach you.