Season 9 begins August 05. Every player starts the season with the updated Soft Elo Reset, followed by 10 placement matches that confirm their starting Elo. The reset is lighter than Season 8 and now factors in your recent form. This includes your activity, win rate, and FACEIT Rating across your last 50 games, rather than just the Elo you finished last season on. Most players will start close to where they finished, and strong placements are your chance to climb higher than before.
How does the reset work?
When Season 9 launches on August 05, the reset is applied to all accounts, active and inactive, at the same time. You then play 10 placement matches, and your starting Elo is set once you finish all 10. Because the reset takes into account your last 50 games, every match you play in Season 8 directly shapes where you start.
Why do seasonal resets happen at all?
Two things happen to the Elo distribution over a season.
Inactivity: when players stop playing, they keep their old rating, and whether they return rusty or improved, their rank no longer matches how they play, which affects everyone in their games.
Top-end inflation: Level 10 has no upper limit, so the spread inside it keeps growing and high Elo becomes more about the number of games played rather than skill. The reset shifts returning players closer to their current form and compresses the top for a fresh grind in a new leaderboard.
This is what keeps matches competitive: you're playing with and against people at their actual level, not a rating from three months ago or a player inflated above their real skill.
Why another reset already? Will every season have one this big?
We run resets when the ecosystem needs them, not to create an endless treadmill. Season 8 was our heaviest reset and the first to affect every player. Season 9 does not need one of that size: it is lighter and targeted at the highest Elos. Most active players with an average Season 8 behind them will see a small adjustment and start close to where they finished.
How much will my Elo move?
It depends on how you played in Season 8:
- Most players. With 20+ wins and an average win rate and FACEIT Rating across your last 50 games, expect a small reset and a starting point close to where you finished.
- Inactive players. Fewer than 20 wins in Season 8 adds an extra inactivity penalty and a larger downward adjustment. Every match you play before August 04 reduces any penalty that would apply.
- The highest Elo players. The top of Level 10 receives the most compression, to keep the leaderboard competitive.
What Elo will I have after my placements?
Your starting Elo comes from two things: the reset that sets your position going in, and your results from your 10 placement matches. For players below level 10 that had over 20+ wins since April 22, winning the majority of your placements with strong performances can land you above where you finished Season 8. If you're above 2,500 Elo, your starting point will usually be lower because of top-end compression, though a lower number doesn't mean you underperformed. Your leaderboard rank may be higher than before, because you placed better than other players near your old Elo.
What's the point of grinding if there's a reset?
The reset reads your last 50 games, so the more you've played and the better your form, the less it moves you. The soft Elo reset sets your starting point for Season 9, and strong placements can push you above it.
What happens during placement matches?
Your first 10 games finalise your starting position. Because the whole community recalibrates at once, expect more variance in the first few days as the ecosystem realigns. Placement games move your Elo more than standard matches, but they will not swing it by hundreds of points per game, and the reset now uses more factors than your final Elo alone.
New this season: after each placement match, you'll see how much that result helped or hurt your starting Elo. You can still queue with friends during placements, with the usual party restrictions and penalties for wider Elo ranges.
I've barely played this season. What should I do?
Fewer than 20 wins in Season 8 adds an extra inactivity penalty to your reset. Every match you play before August 4 reduces any penalty that would apply, and 20 wins is within reach for most schedules in the period before the season ends.
Get ready for Season 9
Keep grinding Season 8, your last 50 games set your starting point, every match before August 04 works in your favour, and strong placements can push you above where you finish. Season 9 begins August 05.