Warzone 2 players split over “strict” Ranked Play SR system

Ryan Lemay
An operator in Warzone 2 Ranked Play.

Warzone 2 Ranked Play has mechanisms to prevent the Top 250 players from resting on their laurels, dividing community members.

Season 3 Reloaded introduced Ranked Play to Warzone 2. Players must progress through seven skill divisions, before ultimately earning a coveted spot in the Top 250. Each division requires a set amount of skill rating (SR), acquired through placement, kills, assists, and kills by your squad.

Each time a squad queues up for a match it comes with a price: a deployment fee deducts SR from a player and the fee increases as you level up.

The punishing system makes it harder for high-ranked players to keep their rank, prompting a debate within the WZ2 community.

Warzone 2 players split over Ranked Play SR system

WZ2 pro player HusKerrs placed second in a Ranked Play match with 11 eliminations, but got 0 SR. To break that down, it cost 110 SR for every Iridescent and Top 250 to deploy into a match. And it costs an additional 10 SR for every 250 player with an SR above 10,000 up to a max deployment fee of 210.

Every first-place finish awards 100 SR, and kills can award up to 15 SR based on how many teams are remaining. Based on that scoring system, Top 250 players must consistently play well to keep their position.

We claimed on Twitter: “The SR situation needs to be changed up a bit in Warzone Ranked.”

Community members sounded off in the comments, with a majority defending the system.

IceManIsaac responded: “Isn’t that literally the point though? It’s not about who plays the most, it’s about who plays the most consistent.”

Modern Warfare 2 Ranked Play matches don’t have a deployment fee. IceManIsaac argued that MW2’s system favors those who play more instead of consistent performers.

HusKerrs pushed back slightly by claiming: “There was a super sweaty game yesterday where I had 7 individual kills. The team had 19 total, we won the game, and I still lost 9 SR. So while I see Isaac’s point, there definitely needs to be a little tuning.”

Call of Duty leaker TheGhostOfHope argued: “HusKerrs wouldn’t be where he is in Top 250 if he couldn’t consistently outpace the SR penalty. Sure it sucks to barely go positive but that’s the point of Ranked.”

Ranked Play is still in beta, so mechanics are still subject to change for the full release.

About The Author

Ryan is a former games writer for Dexerto. Ryan graduated from Ithaca College in 2021 with a sports media degree and a journalism minor. He gained experience as a writer for the Morning Times newspaper before joining Dexerto as a games writer. He mainly writes about first-person shooters, including Call of Duty and Battlefield, but he is also a big FIFA fan.