Firstly, it’s important we clarify what MMR/Matchmaking Rating is. This is a hidden value which determines who each player gets matched with. It goes up when you win and down when you lose, in varying amounts depending on who your opponents are and how much you score. It’s used in most multiplayer games to help players find opponents of equal (or close to equal) skill.
Previously, players were able to lower their MMR by “elo bombing” — losing on purpose to get matched with less geared and less skilled players. However, they were able to keep enough trophies to stay in high ranked leagues like Grandmaster. The new trophy system bases the amount of trophies you lose/gain each match on the discrepancy between your MMR and your trophies.
Typically, trophy rewards are (from 8th to 1st):
-23, -16, -9, -3, +3, +9, +16, +23
However, if your MMR is too low in comparison to your trophies, you will instead have:
-39, -32, -25, -19, -13, -7, 0, +7
On the flipside, if your MMR is too high in comparison to your trophies:
-7, 0, +7, +13, +19, +25, +32, +39
We want players to attain the rank they belong at. If you’re a good player with a high MMR, you should have a high number of trophies. If you’re at a high number of trophies but your skill doesn’t match, you might have to drop ranks to the correct league then work your way back up.
We understand this change will be hard for players to adjust to, but it's necessary to level the playing field for players, stop the practice of elo-bombing and add prestige back to the higher ranks. We believe in combination with our upcoming automated ban-waves, we’ll be closer to our goal of a clean and fair PVP Arena.