If you’re competitively inclined, then the Street Fighter 6 online modes will likely be your first port of call upon first installing the game. The Battle Hub is where you’ll be able to face other players in an online environment, either for casual player matches or more competitive ranked fights.
And ranked matches are what we’re here to discuss. Whether you’re playing Street Fighter 6 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S or PC, you’ll be able to rank up (or down) alongside others thanks to the game’s support for crossplay.
If you’re even a little daunted at the higher stakes ranked play comes with, fear not. Like many features in Street Fighter 6, Capcom has made the earlier ranks significantly less intimidating. No matter your skill level, you’ll always have a solid idea of how much progress you’re making. Read on to learn more about how ranking works in Street Fighter 6.
Street Fighter 6 online ranking system explained
Street Fighter 6 ranks and leagues
Ranked play in the Street Fighter 6 Battle Hub is segmented into eight leagues, ascending in a pyramid-like structure. Each one of these leagues consists of five ranks, which you’ll need to win your way through in order to proceed to the next league up. Those leagues are as follows:
- Rookie
- Iron
- Bronze
- Silver
- Gold
- Platinum
- Diamond
- Master
Street Fighter 6 placement matches
When you first jump into ranked play in the Street Fighter 6 Battle Hub, you’ll be asked to participate in ten placement matches. This should take around an hour of play, and at the end of the process, you’ll be assigned your first league based on how well you performed in the placement match process.
That may sound like a chore, but it’ll be worth it. Playing through the placement matches should mean you’ll be assigned a rank that best fits your skill level. In theory, you’ll then be more or less evenly matched as you start ranked play proper.
How to rank up in Street Fighter 6
Leagues in the Street Fighter 6 Battle Hub have their own characteristics depending on how high up you are. As you win matches, you’ll accumulate League Points (LP). Accruing enough will bump you up to the next rank. From Iron to Gold leagues, there’s also a win streak bonus employed, which should make for speedy ranking up if you perform well.
Between Rookie and Gold leagues, you will never be demoted to the previous league no matter how long your losing streak becomes. If you get to Gold with your chosen fighter, you’ll never drop below that point again barring any rank resets on Capcom’s part.
Platinum and Diamond leagues are a different story. Here, stakes are much higher, and losing streaks do run the risk of league demotion. Diamond players can drop to Platinum, and Platinum players back down to Gold. However, all leagues except Master employ a one-match demotion protection. Essentially, this prevents newly ranked-up players from being immediately demoted.
If you’re skilled enough to get to the Master league at the very top, then first of all, hats off to you. But more importantly, demotion prevention kicks in once again, and you’ll never be at risk of dropping back down to the Diamond league. It won’t be easy to reach a seat at the top, but once you’re there, you’ve truly earned it.
On a single character at the very least. The biggest change from Street Fighter 5 is that your rank is no longer universal. Much like Tekken 7, you’ll now have to rank up characters individually. Getting your Marisa to Diamond league, for example, will do nothing for your Iron-ranked Juri. This is a fantastic change, as it ensures you won’t be unfairly penalized if you accidentally load into a match with the wrong character selected.
Now that you’re clued up on how ranked play works in the Street Fighter 6 Battle Hub, be sure to put your best foot forward with your preferred control scheme. You can learn all about that in our Street Fighter 6 Modern controls vs Classic controls guide to figure out which method fits you best.
