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What ranks can duo in League of Legends, and playing ranked with friends

Last updated 3 November 2026

League of Legends lets you duo at almost every rank, but how far apart the two of you can be narrows as you climb, and Riot changed the rules at the top three times in 2026. Many pages still say a Master can't duo. Since July, outside Korea, a Master can, with a Diamond I or another Master close in LP. Grandmaster and Challenger players play Solo/Duo alone.

This guide is for a player who wants to play ranked with friends of other ranks, or whose friend the game won't queue with. It covers which queue takes your group, who can duo in Solo/Duo, Master and up, Flex and Ranked 5s, friends new to League, and how to find players in range. For Clash and other games' teams, see every game's team format.

In short

  • Ranked Solo/Duo takes you alone or with one friend. Up to Platinum a duo can be about a tier apart, two from Iron: Iron and Bronze with up to Silver, Silver with Iron to Gold, Gold with Silver to Platinum, and Platinum with Gold to Emerald.
  • From Emerald the window narrows. Only an Emerald II or I can duo with a Diamond, a Diamond's partner must be within two divisions, and a Diamond I can duo with a Master under 200 LP.
  • Since patch 26.15 in July 2026, two Masters can duo within 400 LP of each other, outside Korea. Grandmaster and Challenger players can't duo in Solo/Duo, but can play Flex with friends of Emerald and above.
  • Ranked Flex takes parties of 1, 2, 3 or 5, with no rank limits up to Diamond. A party of four can't queue it, and everyone in a party with a Master or above must be Emerald or higher.
  • Ranked 5s takes a team of five of any ranks, on weekends only, in an experiment that Riot runs until 7 January 2027.
  • Solo/Duo and Flex open at level 30, with 20 champions and 10 Swiftplay or Normal Draft games played.

Which queue takes your group

League is played five against five on Summoner's Rift. Ranked has two queues all year and, for now, a third on weekends:

  • Ranked Solo/Duo takes you alone or with one friend, within the rank limits below. Riot's Ranked Tiers, Divisions, and Queues says: "Nobody you meet in Solo/Duo queue will be grouped with more than one other person."
  • Ranked Flex takes a party of one, two, three or five, never four: "parties of 4 will have to stick to unranked matches." Riot's reason is that a lone fifth player would be "the odd man out".
  • Ranked 5s takes only full teams of five, of any ranks, from Friday to Sunday.

Each queue keeps its own rank. Since 2026 Flex's skill rating is based on your Solo/Duo rank, though, as Riot put it in /dev: Ranked 2026, "Flex will never pull Solo up."

Who can duo in Solo/Duo

The limit is set by tier, and it tightens as you climb. Riot's Ranked Tiers, Divisions, and Queues puts it this way: "Most players can queue with friends within one tier of their rank, but these restrictions start a little loose", and "ascend to Diamond, and your buddy must be within two divisions to join your party." Each tier from Iron to Diamond has four divisions, IV at the bottom and I at the top. Riot's table, with examples at its edges:

Your tier You can duo with For example
Iron Iron to Silver Iron IV with Silver I: yes. Iron I with Gold IV: no
Bronze Iron to Silver Bronze I with Silver I: yes. Bronze I with Gold IV: no
Silver Iron to Gold Silver IV with Gold I: yes. Silver I with Platinum IV: no
Gold Silver to Platinum Gold IV with Platinum I: yes. Gold I with Emerald IV: no
Platinum Gold to Emerald Platinum IV with Emerald I: yes. Platinum I with Diamond IV: no
Emerald Platinum to Diamond III Emerald I with Diamond IV: yes. Emerald III with Diamond IV: no
Diamond IV to II Emerald II to Diamond II Diamond IV with Diamond II: yes. Diamond IV with Diamond I: no
Diamond I Diamond III to a Master under 200 LP Diamond I with a Master on 150 LP: yes. On 250 LP: no
Master Diamond I, if the Master has under 200 LP, or a Master within 400 LP Masters on 0 and 300 LP: yes. On 0 and 450 LP: no
Grandmaster or Challenger Nobody Grandmaster with a Master: no

LP, League Points, is what you win or lose each game. Master and above have no divisions, so their LP keeps counting up, and the limits there go by it.

Both players have to fit. A duo is checked from both sides. Gold's row reaches up to Platinum, and Emerald's down to Platinum, so a Gold and an Emerald can't duo whichever of them invites the other. Emerald's row reaches Diamond III, but the Diamond row starts at Emerald II, so an Emerald IV or III can't duo with any Diamond.

Around Diamond, Riot's row and its rule disagree. Riot's grouped Diamond IV to II row and its "within two divisions" give different answers for some pairs, and Riot hasn't said which wins. The examples in the table hold under either reading. For a pair the two disagree on, such as an Emerald II with a Diamond III, a Diamond II with an Emerald II, or a Diamond I with a Diamond II or III, invite your friend and the client will tell you.

Hidden MMR can block a pair whose ranks fit. MMR is the hidden rating matchmaking uses, and Riot's page adds three limits for players whose MMR is above their tier:

  • "From Emerald and up to Diamond II, you can't queue with players who have a Master-tier MMR while being Diamond or lower"
  • "For Diamond I, you can't queue with Master players who have more than 200 LP"
  • "Master players who are competing for Grandmaster are also restricted from playing duo"

So two friends whose ranks fit the table can still be turned away.

Korea is stricter. Riot's page says: "Players in KR cannot queue with Master or higher tiers." It names no other region.

A promotion can end a duo. Ranks move every game, so a duo at the edge of a row stops fitting when the higher player climbs a division or the lower one drops.

Master, Grandmaster and Challenger

Since patch 26.15 on 29 July 2026, "Master players will now be able to duo, but only with players close to them in rank", which Riot's table puts as a Diamond I if the Master has under 200 LP, or another Master within 400 LP. The same notes say "GM, Challenger, and players with GM or Challenger MMR will not be allowed to duo", because "smaller player pools and extremes of skill give duos an outsized impact on game outcomes." Riot says it will "keep looking for ways to bring duo queue back to GM and Challenger".

That was the third change in 2026, which is why answers about the top tiers disagree:

  • January: patch 26.1 opened duo all the way up: "For most regions (excluding KR and CN), you can now duo queue all the way to Challenger".
  • April: the season reset Master and above to Master 0 LP in North America, EUW, EUNE, Latin America North, Brazil and Turkey (patch 26.9), and duo was turned off for those players there. Patch 26.12 kept it off: the "Apex duo restriction was turned on with S2 start in some regions where the Apex players also got a reset".
  • July: 26.15 brought it back for Master, and only for Master.

So a page that says a Master can't duo, or that anyone can duo up to Challenger, is describing an earlier part of the year.

A Grandmaster or Challenger player can still play ranked with friends. By Riot's page on the top tiers, they "can play Flex queue solo, duo, or in teams of 3 or 5. You cannot, however, queue with any player ranked below Emerald." In Ranked 5s they can play with anyone.

Flex and Ranked 5s

Flex takes a party of one, two, three or five, and by Riot's Ranked Tiers page "there are no Flex rank restrictions for Diamond and below! If you want to play with Masters and up, however, you'll have to be at least Emerald." An Iron and a Diamond can queue Flex together.

  • A party of four can't queue Flex. It finds a fifth, splits into two duos, or plays Normal Draft or Swiftplay, which aren't ranked.
  • A wide party can meet harder players. Riot warns that parties "with large rank disparities (e.g., an Iron player grouping with a Diamond player) may result in more difficult matchups".

Ranked 5s is for full teams only. By Riot's Ranked 5s page, "You're free to invite players from any skill level to join your team", so a Grandmaster and a Gold can play it together. It's "only available on weekends (Friday to Sunday), from 4pm until 4am (server time)", has its own ladder with five placement matches, and has no decay. Riot runs it as an experiment, and the current one lasts until 7 January 2027, so check that it's still on before you plan around it.

Which queue fits your group:

  • A duo inside the table plays Solo/Duo.
  • A duo outside the table, such as a Gold and an Emerald, plays Flex, or Ranked 5s with three more.
  • Three or five friends of any ranks up to Diamond, or of Emerald and up with a Master, play Flex.
  • A five that has a Master or above with someone below Emerald plays Ranked 5s on the weekend.
  • A four finds a fifth, or splits.

Friends new to League, and finding players in range

A friend new to League has to unlock ranked first. By Riot's Unlocking Game Modes, Solo/Duo and Flex open "at level 30", once a player has 20 champions and has played 10 Swiftplay or Normal Draft games. Until then, play Swiftplay or Normal Draft together.

Then come placements: "You'll have to play five placement matches in each Ranked queue", by Riot's placements page. For a new player, "both your Swiftplay and Normal Draft MMR will be taken into account", and "You cannot place any higher than Diamond III". Riot doesn't say how a player without a rank counts for a duo, so invite them and the client will tell you whether you can queue.

A duo costs almost nothing below Emerald. Riot's lead gameplay designer for League wrote in August 2026: "At lower ranks, ie. below Emerald, there's basically no penalty for duoing." From Emerald and Diamond up, he wrote, the penalty "starts to kick in in a small way", and it's "tuned so that games at all ranks are fair, duo or no duo".

Finding players. Recruit players whose rank fits everyone you'll queue with, by the table for a duo or by Flex's rules for a party, in the roles you're short of, at the hours you play.

  • Leave room. A partner a division inside the edge of your row still fits after one of you climbs.
  • Three or five, not four, for Flex.
  • Same server. A duo or a party plays together on one server, so recruit on yours.
  • Name your roles. League's five positions are Top, Jungle, Mid, ADC and Support. Top and Jungle are the hardest to find on TeamTavern, as the role chart shows.
  • Keep a good teammate. After a good game with a stranger, add them by their Riot ID.
  • From ranked to a team. Five friends who play every week can enter Clash, which League of Legends: Clash covers, and How to make an esports team covers keeping a team together.

Post on TeamTavern. Ranked is what most League players on TeamTavern have been after since 2021: 2,779 of the 3,639 player posts tick it. Put up a player post with your rank, your roles and your Riot ID, and tick "Ranked" under "Looking for". A group looking for players puts up a group post with a rank range everyone in it can queue with: for Flex, any range up to Diamond, or Emerald and up if it reaches Master. That's narrower than some League group posts so far: 22 of the 201 that tick Ranked and give a rank range reach from Platinum or below up to Master or above, such as Iron IV to Challenger (TeamTavern's posts, 2021–2026, counted 3 November 2026). Flex won't take both ends of a range like that in one party, so the group can only play with both in Ranked 5s.

Then filter the posts by rank and role and message the ones that fit.

League of Legends players and groups on TeamTavern

Frequently asked questions

What ranks can duo in League of Legends?

Up to Platinum, about a tier apart, two from Iron: Iron and Bronze with up to Silver, Silver with Iron to Gold, Gold with Silver to Platinum, and Platinum with Gold to Emerald. Only an Emerald II or I can duo with a Diamond, a Diamond's partner must be within two divisions, and a Diamond I can duo with a Master under 200 LP. Outside Korea, Masters can duo within 400 LP of each other. Grandmaster and Challenger players can't duo in Solo/Duo.

Can Gold duo with Emerald in League?

Not in Solo/Duo: a Gold can duo with up to Platinum there. A Gold and an Emerald can play Flex together, or Ranked 5s on the weekend.

Can Diamond and Master duo?

Outside Korea, only a Diamond I with a Master under 200 LP. Since patch 26.15 in July 2026, two Masters can also duo if they're within 400 LP of each other.

Can Grandmaster or Challenger players duo?

Not in Solo/Duo, since patch 26.15 in July 2026. They can play Flex with friends of Emerald and above, and Ranked 5s with friends of any rank.

What ranks can play Flex together?

Any ranks up to Diamond. With a Master, Grandmaster or Challenger in the party, everyone must be Emerald or higher. A party of a Master and a Gold can play Ranked 5s instead, with three more.

Can you play Flex with 4 people?

No. Flex takes parties of one, two, three or five. A party of four finds a fifth, splits, or plays Normal Draft or Swiftplay.

What do you need to play ranked in League?

Level 30, at least 20 champions, and 10 Swiftplay or Normal Draft games. Then five placement matches in each ranked queue.

Find your duo

  • Up to Platinum, duo about a tier apart; from Emerald, closer; in Diamond, within two divisions.
  • Masters can duo again since July 2026, outside Korea; Grandmaster and Challenger can't duo in Solo/Duo.
  • Flex takes one, two, three or five, with no rank limits up to Diamond.
  • Ranked 5s takes any five, on weekends, for now.
  • A friend new to League reaches level 30, with 20 champions and 10 Swiftplay or Normal Draft games, first.

Post as a player with your rank and tick "Ranked" under "Looking for", or post as a group with a rank range your party can actually queue with: League of Legends players and groups on TeamTavern.