Learning path
What this guide covers
- 01Ranked Mode 1.0 is live — what that changed
Ranked shipped as Ranked Mode 1.0 in Patch 2.5 on 2026-09-02. Everything this site published before that date describing the ladder as unshipped—the Steam store “Begins Soon” wording it mirrored, and the earlier correction posts that told readers third-party “Ranked is live” claims were wrong—is retired. On this question the third-party pages were early and this site was late; the record now follows the official note.
This is an unofficial fan page, not a publisher document: it summarizes the recorded patch text and marks where that text stops. Patch anchors, sources, and corrections live on /updates/ and /sources/; the Ranked status row itself lives on /game-modes/.
The same September 2, 2026 window carried the official September Content Schedule, which names Spectator Mode, Public Lobbies, Ozai Reimagined, localization, and Story difficulty / Trials / trophy fixes for upcoming patches. Those carry no published date, and none of them shipped in Patch 2.5: Public Lobbies and Spectator Mode are still roadmap items, and Replay Takeover practice tooling is not spectator lobbies. See /game-modes/ for that watch list.
- 02Rank Match vs Casual Match: pick the right queue
Ranked is one queue among several, not a replacement for the others. Casual online, offline versus, and local sets stay the places to experiment with a new fighter, a new support, or a route you have not confirmed in Training. Choose Rank Match when you want the ladder to move and a tracked result.
The order this site recommends before your first Rank Match: Character Lessons → Combo Trials → one confirm → one Flow cancel → one confirmed Energy ender. Ranked sets are still sets, so label the build and support on anything you keep as a note.
- 03Rank badges: ten badges across two named bands
The Patch 2.5 text describes ten rank badges, grouped into two named bands: Beginner and Master. That is the ladder scaffolding the recorded official note gives—no more.
This page does not list individual badge names, per-badge point thresholds, or season windows, because the recorded text does not carry them. A badge-name list with numbers attached should be treated as a third-party transcription until an official post matches it.
- 04Placement: how the ladder starts you
Placement is part of Ranked Mode 1.0: a new ladder entrant plays placement before a badge is assigned, instead of being dropped straight into a named band. The recorded patch text does not publish a placement-match count, so this page does not invent one—read the number your own build shows on the Ranked screen.
Because placement exists, a first badge is a starting point, not a verdict. It is not a tier placement and not a balance statement about the fighter you used.
- 05Set format and character lock
Ranked sets are recorded as 3/5 — best-of-five, first to three rounds. Longer sets punish autopilot: the third round is where a Flow habit you never labbed shows up.
Character lock is part of the Ranked ruleset, so your fighter is locked rather than swapped freely between rounds. Pick deliberately, and record support choice next to the build label. If your build words the lock window differently (per match versus per set), that in-game wording is the one to trust—this page will not overwrite your own screen.
- 06Rank points, and why XP does not move your rank
Ranked play is scored in rank points, recorded around 1000–2000 rather than an open-ended counter. Wins move the number; this page does not publish the ladder’s internal math beyond that recorded range.
Story Mode XP is a separate system. Levels and Momo’s Bazaar upgrades are earned in Story Mode and do not raise or lower your rank, so Story grinding is not a short-cut up the ladder and a fresh account is not a handicap in Rank Match.
- 07The disconnect queue behind “Ragequit Jail”
Patch 2.5 also describes an anti-quit mechanism: players whose disconnect or quit rate runs above roughly 20% are moved into a separate matchmaking queue—what players mean by “Ragequit Jail.” The recorded note does not state the measurement window or the way back to the normal queue.
Two practical consequences: budget real network time instead of closing the app mid-set, and expect a bad connection to shrink your pool. This site will not publish a punishment table it cannot cite.
- 08Ranked does not create a tier list by itself
A live ladder is a ruleset, not a verdict. /tier-list/ keeps rankings[] empty: no badge distribution, no ladder sample, and no “who is S-tier” board is published as balance truth. A Ranked-sampled ranking can appear only after a named method, a named sample, and an as-of date are published together.
Offline results stay a separate sample layer. CEO 2026 (August 14–16) was played before this patch shipped and is logged on /competitive/ceo-2026/ as a named offline sample—not auto-loaded into ranks. The Pro-Bending Circuit teaser on /competitive/pro-bending-circuit/ is a tournament series, not a ladder.
- 09First-week Ranked checklist (with a pool-size caveat)
1) Confirm your build reads Patch 2.5 or later in-game. 2) Finish Lessons and Trials for one fighter only. 3) Lab one confirm, one Flow cancel, and one confirmed Energy ender. 4) Play your placement in one sitting so the ladder has a real sample. 5) After each session, write down build + support + which rounds you lost—then update your personal Tier Lab board, never an “official” ranking.
Expect a thin pool in the first Ranked weeks: rematches are common, and a thin pool is also a thin sample—exactly why early ladder sets are not turned into tier claims here. Patch status stays on /updates/.