LoL Ranked 5s 2026: Schedule, Hours, Rules & Rewards

Ranked 5s is League of Legends' ranked queue for full five-player premades, and its second run is live right now. It opens only on weekends, it has its own ladder, and anyone can play with anyone, from Unranked to Challenger.

Fast answer: Ranked 5s Experiment 2 runs from 11 September 2026 to 7 January 2027. It opens Friday to Sunday, 4pm to 4am server time. You need exactly five players, there are no rank restrictions, and picks and bans use Tournament Draft (3 bans, 3 picks, 2 bans, 2 picks) with a scouting tooltip on the enemy team. You play 5 placement matches, then climb a separate ladder with no decay. Rewards: an icon for any tier and a banner from Gold up. Ranked 5s wins do not count toward the Victorious skin.

Every rule below comes from Riot's Ranked 5s support page and Riot's dev posts, checked on 2 October 2026.

Key takeaways

• Run 2 started with patch 26.18, not 26.20. Riot's own Dev Update says 26.18.
• The queue window grew from 8pm–1am in run 1 to 4pm–4am in run 2.
• Your placement opponents are picked with your MMR from other modes. After placements, Ranked 5s has its own MMR and LP.
• Rewards go by the highest tier you reach during the run, not where you finish.
• The Victorious skin still needs Solo/Duo or Flex wins. Ranked 5s only gives Battle Pass XP on top.

When is Ranked 5s open in 2026?

Ranked 5s runs in two experiments. Riot's support page lists both:

Inside a run, the queue opens on weekends only: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from 4pm to 4am on your server's clock. Riot's reason is matchmaking. In its words, "by only enabling Ranked 5s over the weekend, we can guarantee faster matchups and a smoother experience."

What time is Ranked 5s on my server?

The window is the same everywhere: Friday to Sunday, 4pm to 4am, on your server's own clock. Riot's support page lists each server's zone in summer time (CEST for EUW, CDT for NA), and the run lasts past the October and November clock changes, so go by the server's local time rather than a fixed UTC offset.

Run 1 opened for five hours a night, 8pm to 1am, according to Riot's first dev post. Guides written during run 1 still show those hours.

What changed in Ranked 5s run 2?

Riot announced run 2 in its 8 September Dev Update, "featuring improvements based on feedback we saw from the initial June through September run". Three things are new:

1. A longer window. "An earlier start and later end each weekend." The support page now lists 4pm to 4am.
2. A strategic draft phase. "Similar to Clash", you see some information about your opponents before you pick and ban. The support page calls it a scouting tooltip "to analyze their opponent's playstyle".
3. A new reward. An exclusive Ranked 5s emote for taking part. Riot says the criteria are "still to be defined".

Run 2 began with patch 26.18, which is where Riot's Dev Update puts it.

How does Tournament Draft work in Ranked 5s?

Ranked 5s doesn't use the normal ranked draft. Riot uses Tournament Draft, the pro-play format, which it describes as "3 bans, 3 picks, 2 bans, 2 picks":

1. First ban phase. Each team bans 3 champions.
2. First pick phase. Each team picks 3 champions.
3. Second ban phase. Each team bans 2 more.
4. Second pick phase. Each team picks its last 2.

The second ban phase is the point of the format. You see half of the enemy composition before your last bans, so you can take away the champion that completes it, or protect a counterpick for the end. Riot says it wants teams to approach champ select "in highly coordinated ways".

The scouting tooltip from run 2 helps the first ban phase. You go in knowing a little about what the other five like to play instead of banning blind.

Can you play Ranked 5s solo or as a duo?

No. Ranked 5s is a full-premade queue. Riot's FAQ: "we're keeping Ranked 5s as a full premade queue". A group of 1 to 4 can't enter it.

What you can do instead:

• Groups of 1, 2, 3 or 5 any day of the week: Ranked Flex. A group of 4 can't queue Flex either. The full rules are in our Flex queue rules guide.
• Groups of 1 or 2 with close ranks: Ranked Solo/Duo. See which ranks can duo.
• Short of five for the weekend: find the missing players before Friday. The Pairly Duo Finder lists players by rank, lane and server, and you message them on Discord.

Free to browse, no account needed

Filter by rank, lane, server, language and voice preference.

Riot rank lookup

For linked Riot IDs, Pairly looks up the account rank. This does not prove who controls the account.

Are there rank restrictions in Ranked 5s?

All of them. The support page says "you're free to invite players from any skill level to join your team. From Unranked to Challenger, it's how you perform as a team that counts!" You also don't need a fixed roster. Riot's dev post: "you'll be able to queue with any group of friends, meaning there aren't set teams."

Riot says it has "built in a number of mechanisms to balance out large individual skill disparities within teams". It hasn't said how they work, so a mixed-rank stack shouldn't expect easy games.

Riot also addressed abuse of the open rules. Its dev post says it cracked down on "one Challenger account, four Diamond accounts with Challenger players on them" Flex boosting schemes, and that "we expect to apply those detections to Ranked 5s as well."

How do Ranked 5s placements and LP work?

Your team plays 5 placement matches first. During those games Riot uses "MMR from other game modes" to choose your opponents. After placements, Ranked 5s has its own MMR and LP, separate from Solo/Duo and Flex.

There's no decay. The support page says that "since Ranked 5s has limited availability, there is no decay penalty for not playing games." Missing a weekend costs you nothing.

What are the Ranked 5s rewards?

Rewards depend on the highest tier you reach during the run, not your final rank. Riot's example: start in Bronze II, peak at Platinum III, finish in Silver I, and you get the Platinum icon and the Platinum banner.

Run 1 rewards started dropping with patch 26.18 on 10 September. Riot is spreading them out, so they should all be on accounts by patch 26.19. Run 2 is your second chance at the icon and banner.

Does Ranked 5s count toward the Victorious skin?

No. Riot's FAQ says Ranked 5s "has its own season which overlaps between our standard Solo/Flex seasons. You can only earn the season's Victorious skin and other rewards through Solo/Duo or Flex matches."

Ranked 5s does count for one thing: "Ranked 5s do contribute towards your Battle Pass objectives and earn Battle Pass XP."

If you want this season's Victorious skin, you still need the wins in Solo/Duo or Flex, and the rules for that are in our Season 3 end date and rewards guide.

Ranked 5s vs Flex vs Solo/Duo

Ranked 5s vs Flex vs Solo/DuoRanked 5sFlexSolo/Duo

Party size5 only1, 2, 3 or 51 or 2

Rank limits–Any mix–open+ with+Close ranks only

WhenFri–Sun4pm–4amAny timeAny time

DraftTournament Draft + scoutingRanked draftRanked draft

DecayNone Diamond+ Diamond+

Victorious skin winsNoYesYes

All three: 5 placement matches, then their own MMR and LP.

Where does Pairly fit in?

We don't play Ranked 5s for anyone, and we don't sell it. A five-stack is your own team, and the queue only works when the five people in it are the ones playing. Riot has also said it will apply its Flex boosting detection to Ranked 5s.

Where we can help is the rest of the week. That means finding players for the stack, preparing for the draft, and the Solo/Duo and Flex games that the Victorious skin still needs.

Riot's Terms of Service apply to every game on your account, and Riot runs boosting detection. No service, ours included, is risk-free. Read whether LoL boosting is safe before you order anything.

Ranked 5s FAQ

Is Ranked 5s still available in 2026?

Yes. Experiment 2 runs from 11 September 2026 to 7 January 2027, on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 4pm to 4am server time.

What time does Ranked 5s open on EUW?

4pm to 4am EUW server time on Friday, Saturday and Sunday: CEST until 25 October, CET after. EUNE and RU use the same window.

What time does Ranked 5s open on NA?

4pm to 4am NA server time on Friday, Saturday and Sunday: CDT until 1 November, CST after.

Can I queue Ranked 5s with 4 players?

No. Ranked 5s needs a full team of five. A group of four can't queue Ranked Flex either, so bring a fifth or split into smaller groups.

Can I play Ranked 5s alone?

No. There's no solo queue for Ranked 5s. Riot keeps it as a full-premade queue so all five players on a team can talk to each other.

Can Unranked and Challenger players queue Ranked 5s together?

No. Players from Unranked to Challenger can play on the same team. Riot says it has built mechanisms to balance large skill gaps within a team.

Do I need the same five players every time?

No. Ranks are individual and there are no fixed rosters. You can queue with a different group every session.

How many placement games are there in Ranked 5s?

Five. Your opponents in those games are chosen with your MMR from other modes. After that, Ranked 5s has its own MMR and LP.

Does Ranked 5s have decay?

No. Since the queue only opens on weekends, Riot removed decay from it.

Do Ranked 5s wins count for the Victorious skin?

No. Only Solo/Duo and Flex wins count toward the Victorious skin. Ranked 5s games still earn Battle Pass XP.

What do you get for Ranked 5s?

A 2026 Ranked 5s icon for reaching any tier, a Ranked 5s banner for reaching Gold or higher, and in Experiment 2 an exclusive emote for participation, criteria not yet announced. Rewards follow your highest tier during the run.

When do Ranked 5s rewards from run 1 arrive?

They started dropping with patch 26.18 on 10 September 2026. Riot spreads the drop across the patch and expects every account to have them by patch 26.19.

Is Ranked 5s the same as Clash?

No. Clash is a tournament event with brackets. Ranked 5s is a ranked queue with a ladder. Run 2 borrows one idea from Clash: a draft phase that shows information about your opponents.

Will Ranked 5s stay after January 2027?

Riot hasn't said. It calls Ranked 5s an experiment that "isn't set in stone" and expects the queue "will evolve over time".

Sources

• Riot Games Support, League of Legends – Ranked 5s Mode, checked 2 October 2026
• League of Legends, /dev: The Return of Ranked 5s, 27 May 2026
• League of Legends, TL;DW: Team Voice, Classic & More Dev Update, 8 September 2026