There are two terms you must understand and distinguish:
-
Skill rating (SR), this is the rank that appears in your competitive profile
-
Match making Rating (MMR) , this is a hidden number.
There is no “limbo zone” where unranked players are pitted against each other to determine where they place, that sounds comical.
Your first competitive game will most likely be against players of your skill as the game matches you based on your MMR; for new players this is Bronze/Silver. Your starting MMR based on your performance during your quick play games.
You are matched based on MMR, you are not matched based on your actual skill rating; I’ve been pitted against master players in same role when my SR was gold 4. When forming a team, match maker will prioritize matching roles instead of keeping the entire lobby the same rank. This means you can have diamond 1 support players in top 500 lobbies in extreme cases. This is an example of a match I’ve played this season:
- Enemy and allied tanks: gold ranked
- Enemy and allied DPS: Master 4/5
- Enemy and allied supports: diamond 1/master 5
So in short:
- You are matched based on your match making rating which is invisible to us.
- Only roles are matched based on similar MMR, overall lobby skill tier can be all over the place.