Hey there! 
This is one of my first posts and I’d love to know your opinion about this topic.
Placements have been in this game since the launch of competitive mode and I understand that an unranked person who plays comp for the first time has to do them to get a rank but…
What happens to the rest of people? I think you always get placed where you ended last season (<50 point up or down approx.), even though you do terribly bad or pretty well.
So that leads us to my question…
Why are they necessary? 
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It’s probably hard for matchmaking to find 11 other people who never played ranked before too.
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I think it’s worth it since the placements take in mind if you loose, draw, or win AND your performance in game, so if you really don’t belong to the rank you’re in you get boosted quite a bit, unlike matches when you’re placed where it only takes wins and losses
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Streamers/YouTubers. “Season 48 Placements - NO LONGER GM!?!?!?” → views → exposure for the game. It also prevents people from just barely reaching a higher rank and then never playing again so they can say “yeah I’m totally Masters”.
Performance based SR exists below Diamond. I don’t think whether or not you’re placed affects it since you still have an SR while doing your placements.
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It affects a bit. You can’t get over 100SR above your previous season SR, but it’s still a pretty decent boost
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Is that a hard cap or is it just difficult to gain 100 SR in five games?
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It is hard to get above 100SR in placements unless you have a new account
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