What a season and reset are
A season is a ranked period at the end of which your medal is locked in. Historically Valve ran a forced reset every half a year: ranks were wiped and everyone had to recalibrate. That forced reset is gone now — you refresh the medal by choice, by starting recalibration yourself.
- Used to be scheduled. Historically a season lasted about half a year and ended with a medal reset.
- What's hidden. Recalibration hides the visible medal — you confirm it again; your MMR stays.
- Now optional. There's no fixed reset date; you trigger recalibration yourself in account settings.
A season resets not your skill but only the medal display. Your real MMR stays with you and serves as the basis for the new Dota 2 calibration.
How rank reset works
The reset in Dota 2 is soft, not a wipe to zero, and these days you trigger it yourself with the recalibration button in account settings. Here's the logic:
- Medal is hidden. As soon as you start recalibration, your rank badge is temporarily hidden.
- Calibration begins. You play a series of matches to earn a new medal.
- Base is old MMR. Calibration starts from your previous rating, not from zero.
- Extra weight. Calibration games move the rating more than regular ones.
The calibration mechanic itself is covered separately — see the guide on MMR calibration. And if you'd like to push your rating before the reset so you start from a higher point, our breakdown of how to raise MMR will help.
Recalibration: what it is
Recalibration is the option to re-determine your medal whenever you choose to:
- About 15 games. After a series of roughly 15 matches you get a new visible medal.
- Once a year. At least 365 days must pass between recalibration activations.
- Double weight. Wins grant noticeably more MMR, but losses hurt more too.
- No wipe. Your hidden rating persists and remains the reference point.
Because of the heavier games, recalibration is a double-edged tool. On an upswing it speeds your medal's growth, but in a slump it locks your rank below your real level.
Medal versus MMR
The main beginner confusion is mixing up medal and rating. They're different things:
- MMR is a number. The hidden rating that matchmaking uses to pick opponents.
- Medal is a display. The rank badge matching your MMR at calibration time.
- Reset touches the medal. What's hidden is the rating's visual confirmation, not the rating.
- Single rating. MMR is shared — there is no separate core and support calibration.
- The number can fall without you playing a game. On July 31, 2026 Valve squished the scale itself: ratings were recalculated into a 9500 ceiling, everyone's number got smaller, and the medals stayed where they were. That is neither a reset nor a recalibration — the order of players relative to each other did not change.
To know which medal matches your rating, keep the guide on rank differences handy, and check any older numeric landmarks against the breakdown of the rating squish — after it, "6500" means something quite different from what it meant in the spring. A single rating also means you can switch roles between core and support without a separate per-position calibration.
How to calibrate higher
A few rules so calibration reflects your true level — especially if the point of calibrating is to lock in higher and eventually reach Immortal:
- Go in on form. Calibrate on a win streak, not right after tilt.
- Narrow hero pool. Take 2-3 reliable heroes rather than experimenting.
- Play to win. The match weight is high — every game truly moves the medal.
- Don't rush. If you haven't played in a while, warm up in normal ranked first.
