Are players sorted into the right tiers? We can't measure this perfectly - the league's real tool is matchmaking rating, which we don't have, and teams only play within their own tier - so this combines the two best signals we do have.
Mechanics (speed, boost control, positioning) barely depend on the opponent, so they compare fairly across tiers. "Average skill" should fall steadily from the top tier down; "Overlap with tier below" is the share of the next-lower tier whose mechanics already beat this tier's median - a high number means the two tiers blur together. Covers the 762 players who have ballchasing replay data.
| Tier | Players measured | Average skill | Overlap with tier below |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premier | 37 | 0.49 | 36% |
| Master | 58 | 0.28 | 44% blurry line |
| Elite | 103 | 0.16 | 56% blurry line |
| Veteran | 107 | 0.23 | 35% |
| Rival | 113 | -0.0 | 39% |
| Challenger | 105 | -0.1 | 46% blurry line |
| Prospect | 112 | -0.14 | 30% |
| Contender | 89 | -0.38 | 61% blurry line |
| Amateur | 38 | -0.42 | - |
Tiers are ordered correctly (rank correlation -0.98; nearer -1 is a cleaner top-to-bottom ordering), with an average boundary overlap of about 43.0%. Note: the top tier has no replay data, so it isn't measured here.
Re-sorting every player by overall skill into the tiers' current sizes, how many would land in a different tier? "Move up / down" counts players whose skill points to a higher or lower tier; "Churn" is the share of the tier that looks misplaced. This is a model estimate (it assumes a fixed skill gap between tiers), so read it as a strong hint, not a verdict.
| Tier | Players | Would move up | Would move down | Stay | Churn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premier | 50 | - | - | 50 |
|
| Master | 74 | - | 3 | 71 |
|
| Elite | 123 | 3 | 4 | 116 |
|
| Veteran | 127 | 4 | 3 | 120 |
|
| Rival | 128 | 3 | 6 | 119 |
|
| Challenger | 127 | 6 | 2 | 119 |
|
| Prospect | 126 | 2 | 3 | 121 |
|
| Contender | 104 | 3 | 2 | 99 |
|
| Amateur | 46 | 2 | - | 44 |
|
Overall, 46 of 905 measured players (5%) sit in a tier their skill doesn't match - a low number means the league is well sorted.
How cleanly tiers separated by skill (mechanics) in each season, from the historical pool. Overlap is the average share of a lower tier that out-performs the tier above it - lower = cleaner separation = better-sorted/more balanced. Mechanics are standardized within each season, so the numbers compare fairly across seasons. Sorted most-balanced first.
| Season | Players | Tiers | Tier overlap |
|---|---|---|---|
| S13 | 344 | 9 | 34% most balanced |
| S23 | 803 | 8 | 34% |
| S24 | 746 | 8 | 34% |
| S17 | 369 | 9 | 35% |
| S19 | 345 | 9 | 35% |
| S21 | 530 | 9 | 36% |
| S25 | 802 | 9 | 36% |
| S26 current | 815 | 9 | 36% |
| S14 | 343 | 9 | 38% |
| S20 | 547 | 9 | 38% |
| S18 | 342 | 9 | 39% |
| S22 | 673 | 9 | 39% least balanced |
"Balanced" here means tiers are cleanly separated by skill (players sorted into the right level), not competitive parity within a tier.
Data source: live (rscna.com) - standings & schedule refresh hourly.