Season 42 Preview: Matchmaking Transparency, 10 Bans May Be Expanded to Diamond Ranks.

The Peak Match is a battle between players from different servers in China, a favorite of lone wolves, a fight for rankings among the strongest. With hundreds of millions of players in Honor of Kings, how many will actually participate in the Peak Match? Busy with personal matters, work, social circles, and exercise, players have less and less time to play games, and their activity levels are steadily declining. The reasons they log in are almost always for event rewards, a few casual matches to enjoy the thrill of victory, and to relieve stress. Climbing the ranks is just a side effect. Therefore, ranked matches are the preferred mode for many players. With the start of a new season, there will inevitably be many changes.

It seems the Chinese server has no plans to bring back Frozen.

Skin sales have entered a lull, and there are currently no collaborations. In contrast, the international server has restarted the Snowdown Showdown and brought back Frozen, with the entire Rift filled with fairytale elements from the animation, creating a romantic atmosphere, indicating that Christmas is approaching. The Chinese server should pay attention to the test server updates, as they involve new season content. Hero adjustments are secondary; the battle pass rewards alone have already generated a lot of buzz. Now that it's ranked matches' turn, the impact on players will be even greater. Let's take a look at the details.

Only those with 150 stars inherit the strongest king's 1 star.

The star-giving system is indeed a boon. After playing several versions, gold medals don't lose stars, gold medals add two stars, and top-tier lanes add three stars directly. Solo players strive for gold medals just for insurance and peace of mind, while team players climb the ranks rapidly. With strong teammates, finding a pro to carry them makes it quite easy to widen the rank gap. The points system even makes players lose games, but the miracle of adding stars is ingenious. There's also pre-selected lanes to ensure everyone gets the most ideal hero. As long as all conditions are met, the score will naturally be high. Overall, the difficulty of ranked matches has dropped significantly, and even the value of 100-star Kings accounts has plummeted.

If everything goes smoothly and without obstacles, then the inheritance rules must be changed. Ranks below Diamond remain unchanged, while ranks above Star Master will all be downgraded by one level. In other words, the straightforward King of Glory 1-star rank will directly inherit Eternal Diamond 4 after the game update. Now, to inherit King of Glory 1-star, you need to reach King of Glory 150 stars, which sounds like an unattainable goal. Diamond and Star Master have always been the hardest abysses to leave, with countless instances of players getting frustrated and their skill level not matching their rank. Therefore, to have a good experience at the beginning of the season, you must reach 150 stars.