Respawn Entertainment published a Ranked Roadmap on October 20, 2026, outlining structural changes to Apex Legends competitive play across Seasons 31 and 32. The roadmap introduces Legend Banning in Diamond and above, three new rank tiers, a Pro-Am League, and a full overhaul of ranked rewards. Alongside the ranked announcement, the ALGS Year 6 Split 2 Playoffs are confirmed for October 29 through November 1 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, featuring 40 teams competing for a US$2,000,000 prize pool.
Legend Banning and New Rank Tiers
The most immediate change for ranked players is Legend Banning, which will apply to Diamond-tier matches and above. The mechanic allows teams to remove specific Legends from the selection pool before a match begins, a system familiar to players of other competitive shooters but new to Apex Legends ranked. Respawn has not yet detailed the exact ban phase format—whether it mirrors the pick-ban structure seen in ALGS or uses a simpler single-ban system—but the feature is confirmed for Diamond and higher lobbies.
The roadmap also introduces three new rank tiers: Iron, Emerald, and Grandmaster. Iron sits at the bottom of the ladder, presumably below the current Bronze equivalent, while Grandmaster marks the new ceiling above the existing Apex Predator tier. Emerald slots into the mid-to-upper range. The addition of these tiers reshapes the entire ladder, meaning players should expect their visible rank to shift when the system goes live, though Respawn has not specified whether existing ranks will be soft-reset or hard-reset at the transition.
A ranked rewards overhaul rounds out the competitive changes. The roadmap confirms that end-of-split rewards are being reworked, though the specific structure—whether it moves toward a point-based shop, tier-locked cosmetics, or another model—has not been detailed in the published materials.
Pro-Am League
The roadmap also announces a Pro-Am League, a structured competition format that bridges professional ALGS players and high-ranked amateur teams. The concept has appeared in other esports titles as a development pathway, giving skilled ranked players a taste of organized competition without requiring full ALGS qualification. Respawn has not released a format document, registration timeline, or regional breakdown for the Pro-Am League as of the roadmap publication. Players interested in participating will need to wait for further details before Season 31 or 32 begins.
ALGS Year 6 Split 2 Playoffs
The ALGS Year 6 Split 2 Playoffs will take place from October 29 to November 1, 2026, at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The event brings together 40 teams from around the world competing for a US$2,000,000 prize pool, making it one of the largest single events in the ALGS calendar for Year 6.
The ALGS Year 6 announcement confirmed the overall structure of the competitive year, with Split 2 Playoffs serving as the second major LAN of the season. The 40-team field and $2 million purse place this event in line with previous ALGS Playoffs in scale, though Respawn and EA have not yet published a full schedule, group-stage format, or broadcast talent lineup for the Las Vegas event.
Orleans Arena has hosted ALGS events before, and the venue choice keeps the tournament in a market with established infrastructure for large-scale esports production. Teams that qualified through Split 2 regional play will converge on Las Vegas for what is effectively the last major international LAN before the ALGS Championship later in Year 6.
What This Means for Ranked Players
If you play Diamond or above, Legend Banning is the change that will affect your daily matches most directly. The meta implications are significant: Legends that dominate high-elo lobbies today become ban targets, which forces teams to maintain deeper roster flexibility. Players who main a single Legend at Diamond+ should expect that Legend to be unavailable in a meaningful percentage of their matches once the system goes live.
The new rank tiers—Iron, Emerald, and Grandmaster—will change how the ladder looks and feels. If you are currently near a tier boundary, the transition may place you in a different visible rank than expected. Grandmaster, as the new top tier, will likely become the aspirational target that Apex Predator previously represented, and the criteria for reaching it have not yet been published.
The Pro-Am League is worth watching if you sit in the upper ranks and have considered organized play. It represents a lower barrier to entry than full ALGS qualification, and even if you do not compete, the format may influence how Respawn structures future ranked seasons based on what it learns from the bridge between amateur and professional play.
For the ranked rewards overhaul, the practical advice is straightforward: do not assume your current reward track or progression will carry over unchanged. Respawn has confirmed the system is being reworked, so any cosmetics or milestones you are working toward in the current split may not translate directly into the new structure.