What is Demotion Shield Expiring and what does it mean

Playing League of Legends is a lot of fun, don’t you agree? However, there are times where players are a bit confused about what’s going on in the game. For example, while playing LoL or Teamfight Tactics ranked modes, a message next to your shield on your profile may have popped up, stating that your “Demotion Shield” is “Expiring.”

My what? Expiring? Why would it expire? What did I do wrong to lose my LoL demotion shield? To save you from a world of confusion, I’m going to explain everything you need to know about that League of Legends demotion shield.

What is a Demotion Shield?

Okay, so what exactly does demotion shield mean? When an LoL player is promoted into a new tier or division for the first time, they’re going to gain a special effect that is referred to as a “demotion shield.”

The League of Legends Demotion Shield prevents the player from dropping down a division/tear if they were to lose additional games.

How many losses before I get demoted?

Now that you know what the LoL demotion shield is, surely you’re curious about how long it lasts. On average, the demotion shield lasts for around three games after you have advanced a division. Then, after advancing a tier, the shield can last for ten games. However, for Master Tier, everything is three games.

Can You Demote from Plat to Gold?

Let’s say you’re in Platinum IV for a short period; you’re not going to drop to Gold I because of the demotion shield. However, this shield can expire, and when it does, that is when you will receive the message “demotion shield expiring.”

So, if you were to lose the next League of Legends match or the next couple of matches, there will be a high chance that you will end up dropping a tier or division.

After you have been demoted, your LP will be set between 25 to 75 – what those numbers land at will all depend on how many losses you took while you were at 0 LP.

Okay, so highlighting that message, once you have climbed into a new division or ranked tier, Riot grants you a special effect referred to as Demotion Shield. This shield is going to prevent you from getting demoted if you were to lose some games while you’re at 0 LP.

Here’s something you need to take note of – you can have a negative LP in League of Legends.

Can You be Demoted from Gold to Silver

Let’s say you’re in Gold IV; if so, you can lose around ten games before you are demoted back down to silver I. However, if you climbed from Platinum III to Platinum II, the amount of games you can lose will be lower – you can only lose three games before being promoted back down to Platinum III.

How to Get Demoted in LoL

So the question is – How to get demoted in LoL. Being demoted from gold to silver or from plat to gold – or any LoL demotion – is something you want to avoid. In this section, we’re going to explain how to get demoted in LoL so that you can try to avoid LoL demotion.

You can only be demoted after you have played a game and lost.

Only once your LP hits 0 (or lower), and your MMR is low enough, and you lose a game, will you be demoted.

League of Legend players is demoted through inactivity decay or when they lose matches at 0 LP. Demoted players will move to the next lower division, and their LP will be reset to 75.

Those players who promote to a higher division will enter a period of demotion immunity, which is what Riot refers to as a “Demotion Shield.” As we previously stated, the purpose of that immunity period is to prevent LoL players from being demoted because of their bad luck. However, once that shield has run out (expired), you’ll be demoted to a lower tier if you lose a game if you’re at 0 LP when losing.

Can a Player be Demoted from a Tier?

Demotion in League of Legends really isn’t that complicated to understand, but right now, you may be wondering if you can get demoted from a tier. Yes, it is possible to be demoted from a tier. For example, let’s say you’re in division IV of a tier, and your MMR drops an entire tier – you will be warned about having a possible demotion. If you’re in Gold IV, upon reaching Silver IV MMR, you will receive a warning.

Demotions and Decay

While we’re on LoL Demotion subjects, I’d like to dig a bit deeper into demotions and decay (we cannot forget about decay because that’s the second way you can be demoted from your current tier or division). After you don’t play League of Legends for a long period of time, decay will set in. After the decay has set in, you will start to lose LP until you get back into the game and play a match.

What’s Subject to Decay?

Diamond, Master, Grandmaster, and Challenger can all decay. In Diamond, after you have been inactive for a total of 28 days in any ranked queue, you will start to lose LP based on your tier. After this, every seven days, you’ll lose LP until you play a match. Diamond LoL players will lose 50 LP each time they decay.

Master, Grandmaster, and Challenger are a bit different:

Each time you play a match in Master, Grandmaster, and Challenger tier, it will be stored as a banked game – up to a total of 10. Take note that an AFK game doesn’t count towards a banked game.

After each day, one banked game will be removed from your reserve.

Once your banked games have reached 0, you’re going to lose 250 LP each day until you have more banked games.

Both wins and losses will count towards your banked games – all that matters here is that you play. The banked games can be tracked via your profile in the Ranked tab.

Decay doesn’t apply for players that are in Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum status.

Conclusion

Now, when you see the “demotion shield expiring” message, you’ll know exactly what it means and why it is expiring. “Demotion shield expiring” doesn’t mean you’re in trouble or anything. It just means that once that demotion shield has expired, you can be demoted. Also, low elo players always tend to blame either their teammates or their ping when they lose their lane. Try to avoid doing that.