How the Crucible Works

Crucible Rating System · Season 1 · Full Technical Guide

1000

Starting CR

Provisional Matches

50 / 32

K-Factor (New / Est.)

1.0–1.2

Dominance Range

01 Overview

The Crucible Rating (CR) system is a modified Elo rating system, the same foundational model used by FIDE chess, FACEIT, and many competitive platforms worldwide. Every team has a single numerical rating that goes up when they win and down when they lose. The size of the change depends on how likely that outcome was before the match started.

The core idea is simple: beating a stronger team earns more CR than beating a weaker one, and losing to a stronger team costs less than losing to a weaker one. This keeps the leaderboard accurate over time and rewards teams that challenge themselves.

The short version: Win → gain CR. Lose → lose CR. Beat teams above you → gain more. Lose to teams below you → lose more. Play consistently → your rating reflects your true skill level.

02 Step 1 — Expected Score

Before any CR changes, the system calculates the expected probability of each team winning. This is based purely on the difference between the two teams' current CR ratings using the standard Elo formula.

Expected Score Formula E_A = 1 / ( 1 + 10 ^ ((CR_B - CR_A) / 400) )
E_B = 1 - E_A

The result is a number between 0 and 1; think of it as a win probability. A value of 0.75 means the system expects that team to win 75% of the time given their ratings.

Example — Expected Score Calculation

Team Alpha CR1200Higher-rated team

Team Beta CR1000Lower-rated team

E(Alpha)1 / (1 + 10^((1000-1200)/400))= 0.76 (76% favourite)

E(Beta)1 - 0.76= 0.24 (24% chance)

A 200 CR gap makes the higher-rated team a 76% favourite. A 400 CR gap makes them a 91% favourite. Equal ratings give each team exactly a 50% expected score.

03 Step 2 — CR Change

Once the expected scores are known, the actual CR change is calculated. The actual outcome is either 1 (win) or 0 (loss). The difference between the actual outcome and what was expected, multiplied by the K-factor, determines how much CR moves.

CR Change Formula new_CR_A = CR_A + K × (Actual_A - E_A) × Dominance
where Actual = 1 (win) or 0 (loss), K = K-factor, Dominance = 1.0 to 1.2

The key insight is (Actual − Expected). If Alpha wins (as expected at 76%), the surprise factor is small: 1 − 0.76 = 0.24. If Beta wins the upset, their surprise factor is huge: 1 − 0.24 = 0.76. This is what makes upsets worth so much CR.

Example — Alpha wins (expected outcome, K=32, Dominance=1.0)

Alpha CR change32 × (1 - 0.76) × 1.0= +8 CR

Beta CR change32 × (0 - 0.24) × 1.0= −8 CR

Example — Beta wins (upset outcome, K=32, Dominance=1.0)

Beta CR change32 × (1 - 0.24) × 1.0= +24 CR

Alpha CR change32 × (0 - 0.76) × 1.0= −24 CR

Notice how an upset is worth three times as much CR as a routine win. When both teams use the same K-factor, the CR one team gains is the CR the other loses. When a provisional team (K=50) plays an established team (K=32), the provisional team moves further: in an even match, the provisional winner gains 25 while the established loser drops 16.

04 The K-Factor — How Fast CR Moves

The K-factor controls the maximum CR swing per match. A higher K-factor means ratings change faster; a lower one means they are more stable. The Crucible uses two values depending on how established a team is.

New Team

K = 50

First 10 ranked matches

→

After Match 10

K = 32

All subsequent matches

K = 50 (Provisional): New teams have a higher K-factor for their first 10 ranked matches. This allows their rating to reach its true level quickly, since a brand-new team at 1000 CR may be much stronger or weaker than average.
K = 32 (Established): Once a team has played 10 or more ranked matches, the K-factor drops to 32. Their rating is now more stable and harder to move dramatically in a single result.

Why does this matter? In an even matchup, a one-round win moves a K=50 team 25 CR and a K=32 team 16 CR; a sweep (dominance 1.2) makes that 30 and 19. The biggest swings come from upsets: a heavy underdog that sweeps can gain close to 60 CR with K=50, or close to 38 with K=32.

05 Dominance Modifier

The Dominance modifier is a multiplier between 1.0 and 1.2 that grows with the margin of the win. For match requests it is calculated automatically from the confirmed series score, so no one enters it by hand. A one-round win is 1.0, a sweep is 1.2, and the scores in between are spaced evenly. Results recorded directly by staff use the dominance staff enter.

Dominance from the series score Dominance = 1.0 + 0.2 × (margin − 1) / (wins_needed − 1)
where margin = winner's rounds minus loser's rounds, and wins_needed = 2 (BO3), 3 (BO5), 4 (BO7), 5 (BO9) or 6 (BO11)

Dominance impact — Equal teams (50/50), K=32

Dominance 1.032 × 0.5 × 1.0= +16 CR

Dominance 1.132 × 0.5 × 1.1= +18 CR

Dominance 1.232 × 0.5 × 1.2= +19 CR

Dominance by format and score

BO32–1 = 1.00 · 2–0 = 1.20

BO53–2 = 1.00 · 3–1 = 1.10 · 3–0 = 1.20

BO74–3 = 1.00 · 4–2 = 1.07 · 4–1 = 1.13 · 4–0 = 1.20

BO95–4 = 1.00 · 5–3 = 1.05 · 5–2 = 1.10 · 5–1 = 1.15 · 5–0 = 1.20

BO116–5 = 1.00 · 6–4 = 1.04 · 6–3 = 1.08 · 6–2 = 1.12 · 6–1 = 1.16 · 6–0 = 1.20

Casual matches don't change CR, so dominance only matters for ranked ones. Misreporting the score is treated as a false report under the rules.

06 CR Floor & Rounding

CR is always a whole number; results are rounded to the nearest integer after each calculation. CR cannot drop below 0 regardless of how the formula resolves. This means a team at 5 CR that loses a match will drop to 0, not into negative values.

Final CR after match final_CR = max(0, round(CR + K × (Actual - Expected) × Dominance))

07 Full Worked Example

Here is a complete end-to-end calculation for a match between two established teams (K=32) where the lower-rated team pulls off an upset with a dominant performance.

Setup

Storm CR1150Favourite

Vortex CR950Underdog

WinnerVortexUpset result

Dominance1.24–0 sweep in a BO7

K-factor (both)32Both established

Step 1 — Expected Scores

E(Storm)1 / (1 + 10^((950-1150)/400))= 0.76

E(Vortex)1 - 0.76= 0.24

Step 2 — CR Changes (Vortex wins)

Vortex change32 × (1 - 0.24) × 1.2= +29 CR → 979 CR

Storm change32 × (0 - 0.76) × 1.2= −29 CR → 1121 CR

Vortex gains 29 CR for pulling off the upset with a dominant performance, nearly four times what Storm would have gained for the expected win at standard dominance. Storm drops 29 CR, a significant penalty for losing to a lower-rated opponent convincingly.

08 Seasons & Resets

The Crucible operates in seasons, and CR is reset at the end of each one.

CR reset: every team keeps its name, roster and captains but goes back to 1000 CR with an empty record, so the provisional period starts over. Ladder match history and finished match requests are cleared.
Season resets are announced in the VALIS Discord in advance, giving all teams notice.
Past standings aren't kept on the site after a reset, so check the final standings before the season ends.
A new season gives every team an equal starting point, regardless of prior season performance.
Staff may introduce rule adjustments or formula tweaks between seasons based on community feedback.