The 1v1 ranked ladder for Empire Wars will be temporarily shelved and replaced by a new 1v1 ranked ladder for the upcoming Red Bull Wololo: El Reinado tournament. This is a new ladder that levels the playing field as you compete for ELO and opportunity. The map pool is also being updated to the Red Bull Wololo: El Reinado tournament maps, providing the pool with a welcome refresh.
Fear not, however; some time after the tournament has concluded, the prior Empire Wars ladder will be restored and existing ratings and leaderboards will return to the state they were in before this swap-out.
The Team Game ladder will also receive an update to the map pool, but the TG ladder is not associated with the tournament – only the 1v1 ladder. This means that your Empire Wars Team Game rating and statistics will remain unchanged during this period.
Why is the ladder being temporarily reset?
The new ladder is being used as part of the upcoming Red Bull Wololo: El Reinado tournament as a method to qualify for the event. In order to ensure an even playing field for all competitors, the leaderboard has to be temporarily reset. The four with the highest Elo rating achieved on the leader board by the 28th of July will be directly invited to the Red Bull Wololo: El Reinado event taking place at the Castillo de Almodóvar del Río in Spain.
How does this affect you?
Your experience will remain the same; however, you may find that your 1v1 rating will require a few games before it settles. With this change, you will be able to experience what it's like to play on the settings and maps of one of the biggest tournaments for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. The ladder holds no restrictions, anyone is free to play on the ladder whether they intend to participate in the tournament or not.
Please be aware, there is a Controller Only ladder visible for Red Bull Wololo: El Reinado for those playing on Xbox. However, this ladder will not be eligible for qualification. Remember to enable crossplay, as qualification will only be available to those on the cross-play enabled ladder.
For more information on the tournament, see Red Bull Wololo Is Back in 2024!
How will the leaderboard be monitored?
The team will be taking a close look at the leaderboard on a regular basis to make sure that all accounts are following the Code of Conduct and not participating in behavior such as ELO trading, dodging or other tactics to manipulate rankings.
If you encounter behavior that does not uphold the Code of Conduct, please report the player. These reports are reviewed by staff and action is taken based on the Code of Conduct.