Ranked Battle

Ranked Battle is one of the multiplayer mode categories in the Splatoon series.

These battles can last for five minutes, instead of the three minute long Turf Wars. The battle can be shorter or longer depending on the outcome of the game. It features several modes and is accessible once a player hits Level 10. The modes included in this category require a higher level of strategy compared to Regular Battle, and wins and losses are counted toward players' ranks which are used for matchmaking.

Splatoon
Ranked Battle was released when a large amount of Splatoon players reached Level 10 on June 1, 2015. Ranks originally ranged from 'C-' to 'A+'. On August 5, 2015, version 2.0.0 increased the rank cap. Ranks then ranged from 'C-' to 'S+'.

Splatoon 2
Ranked Battles were available at launch with Splatoon 2, though players still must obtain Level 10 to play. All modes were kept from the previous games, with minor improvements made. Along with the 2.1.0 update on December 13, 2017, a new mode called Clam Blitz was added. A new rank, Rank X, was added in late April 2018 with the 3.0.0 update.

Splatoon
Stages will rotate out every four hours along with the stages from Turf War, at 02:00, 06:00, 10:00, 14:00, 18:00, and 22:00 UTC. The change in stages are accompanied by an announcement from the Squid Sisters. This announcement will also boot all players out of the lobby after they finish their current match. The mode will also rotate between Splat Zones, Tower Control, and Rainmaker at the same time.

Splatoon 2
Similar to Splatoon. Splatoon 2 features stage rotation every 2 hours. Again similar to the first game, Off the Hook will give an announcement when the stages/mode change. Players can also view the stage schedule from their smart device using SplatNet 2 on the Nintendo Switch Online App. However, since version 3.0.0, the stages choosen each come from a list of 8 stages per Ranked Battle mode that change every month with the X-Power reset.

Splatoon 2
Unlike in Regular Battles, the music in a Ranked Battle does not change when there is one minute left.

Trivia

 * Originally, rank could go up by 20 points at a time. This can be seen in an image released before Splatoon was finalized.
 * Once a player's rank changes after a match, a message saying "RANK CHANGED! Re-enter the lobby to pit your skills against players closer to you on rank!" will appear, and the player will be forced to exit.