How to Prevent League of Legends Ranked Decay in Diamond and Apex Tiers

Check whether the affected queue is subject to decay

Decay begins in Diamond. Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Emerald are excluded from this inactivity system. A lower-ranked player’s LP loss after a played match is not explained by Diamond or Apex inactivity decay. The banked-day rules apply to a qualifying queue rather than every account activity. [1]

Steps

1. Check whether the affected Ranked queue is Diamond or above before applying the decay schedule. [1]

Replenish banked days in Diamond

On entering a division with decay, the account receives banked days. One day is spent at the end of each day; LP loss begins after this reserve is gone. Diamond starts with 28 days and permits a maximum of 28. Each played match adds seven days, subject to that maximum. [1]

Steps

1. Play a match in the affected Diamond queue to add seven banked days, up to the 28-day maximum. [1]

Use the shorter Master, Grandmaster and Challenger rules

The Apex tiers share a different schedule. Their initial reserve is 14 days, their maximum bank is 14, and each played match adds one day. Exhausting that reserve leads to the documented 75-LP inactivity penalty. A Diamond player moving upward should stop planning around Diamond’s seven days per match. [1]

Steps

1. In Master, Grandmaster or Challenger, play in the affected queue to earn one banked day per match and replenish the reserve before it reaches zero. [1]

Understand what an empty bank can do to your rank

If decay takes an account to zero LP or below, it moves to the next lower division. From division IV this can mean dropping a tier. Apex inactivity decay has a separate destination: Diamond II. These movements can follow inactivity even without another played loss. [1]