[Update]: After a lengthy period of testing, Warcraft 3: Reforged has now unleashed Update 1.33 alongside player profiles, leaderboards and ranked play.

After a couple of solid attempts at improving the somewhat disappointing Warcraft 3: Reforged, Blizzard suddenly went quiet and stopped releasing updates. Two years have gone by since then, and with Diablo 2 Resurrected being the shiny new remaster that's getting all of the attention, I wouldn't blame you for assuming Warcraft 3: Reforged was simply left for dead. To be honest, that's exactly what I thought.

However, in a refreshing twist, Blizzard has now returned to Warcraft 3: Reforged with a fresh PTR update! Best of all, they're finally adding some of the features from the original version that were inexplicably missing in the remaster: ranked play, leaderboards and player profiles.

The way ranked play works is very simple. To begin you'll have to play five placement matches with a race of your choice (including random), after which you will be granted a matchmaking rating (MMR) that is unique for that race. From that point onwards you will be able to push through the seven available ranks (Combatant, Challenger, Rival, Duelist, Elite, Gladiator, Champion) in an effort to score a high place on the leaderboards, or purely for a bit of fun.

There's really not much else to say about this update. So if you're in the mood for giving Warcraft 3: Reforged another try, and you don't mind 'wasting' some progress on a test realm, make sure to join the PTR and offer Blizzard some much-needed feedback.

Once the update becomes available on the live servers, or Blizzard announces another batch of changes, I'll make sure to let you know. Until then, good luck with your placement matches!