Deadlock has just shipped a significant update, revamping its matchmaking system and introducing a brand-new Ranked Mode. Players can now choose between Standard Mode (unranked) and the new Ranked Mode.
Standard Mode
Standard Mode offers a more relaxed environment for playing Deadlock with friends, free from rank adjustments. It features no restrictions on party size or skill spread, making it ideal for practicing new heroes. The matchmaker will even adjust game placement based on your hero experience.
Ranked Mode
Ranked Mode provides a competitive environment for players to queue against similarly-skilled opponents with higher stakes. Each season, players can climb the ranks to test their skills.
Updated Ranks & Badges
The ranking system now includes 11 main ranks, each with 6 Subranks (I - VI). The ranks are:
- Obscurus (uncalibrated)
- Initiate
- Seeker
- Acolyte
- Sentinel
- Mystic
- Ritualist
- Emissary
- Oracle
- Phantom
- Ascendant
- Eternus
Eligibility and Seasons
To enter Ranked Mode, players must have at least 60 wins in Standard Mode. Additionally, only heroes with 15 or more wins in Standard Mode can be selected, and a minimum of 3 eligible heroes are required. The first season begins today and concludes on October 7th. Future seasons are expected to be longer, potentially including splits and recency requirements for hero play.
Upon season start, all players undergo an 8-game calibration phase with a soft reset of their previous rank. The maximum rank achievable after calibration is Oracle VI. Party play is disabled during calibration matches.
Ranked Mode currently supports solo or duo parties only. Duo parties must have players within one rank of each other (e.g., Mystic and Ritualist). Eternus players, however, can only queue with other Eternus players within three Subranks. A new Ranked Hub in the hideout provides season information, global leaderboards, and rank history.
Rank Points
Wins and losses will visibly update your Rank Points with a progress bar. On average, each win/loss grants +/- 250 points, with slight variations for matchmaker expectations or win streaks. Promotions to the next Subrank require 1000 points, while advancing from the final Subrank to a new Rank (e.g., Mystic VI to Ritualist I) requires 2000 points. For Eternus I and above, point thresholds are dynamically updated daily based on percentiles.
Rank loss protection is also implemented:
- Full Rank boundary: 5 games of loss protection (e.g., Mystic I with 0 points will maintain Mystic for 5 losses before dropping to Sentinel).
- Subrank boundary: 2 games of loss protection (e.g., Mystic III with 0 points will maintain Mystic III for 2 losses before dropping to Mystic II).
Entering a Match and Hero Selection
Deadlock has improved the matchmaker's ability to create solid team compositions, especially with the new pre-game hero selection process. Players now select their preferred hero before queuing, allowing the matchmaker to form teams that respect these preferences while aiming for balanced compositions.
Recognizing that perfect compositions aren't always possible, a new pre-game phase has been introduced. After entering a Ranked Match, players see a breakdown of all participants' ranks and can then change their selected hero to any other eligible, unselected hero. This feature is primarily for adjusting team composition, not counter-picking, as enemy hero changes are not live-updated. Each player can swap heroes only once. Players can also adjust starting lanes in this phase, as zipline swaps are disabled after it. Pause functionality is disabled for the first 2 minutes of the game.
Additionally, the number of banned heroes in Ranked Mode has increased from 2 to 3, with an improved banning algorithm.
Abandons & Penalties
Players with active sanctions (low priority, comms bans) cannot queue for Ranked. Abandoning a game incurs penalties:
- Before 5 minutes: Game is safe to leave and voided for all except the leaver and their party. Leaver and party receive a loss and penalties.
- After 5 minutes: Leaver receives penalties, and their party gets a loss. Other teammates can leave safely without punishment, but if they stay and win, it counts as a win. If all teammates leave, the opposing team wins.
- Opposing team: Plays as normal. If a player on this team abandons, they are penalized, and the rules above apply to the new abandoning team. Remaining players on either team will not receive a loss, only a win if they complete and win the game.
Leaver penalties escalate from queue timeouts to increasing low priority games.
Leaderboard
Leaderboard requirements have been updated:
- Global Leaderboard: 75 games in the last 30 days (up from 50).
- Hero-Specific Leaderboards: 30 games on that hero in the last 30 days (up from 20), plus a new requirement of 100 lifetime wins on that hero.
Rollout
This new system is live now. However, Valve anticipates a rocky first week due to a thin Ranked matchmaking pool as players meet unlock requirements. This will impact queue times, match quality, and team composition quality until the system stabilizes and players calibrate. The developers will be closely monitoring the matchmaker and expect a few days to iron out bugs given the extensive rewrite involved.
