Deadlock Season 2 rank reset: nearly half of players went up
Valve announced a rank redistribution, then about one badge lower on average. Across 109,513 players ranked before and after November 6, the net result goes up: almost 2 subranks higher on average, and 47% of players moved up. The bottom of the ladder climbs more than a badge, the top comes down, and nobody started Season 2 in Eternus.
Ranked Season 2 started at midnight UTC on November 6. Valve had announced a reset in two steps: first a global redistribution of all ranks, to account for the many new players, then a soft reset of about one badge on average (the Season 2 rules). The notes gave no figure for the redistribution. Three days later, the matches played show the combined effect of both steps.
We took the 109,513 players who played at least one ranked match between November 4 and the end of Season 1, then at least one since Season 2 began. For each of them, we compared the displayed rank at the start of their last Season 1 match with the one at the start of their first Season 2 match.
On average, players went up
- 47% of players started Season 2 higher than they finished Season 1, 32% at the same rank and 22% lower;
- the average change is +1.9 subranks, a third of a badge upward.
The redistribution therefore weighed more than the soft reset.
The bottom climbs more than a badge
- Initiate: +6.4 subranks on average, 95% up. 47% restart in Acolyte, two badges higher, and 40% in Seeker;
- Seeker: +7.3 subranks, 93% up. 56% restart in Acolyte and 36% in Sentinel;
- Acolyte: +4.5 subranks, 75% up, including 68% in Sentinel;
- Sentinel: +1.7 subranks, 55% up.
Mystic is the balance point: +0.4 subranks on average, and 55% of players keep their rank.
The top loses one or two subranks, Eternus more than a badge
- From Ritualist to Phantom, the change ranges from −1 to −1.7 subranks: 52 to 62% of players go down, and about a third keep their rank;
- Ascendant: −2.1 subranks, 65% down, and 46% restart in Phantom;
- Eternus: −7.1 subranks, all down. 90% restart in Ascendant and 10% in Phantom. No player in our sample started Season 2 in Eternus.
Outside Eternus, the drop stays well under a badge. For those who went down, climbing back is also shorter than in Season 1: a match is now worth 350 points, and three wins in a row are enough for a subrank.
Players squeezed into the middle
Initiate and Seeker, which held 19.5% of these players at the end of Season 1, now hold only 4.6%. Sentinel and Mystic go from 32% to 49%. The top barely moves: from Oracle to Eternus, the share goes from 14.8% to 13%.
The Season 2 leaderboard: a single name
To appear on the Season 2 leaderboard, you need 50 ranked matches in the season. On the afternoon of November 9, three and a half days after the start, a single player in the world is on it: Tino, in North America. Europe, Asia, South America and Oceania are still empty. The bar is high: in our sample, former Eternus players, the most active, have played 17 ranked matches on average since the season began.
Our Leaderboard page will show Season 2 as it fills up, and the Season 1 final leaderboard is still available.
Method
- Source: public ranked matches from deadlock-api.com, pulled on November 9 around 5:30 pm UTC;
- players: those who played at least one ranked match from November 4 to the end of Season 1, and at least one since. Matches without a displayed rank, during calibration, are left out;
- ranks: displayed rank at the start of the last Season 1 match, then of the first Season 2 match. A badge has 6 subranks;
- limits: the sample leans toward the most active players, those who played just before and just after the switch. And the end-of-Season-1 rank is the one before the last match: it can differ from the final rank by one subrank.
Sources. Public ranked matches via deadlock-api.com (pulled November 9, 2026); Valve’s “Ranked - Beta Season 2” notes (November 5, 2026); Valve’s public leaderboard via deadlock-api.com.