Deadlock patch notes for 2026-07-30: 1 rework,
classified change by change.
Every change in this update
New Ranked Mode introduced — queue for competitive games against similarly-skilled players and climb the ranks each season. The old queue becomes Standard Mode (unranked, no party restrictions, hero-experience-aware matchmaking) (rework)
Ranked eligibility: 60 Standard Mode wins required, plus at least 3 heroes unlocked for Ranked (15 Standard wins each) to be able to queue (change)
Season 1 starts today and ends October 7th. Your highest rank is permanently saved in your Rank history at season end (change)
Calibration: 8 placement games with a soft reset of your prior rank. Calibration exit is capped at Oracle VI. No parties allowed during calibration (change)
Parties: solo or duo only, max 1 rank apart. Eternus players can only duo with other Eternus within 3 subranks (change)
Rank Points: ±250 per win/loss on average. 1000 points per subrank promotion, 2000 for the final subrank before a new rank. Eternus thresholds are recalculated daily on a percentile basis (change)
Loss protection: 5 games at a full rank boundary, 2 games at a subrank boundary, before demotion (change)
New pre-game phase: see every player's rank, swap your hero once (to any unselected hero you have unlocked), and adjust your starting lanes. Pause is disabled until 2 minutes into the game (change)
Hero bans in Ranked increased from 2 to 3 per game, with an improved ban algorithm (change)
Abandons: leaving before 5 min voids the game for everyone else (loss + penalties for the leaver and their party). After 5 min, the leaver's teammates can safely leave — or stay and still win the game (change)
Leaver penalties escalate from queue timeouts to low priority games. Players with active sanctions cannot queue for Ranked (change)
Leaderboard requirements raised: 75 games/30 days for the global board (was 50), 30 games/30 days + 100 lifetime wins for hero boards (was 20) (change)
New Ranked Hub in the hideout: season info, global leaderboards, rank history, and a trophy commemorating your season's highest rank (change)
Valve's rollout note: live now, but expect a rocky first week — thin ranked pool, longer queues and calibration turbulence until things stabilize (change)