After much anticipation, Valve has finally given Deadlock a proper ranked mode, and with it comes a major overhaul to how the game balances each match—a substantial enough change that might make playing it a little chaotic for the next few weeks.
Before today’s update, Deadlock’s ranked mode was pretty straightforward as it was the only standard way to play it (as opposed to the over-the-top Brawl mode). You picked your favorite heroes, queued up, and climbed up the ranks.
The basic structure remains the same in the new system, but there are a lot more rules in place to help keep the quality of matches more balanced than before—which is something that started to become a problem as the game’s popularity has fluctuated.
First of all, the new ranked mode isn’t the only way to play a normal match now. Standard mode is for anyone who wants to practice or avoid the stress of ranked. It’s also where you’ll need to earn the right to queue up for ranked by winning 15 matches on at least three heroes.