Understanding Deadlock ranked
Deadlock Guides
Ranks, points, seasons and placements without guesswork: only what's confirmed by patch notes and the wiki. Every guide carries its update date; after a patch we fix it the same day.
Guide · Season 2 · starts November 5, 2026
Deadlock Season 2: what resets and how to prepare
Ranked Season 1 ends on November 5, 2026 at 2pm Pacific (22:00 UTC), and the next season starts right after. Valve has not published the new season's rules yet - below is what is known plus the Season 1 rules. We will update this from the patch notes.
Guide · patch review · October 2026
Deadlock patch review: what City Never Sleeps changed for ranked
The biggest ranked change in this patch is four new heroes, and they are already in Ranked: Rat King has won more than anyone since day one and shows up in most matches, while Solomon and Deadman Danny are still losing more than they win. Below is what the October 5 and 14 balance updates changed, which items were renamed, and what it all means before the season ends on November 5.
Guide · ranks & rating · Season 1 (2026)
Deadlock ranks in order (2026)
Eleven ranks, six sub-ranks in each, roughly 300 points per match and an Oracle VI ceiling out of calibration. Here is how the ladder works after the July 30, 2026 matchmaking update, and what the Season 2 soft reset will change.
Guide · live data · rank distribution
Deadlock rank distribution, live
How many players are in each Deadlock rank, what the average rank is and how far your badge puts you ahead of everyone else. The chart and the table below are rebuilt from open match data every 12 hours.
Guide · rank points · demotion
Deadlock rank points and demotion
You derank in Deadlock when, after your protection runs out, your points fall below the threshold of your current step. Protection is short: two matches after a new sub-rank, five after a new rank. Here is how points are counted and the moment a loss costs you a step.
Guide · matches per rank · math
How many matches to rank up in Deadlock
Matches to the next rank are counted in net wins - wins minus losses. A full rank is about 23 net wins; how many matches that takes depends on your win rate: about 235 games at 55%, about 117 at 60%. Tables and the formula below.
Guide · Oracle to Phantom · high ranks
How to reach Phantom
Phantom is the first rank placements cannot give you: they cap at Oracle VI, and everything above is earned in regular matches. Oracle I to Phantom I is 7,000 points - about 23 net wins against players who already sit above the vast majority of Deadlock.
Guide · leaderboard · top 1000
Deadlock leaderboard: how to get on it
Deadlock has two leaderboards: a top 1000 per region and a top 1000 for every hero. The regional board needs 75 ranked matches in the last 30 days; a hero board needs 30 matches on that hero in 30 days and 100 all-time wins on it. After that, your rating decides.
Guide · placements · Season 2 prep
Deadlock placement matches
Eight matches at the start of every season decide where you begin the climb. Here are the exact rules, how the starting rank is computed, and how to squeeze the most out of those eight games.
Guide · placements · Season 2
Best Deadlock heroes for placement matches
Placements are 8 solo matches, and each one weighs more than a regular game. Below is a live list of the best heroes by win rate for every rank range, plus a simple rule for picking your own 2–3 heroes for those 8 games.
Guide · after placements · Season 2
Placed too low: what to do next
Your placements landed you lower than you hoped. That is fixable: after the eighth match the regular ladder rules apply, and the way back up is counted in wins. Here is how many you need and how to avoid digging deeper.
Guide · heroes · roles
Deadlock heroes by role and difficulty
Deadlock has 42 heroes. In the game data each one has a role - marksman, mystic, brawler or assassin - and a complexity from 1 to 4. Below: every hero by role and difficulty, and who wins most at low ranks right now.
Guide · hero pairs · Duo
Best hero pairs for duo
The best duo combo is a pair of heroes whose team wins more often than the rest. Below is a live table of the highest win rate pairs over 14 days from open Deadlock match stats, plus how to pick a combo for you and your partner.
Guide · stats · tracker
How to read Deadlock stats
Deadlock stats only make sense against the average player of your own rank: that comparison shows what is actually holding you back. Here is every metric our tracker shows and the order to look at them in.
Guide · coaching · replay review
Deadlock coaching: what a replay review gives you
Coaching is a review of your own matches with a top-rank player: where you lost the lane, the buys and the fights. You play every game yourself, nobody touches your account, and your rank rises with your skill. Here is how a session runs and which format to pick.
Guide · accounts vs boosting · 2026
Buying a Deadlock account vs a rank boost
Both promise the same thing — a rank you did not grind. The difference is what you hold afterwards: your own account with your inventory and history, or someone else's account that the seller can take back. Here is the honest comparison, including the cases where buying one is not a crazy idea.
Guide · boosting services compared · October 2026
Best Deadlock boosting services in 2026: 6 sites compared
Updated October 17, 2026. We run a Deadlock-only service, so we are biased — which is why every line about the other five comes from their own Deadlock pages on that date. Judge the facts, not the adjectives.
Guide · services compared · Overgear
Overgear alternative for Deadlock boosting
Overgear is a large gaming-services marketplace where Deadlock is one game out of many. DeadBoost does Deadlock only. We are an interested party, so everything about Overgear below comes from their own Deadlock page and public sources, with the date we checked it. Judge the facts.
Guide · services compared · Skycoach
Skycoach alternative for Deadlock boosting
Skycoach is a large multi-game service with Deadlock prices in euros, excluding VAT. DeadBoost does Deadlock only. We are an interested party, so everything about Skycoach below comes from their own Deadlock page and public sources, with the date we checked it.
Guide · services compared · Eloboss
Eloboss alternative for Deadlock boosting
Eloboss sells Deadlock as one game of many and plays on your account through account sharing. DeadBoost does Deadlock only and logs in with a QR code from the Steam app. Everything about Eloboss below is from their Deadlock page, checked on October 17, 2026.
Guide · services compared · Boosting Factory
Boosting Factory alternative for Deadlock boosting
Boosting Factory is a multi-game boosting service from Zagreb, Croatia, running since 2015, with account sharing or Duo. DeadBoost does Deadlock only and logs in with a QR code from the Steam app. Everything about Boosting Factory below is from their Deadlock pages, checked on October 17, 2026.
Guide · prices · October 2026
How much does Deadlock boosting cost?
The full price table for every rank and service, the formula behind the numbers, and what actually drives the cost — from the rank itself to the mode and the options you add.
Guide · Duo vs Piloted · boost
Duo vs Piloted: which to pick
Piloted means the booster plays on your account - faster and cheaper. Duo means you play yourself in a group with the booster - nobody touches your account, but it costs more. Here is the difference in price, risk and speed, and when to take which.
Guide · safety · Valve's rules
Can you get banned for boosting in Deadlock?
The short answer: no — nobody has been banned for boosting in Deadlock, there is no precedent. Below: what the rules actually say, what Valve is known to be doing, and how we keep your account safe.
Guide · FPS and settings
Deadlock Settings for FPS
Shadows, fog and ambient occlusion cost the most frames in Deadlock, so they go to minimum first. Below: what else to change in the menu, how to set FOV and 4:3, which launch options are worth adding and which you can skip.
Guide · mods & skins
How to install Deadlock mods
The fastest way is Deadlock Mod Manager: find a mod in our catalog, click “Install with Mod Manager”, and the app downloads and enables it. By hand it takes five minutes, a text editor and one line in a config file. Both ways work for skins, HUD mods and sounds from GameBanana.
Guide · mods · picks
Best Deadlock mods for FPS and quality of life
The most useful Deadlock mods are not skins but FPS configs and HUD tweaks: health as numbers, item icons, a cleaner interface. We picked the most downloaded and most liked from the GameBanana sections as of October 2026.
Guide · skins · install
How to install Deadlock skins
A Deadlock skin is a mod: a .vpk file you drop into the game's addons folder or install in two clicks with Deadlock Mod Manager. It only changes the model on your screen - teammates and opponents see the regular hero.
