Deadlock patch review: what City Never Sleeps changed for ranked

What shipped

City Never Sleeps is Deadlock's biggest update of 2026. The map became New York with three subway lines and four districts, neutrals were replaced by Haunts with new behavior, and the HUD, pings, shop and settings were reworked. Our City Never Sleeps news post covers the whole update point by point; this guide only covers what affects ranked play.

Alongside the update Valve announced six new heroes: they release one at a time on Tuesdays and Fridays at 2pm Pacific, and a player vote decides the order. For the first few days the Broker was in town, trading high-tier items for Corrupted versions with bonuses and random downsides. When the first hero arrived, the Broker left regular matches; in Street Brawl you still get a Corrupted item in round 5.

City Never Sleeps and the updates after it, by date

Date	What shipped	What matters for ranked
September 29	City Never Sleeps	New map and neutrals, the Broker and Corrupted items, item renames
September 30	UI fixes	Option to hide names above health bars, enemy damaged color, rebindable Down Dash
October 2	Rat King	New hero, the Broker leaves
October 5	Minor Update	Rat King ultimate nerf, Sinclair nerf
October 6	Baba	New hero; Season 1 extended to November 5
October 9	Solomon	New hero
October 13	Deadman Danny	New hero
October 14	Minor Update	Baba nerf, Deadman Danny buff, Radiant Regeneration nerf
October 16	Fifth hero	Violet or Nurse Harrow, decided by the vote

The new heroes by the numbers

Win rate and pick rate over 14 days across all ranks; the rank is among heroes with at least 300 matches. Pick rate is the share of matches the hero was picked in (a hero can be on both teams). Refreshes every 12 hours. Full tier list by rank

How to read the table: for the first week or two a new hero's win rate usually sits below its true level, because everyone is trying it, including players on their first game. So 41–45% for Solomon and Deadman Danny is not a verdict yet, while 57% for Rat King at that pick rate is a strong signal: almost everyone picks him and he still wins. Most of Deadman Danny's matches in the window were played before the October 14 buff, so expect his numbers to rise.

Nerfs and buffs after release

Rat King: weaker ultimate, stronger everything else

• Rule, Ratannia!: cooldown with upgrades went from 110 to 160 seconds, damage reduction from 35% to 25%, radius from 24 to 20 m, charge duration down to 10 seconds, and the move speed bonus no longer scales with Spirit.
• Scrap Grenade: damage from 65 to 70, bounce targeting fixed. Rat Swarm: cooldown from 28 to 24 seconds.
• Net effect: Rat King swings fights with his ultimate less often but got stronger in lane and small skirmishes. He is still first in win rate.

Baba: less survivability

• Spirit resistance scaling reduced, and she now has −7% base bullet resistance.
• Threadsap: cooldown from 26 to 28 seconds, and the Spirit steal on enemies ends when Baba dies.
• Granny Long Legs: cooldown from 30 to 32 seconds, weaker repeat air melees and upward launch.
• Baba's Brew: barrier from 100 to 90, barrier Spirit scaling from 1.2 to 0.7, cooldown from 25 to 27 seconds.

Deadman Danny: a big buff one day after release

• Health from 680 to 730, regen from 2.5 to 3.25.
• Gun: uncharged shot damage from 12 to 15, charged shot from 44 to 48.
• Strix Salvo: cooldown from 30 to 25 seconds, higher Spirit scaling. Close the Deal: bonus damage to targets under half health from 50% to 75%.
• Rocket Jumping: self damage from 6.5% to 5% of max health, and it is now Spirit damage.

Sinclair and items

• Sinclair: regen from 2 to 1, bullet damage from 17.76 to 16.5, shorter falloff range, Vexing Bolt deals half damage to objectives, Audience Participation copies an ability for 9 seconds instead of 12.
• Radiant Regeneration: Spirit scaling reduced from 0.04 to 0.035.

Renamed items

Two weapon items got new names. If a saved build or guide uses the old name, it is the same item: cost and slot are unchanged.

What it means for ranked

1. Learn to play against Rat King. He is picked in most matches and wins more than anyone: study his abilities on his hero page and keep a hero in your pool that punishes him.
2. Don't learn a new hero in Ranked. Solomon and Deadman Danny are losing more than they win right now; play your first 10–15 matches on a new hero in Standard.
3. Re-check your pool after the nerfs. If you relied on Rat King's ultimate, Sinclair, or Baba's barrier, the numbers changed: look at your win rate over the last two weeks.
4. Less than three weeks are left in the season. Season 1 ends on November 5 at 2pm PDT and your peak rank stays in your profile, so if you want to raise it, now is the time.
5. Don't count on Corrupted items in Ranked: the Broker left on October 2, and they remain only in Street Brawl.