All Deadlock ranks in order
Deadlock has 11 ranks, and every rank is split into 6 sub-ranks, numbered I to VI. That makes 66 steps between the bottom of the ladder and the top. Before you finish calibration your account carries the Obscurus status — it is not a rank, just a marker that your rating has not been determined yet. If you remember the names Alchemist, Arcanist and Archon: those were retired in the July 30, 2026 update and replaced by Acolyte, Sentinel and Mystic in the same slots.
| # | Rank | Sub-ranks | Points per rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Obscurus | none: pre-calibration status | — |
| 1 |  Initiate | IIIIIIIVVVI | 7,000 |
| 2 |  Seeker | IIIIIIIVVVI | 7,000 |
| 3 |  Acolyte | IIIIIIIVVVI | 7,000 |
| 4 |  Sentinel | IIIIIIIVVVI | 7,000 |
| 5 |  Mystic | IIIIIIIVVVI | 7,000 |
| 6 |  Ritualist | IIIIIIIVVVI | 7,000 |
| 7 |  Emissary | IIIIIIIVVVI | 7,000 |
| 8 |  Oracle | IIIIIIIVVVI | 7,000 |
| 9 |  Phantom | IIIIIIIVVVI | 7,000 |
| 10 |  Ascendant | IIIIIIIVVVI | 7,000 |
| 11 |  Eternus | IIIIIIIVVVI | percentiles |
In-game badges change color and shape from rank to rank, and the sub-rank is marked with a Roman numeral on the badge. There is nothing above Eternus VI — past that point the only thing left to climb is the leaderboard itself.
How many players are in each rank
Live data from the open deadlock-api stats for the last 30 days. The average Deadlock player is at Sentinel II right now: half of all players sit below that sub-rank. Mystic and below is 69.9% of players, Phantom and above is 5.4%, Eternus is 0.63%.
| Sub-rank | Share of players | Above |
|---|---|---|
| Initiate I | 0.63% | 99.4% |
| Initiate II | 0.86% | 98.5% |
| Initiate III | 1.2% | 97.3% |
| Initiate IV | 1.9% | 95.4% |
| Initiate V | 2.8% | 92.6% |
| Initiate VI | 4.6% | 88% |
| Seeker I | 2.6% | 85.4% |
| Seeker II | 2.8% | 82.6% |
| Seeker III | 3% | 79.7% |
| Seeker IV | 3% | 76.6% |
| Seeker V | 3% | 73.6% |
| Seeker VI | 4.8% | 68.9% |
| Acolyte I | 2.8% | 66.1% |
| Acolyte II | 2.6% | 63.5% |
| Acolyte III | 2.5% | 61% |
| Acolyte IV | 2.3% | 58.7% |
| Acolyte V | 2.3% | 56.4% |
| Acolyte VI | 3.6% | 52.8% |
| Sentinel I | 2.1% | 50.7% |
| Sentinel II | 1.9% | 48.8% |
| Sentinel III | 1.9% | 46.9% |
| Sentinel IV | 1.8% | 45.1% |
| Sentinel V | 1.8% | 43.3% |
| Sentinel VI | 2.7% | 40.5% |
| Mystic I | 1.6% | 38.9% |
| Mystic II | 1.4% | 37.4% |
| Mystic III | 1.5% | 35.9% |
| Mystic IV | 1.6% | 34.4% |
| Mystic V | 1.6% | 32.8% |
| Mystic VI | 2.6% | 30.1% |
| Ritualist I | 1.6% | 28.5% |
| Ritualist II | 1.4% | 27.1% |
| Ritualist III | 1.4% | 25.7% |
| Ritualist IV | 1.3% | 24.4% |
| Ritualist V | 1.4% | 23% |
| Ritualist VI | 2.1% | 20.9% |
| Emissary I | 1.4% | 19.5% |
| Emissary II | 1.2% | 18.4% |
| Emissary III | 1.1% | 17.2% |
| Emissary IV | 1.1% | 16.1% |
| Emissary V | 1.1% | 15% |
| Emissary VI | 1.8% | 13.2% |
| Oracle I | 1.3% | 11.9% |
| Oracle II | 1.2% | 10.7% |
| Oracle III | 1.2% | 9.5% |
| Oracle IV | 1.2% | 8.3% |
| Oracle V | 1.2% | 7.1% |
| Oracle VI | 1.6% | 5.4% |
| Phantom I | 0.88% | 4.6% |
| Phantom II | 0.62% | 3.9% |
| Phantom III | 0.54% | 3.4% |
| Phantom IV | 0.47% | 2.9% |
| Phantom V | 0.4% | 2.5% |
| Phantom VI | 0.59% | 1.9% |
| Ascendant I | 0.36% | 1.6% |
| Ascendant II | 0.24% | 1.3% |
| Ascendant III | 0.2% | 1.1% |
| Ascendant IV | 0.15% | 0.99% |
| Ascendant V | 0.14% | 0.85% |
| Ascendant VI | 0.22% | 0.63% |
| Eternus I | 0.19% | 0.44% |
| Eternus II | 0.14% | 0.3% |
| Eternus III | 0.12% | 0.18% |
| Eternus IV | 0.09% | 0.09% |
| Eternus V | 0.06% | 0.03% |
| Eternus VI | 0.03% | 0% |
| Rank | Players in rank | Above rank |
|---|---|---|
| Initiate | 12% | 88% |
| Seeker | 19.1% | 68.9% |
| Acolyte | 16% | 52.8% |
| Sentinel | 12.3% | 40.5% |
| Mystic | 10.4% | 30.1% |
| Ritualist | 9.3% | 20.9% |
| Emissary | 7.7% | 13.2% |
| Oracle | 7.8% | 5.4% |
| Phantom | 3.5% | 1.9% |
| Ascendant | 1.3% | 0.63% |
| Eternus | 0.63% | 0% |
Counts players with ranked matches in the window; a player who changed rank is counted at each step. Data refreshes every 12 hours.
Where are you on this chart?
Free tracker by Steam profile: your rank, what share of players you are ahead of, winrate and heroes over 30 days.
How ranked points work
A win or a loss moves your hidden score by roughly 300 points. The exact number depends on match quality: when matchmaking assembles uneven teams, an adjustment shifts the reward in either direction. Climbing one sub-rank inside a rank costs 1,000 points, while crossing a rank boundary — say, from Mystic VI into Ritualist I — costs 2,000. That is why the last step of every rank always feels twice as long as the five before it.
| Step | Points | Matches at a normal pace |
|---|---|---|
| One sub-rank inside a rank | 1,000 | 3-4 net wins |
| Crossing into the next rank | 2,000 | 6-7 net wins |
| A full rank (6 sub-ranks + the crossing) | 7,000 | 23-25 net wins |
Win streaks speed the climb up. Starting with the third consecutive win, a bonus is added on top of the base points: +70 on the third win, then +20 more per win, capping at +130 from the sixth win onward. A single loss resets the streak. In practice this means a clean evening of ranked is worth noticeably more than the same wins spread across a week.
Demotion protection
Right after a promotion your rank is locked in for a short grace period: two matches of protection after a new sub-rank and five after a new rank. Losses during that window cannot knock you back down. Once the protection expires, points are deducted as usual, and dropping below the threshold demotes you.
Eternus: percentiles instead of points
Inside Eternus the sub-rank math changes completely. It is no longer 1,000 points per step — your sub-rank reflects the share of Eternus players ranked below you. The thresholds are recalculated regularly, which means your Eternus sub-rank can move up or down without you playing a single match: the population around you shifted, so your percentile did too.
| Sub-rank | Percentile among Eternus players |
|---|---|
| Eternus I | from 0% |
| Eternus II | from 25% |
| Eternus III | from 50% |
| Eternus IV | from 70% |
| Eternus V | from 85% |
| Eternus VI | from 95% |
How to unlock ranked mode
Ranked is closed to fresh accounts. The queue button activates only after you collect 60 wins in Standard mode and have at least three heroes with 15 wins on each. Active penalties — low priority or a communication ban — also block the door until they expire. There is no shortcut through the requirement itself: it is checked account-wide, not per season, and it never resets once earned.
Short of the 60 wins?
Ranked unlock is a separate service: we grind the Standard wins and close out three heroes inside the same matches. The calculator on the prices page shows the exact quote per win.
Calibration: 8 matches and the Oracle VI ceiling
Your first 8 ranked matches of a season are calibration matches. They are strictly solo — you cannot queue in a party until they are done. Each one weighs more than a regular match, and after the eighth game the account is assigned its starting rank. The ceiling out of calibration is Oracle VI, even at 8-0: Phantom, Ascendant and Eternus can only be reached through regular ranked matches afterwards. We break the whole process down in the placement matches guide.
Want the full calibration breakdown?
How the starting rank is computed, the mistakes that cost a full rank, and a concrete plan for the 8 games.
Duo queue and rank restrictions
Ranked accepts solo players and parties of two. The gap between duo partners cannot exceed one rank: a Mystic can queue with a Ritualist but not with an Emissary. Eternus players can only party with other Eternus players, and the gap there is capped at three sub-ranks. This is exactly why duo boosting with a high-rank booster only works across adjacent ranks.
Leaderboards
- Global: top 1,000 per region across NA, SA, Europe, Asia and Oceania. Entry requires at least 75 matches in the last 30 days.
- Per hero: top 1,000 on every hero. Requires 30 matches on the hero in the last 30 days and 100 lifetime wins on it.
- Your peak rank is stored in the profile history permanently — the seasonal reset never erases it.
Which heroes are strongest at your rank
Hero strength depends on rank: what dominates in Initiate can fall off in Oracle and above. The DeadBoost tier list computes each hero's winrate separately per rank bracket from recent matches, and every hero page carries the latest builds from Oses and ABLKZ.
Tier list by rank
Every Deadlock hero: winrate and pick rate in your rank bracket, builds from top players.
Season 2 and the soft reset
The first ranked season has run since July 30, 2026. It was due to end on October 7, but Valve extended it to November 5, 2026 at 22:00 UTC, with the next season starting right after. The reset will be soft: your current badge goes away, but the system keeps your result history, and a fresh 8-match calibration assigns the new starting rank. An Ascendant player will not wake up in Initiate — they will calibrate near the top of the ladder, capped at Oracle VI like everyone else. Ranked access (the 60 wins and three heroes) carries over and never has to be re-earned. What resets fully are the leaderboards. We cover the timeline and a pre-season checklist in the Season 2 guide.
Aiming higher than calibration allows?
Rank boost is priced per sub-rank: pick your current and target rank, and the quote is locked into the order at checkout.