Obscurus
Uncalibrated
Uncalibrated badge.
Deadlock ranked
Check Standard vs Ranked rules, ranks, eligibility, and season timing.
Deadlock ranked is a separate playlist from Standard. After the Matchmaking Update on 30 July 2026, you choose Standard Mode for unrestricted hero practice or Ranked Mode for the badge ladder. Ranked needs at least 60 Standard wins, 15 Standard wins on each selected hero, and at least three unlocked heroes. Parties are solo or duo only, and duo partners must be at most one Rank apart. Calibration is eight games, solo-only, and you cannot leave it above Oracle VI. The ladder runs Obscurus through Eternus, each Rank after Obscurus holding subranks I through VI.
Eligibility, parties, and calibration
To queue Ranked you need at least 60 wins in Standard Mode. Ranked only lets you pick heroes with at least 15 Standard wins, and you must have at least three heroes unlocked for Ranked so the roster is valid. Those gates are quality filters, not flavor text. If you are missing a 15-win hero, go back to Standard instead of dodging.
Ranked currently allows solo or duo parties. Duo partners must be at most one Rank apart, for example Mystic with Ritualist. Eternus players can only queue with another Eternus player within three subranks. You cannot be in a party during the eight calibration games. Calibration has a soft reset of prior Rank and a hard cap: you exit at a maximum of Oracle VI. Season one started with the Matchmaking Update and was scheduled to end 7 October, after which the next season begins and your highest Rank is saved to history.
Initiate
I–VI
Seeker
I–VI
Acolyte
I–VI
Sentinel
I–VI
Mystic
I–VI
Ritualist
I–VI
Emissary
I–VI
Oracle
I–VI
Maximum rank on exiting the 8-game calibration is Oracle VI.
Phantom
I–VI
Ascendant
I–VI
Eternus
I–VI
Standard Mode versus Ranked Mode
Standard Mode is unranked. Party size and skill spread are open. The matchmaker accounts for how little you have played a hero, which is why Valve tells you to practice unfamiliar names here. There are no Rank Point bars after a Standard game. If you want to learn Abrams or a vote hero after it ships, this is the playlist.
Ranked Mode is the competitive queue against similarly skilled players. Wins and losses move Rank Points, on average plus or minus 250, with 1000 points per subrank and 2000 for the last subrank before a new Rank. Once you reach Eternus I, subrank thresholds update daily on a percentile basis. A Ranked Hub in the Hideout holds season info, leaderboards, and rank history. Official matchmaking notes are on Steam news for app 1422450.
Badge ladder from Obscurus to Eternus
Obscurus is the uncalibrated badge. Then Initiate, Seeker, Acolyte, Sentinel, Mystic, Ritualist, Emissary, Oracle, Phantom, Ascendant, and Eternus, each with subranks I through VI except Obscurus. That is the full 12-record ladder from the Matchmaking Update, from Obscurus through Eternus with subranks I to VI on every named Rank after the uncalibrated badge.
Loss protection exists on the boundary of a full Rank, with five games of protection when you sit at I with zero points. Ranked is still a playtest playlist. Experimental tuning can move. Use Standard to keep a hero's 15-win recency honest if a later season adds recency rules, which Valve already flagged as likely. For the heroes those wins are counted on, see the roster.
Rank Points, loss protection, and the Hideout hub
Wins and losses move Rank Points, on average plus or minus 250 per game, with matchmaker expectation and win streaks able to swing that number. You need 1000 points to step a subrank, and 2000 to leave VI into the next named Rank. Eternus I drops the fixed thresholds; those subranks update daily on a percentile split. Loss protection gives you five games of cover when you sit at a Rank I boundary with zero points, so a single unlucky night does not drop you through the floor immediately.
The Ranked Hub in the Hideout stores season copy, global leaderboards, and your Rank history. Season one started with the Matchmaking Update on 30 July 2026 and was scheduled to end 7 October. Your highest Rank that season is saved when it closes. Future seasons are flagged to run longer, with splits and recency rules on which heroes still count. Play Standard if a hero you want for Ranked is below 15 wins. Duo only with someone at most one Rank away, and never during the eight calibration games. Official text for these rules is on the Steam news hub for app 1422450, linked under Sources.
A week-one Ranked plan that does not waste calibration
Before you press Ranked, open Standard history and count 60 wins and 15 on each of three heroes. If any number is short, stay in Standard. If you are about to duo, compare badges: one Rank apart is the limit, and Eternus has a tighter subrank rule. If you are still in the eight calibration games, queue solo. Exiting above Oracle VI is not allowed, so a smurf fantasy dies at that cap.
Play your three-hero pool, not the hero that shipped on Friday. Ranked will not let you pick a 0-win drop. After each game, read the Rank Point swing instead of guessing MMR. 250 either way is the average; streaks and expected outcomes move it. Five games of loss protection on a Rank I boundary are real; do not spend them on a hero you have not practiced. Official matchmaking text is the Steam news post linked under Sources.