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Deadlock Ranked Beta Season 2 starts with smaller rank reset and fewer rank loss shields

Deadlock's Ranked Beta Season 2 runs to 11 March 2027, with a softer rank reset, 350 points per match, four hero bans and new leaderboard rules.

By The news desk2 min read

Deadlock Ranked Beta Season 2 starts with smaller rank reset and fewer rank loss shields
Image: Valve / Steam

Valve has kicked off Ranked Beta Season 2 in Deadlock, and it brings a gentler rank reset plus a batch of rule changes. The season runs for four months and ends on Thursday 11 March 2027. Valve’s post went up on 5 November 2026 US time, which is 6 November in Sydney.

Players who took part in Beta Season 1 will get a commemorative Hideout plaque for their highest rank once the new season rolls over.

Rank reset and redistribution

The soft reset is much smaller than last time. Valve says players should lose around 1 badge on average, with a further 1-2 subrank adjustment based on last season’s winrate.

Existing Ranked players won’t need to calibrate again. Anyone who didn’t play Ranked last season will.

Valve is also redistributing ranks globally, to account for the Ranked playerbase and the recent influx of new players. Some players could end up with a higher rank despite the reset.

Rule changes

  • Rank loss shields: Phantom, Ascendant and Eternus players lose their shields entirely. Everyone else drops from 5 shields to 3 at full ranks, and from 2 to 1 on subranks.
  • Points: a match is now worth 350 points, up from 300. Moving up to a new badge from a final subrank needs 1500 points instead of 2000. Points between subranks stay at 1000.
  • Hero bans: four per match, up from three.
  • Placements: the highest starting rank is Ascendant I, with a chance of up to Ascendant III based on last season’s performance. Last season’s cap was Oracle VI.
  • Hero unlocking: this now uses points instead of only wins. A hero needs 35 points, with 2 for a win and 1 for a loss. Valve says the old 15-win system was equivalent to 45 points at a 50% win rate.

Leaderboards

Valve says it reworked the leaderboard backend to fix numerous bugs, and each Ranked season now has its own board.

To appear on the main leaderboard, you need at least 50 Ranked matches in the season within the last 30 days. For a hero-specific board, it’s at least 15 Ranked matches with that hero in the last 30 days.