Deadlock Hero Tier List (September 2026): Every Hero Ranked for the Current Patch
Deadlock's Current Meta, Explained
Valve’s Deadlock is still technically invite-only early access, but it is being played at a scale most full releases would envy: a 24-hour peak of over 67,000 concurrent players and an all-time peak above 171,000 following the “Old Gods, New Blood” update. Valve pushed a minor update on September 7, 2026, with a larger balance patch confirmed for late September by Valve developer Yoshi. This tier list reflects the hero shooter/MOBA hybrid’s meta as of that September 2026 patch, and it will shift once the next update lands.
S-Tier: Seven, Haze, Victor, Dynamo, Infernus, Graves
Seven is statistically the best hero in the game right now, posting the highest win rate of any hero at a comparatively low pick rate — a sign his ceiling is still underexplored by most of the playerbase. Victor rounds into a late-game powerhouse who can solo-carry fights once he’s scaled. Dynamo is widely considered the easiest S-Tier hero to pick up, since his Singularity ability delivers huge team-fight impact without demanding much mechanical precision. Haze, Infernus, and Graves round out the tier as consistently strong picks across skill levels, giving you six heroes worth prioritizing in draft.
A-Tier and B-Tier Picks
A-Tier is where the “strong and reliable” heroes live: Yamato, Abrams, Apollo, Kelvin, Ivy, The Doorman, Wraith, and Mo & Krill. None of these will single-handedly win a match the way an S-Tier pick can, but they’re rarely a liability and punish opponents who underestimate them. B-Tier gets more conditional — Lady Geist, Pocket, Holliday, Calico, Bebop, Lash, Paradox, and McGinnis are all solid in the right matchup or team composition, but need setup or a specific lane to really pay off.
C-Tier and D-Tier: Heroes That Need Buffs
C-Tier — Mina, Vindicta, Viscous, Sinclair, Mirage, and Warden — is situational at best, usually requiring a very specific draft to be worth the pick. D-Tier is where things get rough: Shiv sits around a 44% win rate and is described as the bottom of the entire roster across hundreds of thousands of matches. Grey Talon is a stranger case — he actually has the lowest death rate of any hero in the game, yet still can’t crack a 50% win rate, which points to a damage-output problem rather than a survivability one. Venator and Vyper close out the tier as the heroes most in need of a balance pass.
Best Seven Build Right Now
If you want to play the strongest hero in the game, Seven’s item build looks like this: early game, grab Monster Rounds, Intensifying Magazine, Suppressor, Healbane, and Cultist Sacrifice. Mid game, transition into Reactive Barrier, Healing Rite, Headshot Booster, Spirit Shielding, and Enduring Speed. Late game, finish with Boundless Spirit, Toxic Bullets, Bullet Resilience, Unstoppable, and Escalating Exposure. For abilities, level Lightning Ball first, then Static Charge, then Power Surge, unlocking Storm Cloud as your ultimate becomes available. The core team-fight combo is simple but devastating: land Static Charge to stun your target, throw Lightning Ball into the cluster, then open fire with Power Surge active so the shock damage bounces across everyone caught in the group. (Build details via Dexerto’s Deadlock wiki.)
Getting Into Deadlock
Deadlock is a PC-only, Steam-based playtest for now, so a Steam Wallet Code (US) is the easiest way to fund your Steam wallet for when the game opens up further, or spend on in-game items once available. Check out our Steam category for more PC-first multiplayer games.
