What a balanced team needs#
Six heroes can win in many ways, but most good teams cover these jobs:
- Front line: someone who can start fights and survive them — a brawler like Abrams or Warden.
- Sustained damage: a gun carry or marksman who wins long fights — Wraith, Vindicta, Haze.
- Burst or pick: a way to delete one target — Bebop, Lady Geist, Paradox.
- Control: zones, walls and disables — McGinnis, Solomon, Seven.
- Support: healing and saves — Dynamo, Kelvin, Nurse Harrow.
- A mix of damage types, so one defensive item can’t blunt your whole team.
Heroes mentioned here
Picking around your team#
Deadlock doesn’t use a pick-and-ban draft in normal matches, but you still choose your hero knowing your teammates’ picks. Fill the job that’s missing, and if your team is all spirit damage, a weapon hero makes the enemy’s defensive items less effective.
Example compositions#
| Plan | Example heroes | How it wins |
|---|---|---|
| Pick-off | Bebop, Haze, Grey Talon, Paradox, Dynamo, Warden | Catch one enemy before fights, then take objectives four- or five-on-six. |
| Team fight | Dynamo, Seven, Kelvin, Abrams, Wraith, McGinnis | Group enemies together, then overwhelm them with area damage. |
| Split push | Mirage, Lash, Shiv, Vindicta, Ivy, Mo & Krill | Mobile heroes pressure several lanes and force the enemy to split up. |
Roles are our editorial labels — see heroes by role.
Countering the enemy team#
Look at what the enemy relies on. Lots of healing? Healing reduction. Lots of crowd control? Debuff Reducer, Unstoppable or Indomitable on your key hero. Mostly spirit damage? Spirit shields and resilience. The counter-pick helper does this for a whole enemy team at once.
