Even though you can only access it through an invitation, Deadlock has been gaining momentum lately. Frequent updates, character balancing, and roster additions have kept the experience fresh and pushed it into the same conversation as more established shooters like Overwatch and Valorant.
That says a lot, especially considering the major overhaul one of those titles recently went through.
With so many updates and fighters to choose from, it is easy to feel overwhelmed when trying to pick a main. I have mentioned before how much I hated going up against Apollo until I finally learned how to counter him. At the same time, I cannot deny he is a fantastic character to have on your team or to control yourself.
I still hate him, by the way. The difference now is that my rage has direction, which has saved me a few bucks on controller replacements and drywall repairs.
With all that in mind, we have put together the categories below, outlining not just which characters currently stand above the rest, but also why they do. That said, tier lists are always subjective. The most popular pick will not automatically suit your playstyle, and a single update can shift the balance through buffs and nerfs.
In any case, here is the most comprehensive and up-to-date list available. Fair warning: it covers all 38 Deadlock heroes, so you will have plenty of options to sort through.
S-Tier
The “best of the best” characters who currently dominate the meta with consistently high win rates and impactful kits.
Seven
Seven remains the statistical leader with a win rate of 56.5% and a 40% pick rate. He is categorized here due to his unrivaled farming efficiency and the game-changing potential of his “Storm Cloud” ultimate, which can displace entire teams and shred defenses.
Victor
A late-game juggernaut, Victor boasts a 55.6% win rate. He is considered the premier frontline threat because he converts incoming damage into sustain and offensive pressure, making him nearly unkillable once fully itemized.
Haze
Haze is a high-risk, high-reward hypercarry with a 55.0% win rate and a massive 45% pick rate. Her “Fixation” passive allows her to stack damage on single targets, making her the ultimate assassin for hunting isolated foes.
Graves
A powerhouse from the “Old Gods, New Blood” update, Graves holds a 53.4% win rate. She is an oppressive lane-pusher whose necromantic area-denial abilities make her extremely difficult to deal with in both the laning phase and late-game teamfights.
Paige
Ranked as the best support in the game, Paige has a 52.5% standard win rate and an elite 58% win rate in Street Brawl. Her global ultimate, which heals allies and damages enemies across the entire map, allows her to influence every fight regardless of her location.
A-Tier
Reliable, high-impact characters that are nearly as valuable as S-tier picks when played to their mechanical strengths.
Drifter
Drifter excels at catching opponents mid-rotation, holding a 53.1% win rate. His ability to track isolated heroes and gain permanent weapon damage from kills allows him to snowball effectively into a dominant carry.
Abrams
Deadlock’s “poster boy” for tanks, Abrams maintains a solid 52.5% win rate. His kit focuses on extreme durability and lifesteal, allowing him to bully opponents in close-range encounters and initiate fights reliably.
Mo & Krill
This duo cleared a win rate of 51.9% to 53.6%. They are valued for their exceptional clearing speed and roaming potential, clears camps and ganking faster than almost any other character once their burrow ability is maximized.
Ivy
Ivy is a versatile hero with a 51.1% win rate. She can fill multiple roles, including healer and objective pusher; her “Air Drop” ultimate remains a game-changing tool for securing the Urn or moving ulting allies into position.
Warden
Warden functions as a Master of CC with a win rate of 51.4%. His cage stun allows for reliable solo kills, while his ultimate provides massive team-fight value by healing and empowering nearby allies.
Lash
A lethal melee assassin with a 51.2% win rate and 33% pick rate. Lash utilizes verticality and high mobility to deliver massive burst damage, though he requires high mechanical skill and suffers in enclosed spaces.
Silver
Despite post-release nerfs, Silver holds a 50.5% win rate and a 60% pick rate. She has a high skill ceiling as a feral werewolf character and remains a pivotal carry when supported by her team.
Dynamo
Dynamo is the quintessential all-around support with a 51.3% win rate. He is valued for his massive team healing and his “Singularity” ultimate, which can lock down an entire enemy team for a coordinated engagement.
Rem
This mouse-like hero has a 50.3% win rate and a staggering 70% to 80% pick rate. Rem provides elite macro control and survivability through helpful “helpers” and sleep-based CC, making him a favorite for team-wide utility.
Apollo
Apollo is a dashing fencer with a 49.0% win rate but an extremely high pick rate (up to 98% in some modes). He is considered A-Tier because he is nearly impossible to pin down and possesses high burst damage to finish off kills.
Wraith
Wraith holds a 52.3% win rate and is a premier duelist. While she can be weak in the early game, her high weapon damage scaling and teleportation abilities make her a lethal split-pushing threat as the game progresses.
B-Tier
Viable characters that possess clear strengths but also notable weaknesses that can be exploited.
McGinnis
With a 50.1% win rate, McGinnis is a turret specialist who excels at lane pressure. She sits in B-Tier because her turrets require significant setup and investment to be effective, and she lacks mobility late-game.
Grey Talon
Grey Talon maintains a 50.0% win rate as a long-range sniper. While his poke is oppressive, he is a liability when dived or when falling behind in souls due to a lack of self-peel.
Calico
Calico has a 49.7% win rate. She is a slippery, short-range assassin who can rotate quickly as a cat, but she lacks the consistent burst damage of higher-tier assassins like Haze or Vyper.
Bebop
Bebop holds a 49.7% win rate and is specialized in hooking enemies. He is oppressive during the laning phase but becomes vulnerable in the open and against highly mobile heroes who can dodge his hook.
Lady Geist
With a 49.3% win rate, Lady Geist functions as an artillery mage. She is in B-Tier because her primary weapon is one of the worst in the game, making the early laning phase and soul collection difficult.
Celeste
Celeste has a 48.4% win rate but a high 90.6% pick rate in Street Brawl. She excels in the mid-game with dazzling, disruptive powers but tailoffs late-game if she is unable to maintain her high mobility.
Vyper
Vyper holds a 51.8% win rate but has been forced into spirit-based builds following gun damage nerfs. She remains a top-tier assassin in 1v1s but is highly prone to CC and lockdown.
Pocket has a 50.6% win rate. He is an annoying hit-and-run assassin who is hard to kill due to his teleport and immunity suitcase, but he is heavily countered by specific items like Debuff Remover.
Viscous
Viscous holds a 49.9% win rate and acts as a tanky CC specialist. While he has one of the best ultimates for team-fight disruption, he has a very high skill ceiling and can accidentally “troll” teammates with his abilities.
Yamato
Yamato has a 50.8% win rate but is “feast or famine”. She is a powerful duelist with a death-immunity ultimate, but her limited range and high skill requirement make her a risky pick if she falls behind.
Billy
Billy holds a 49.1% win rate. He is a durable bruiser focused on heavy crowd control and disruption, but he is easily kited at long ranges and struggles to find impact against high-mobility teams.
C-Tier
Situational characters that often require specific team coordination or are currently undertuned compared to the rest of the roster.
Sinclair
The Magnificent Sinclair holds a 48.8% win rate. He is a high-skill-cap mage who can copy enemy ultimates, but he is currently considered clunky and awkward to play for most standard users.
Infernus
Infernus has a 48.4% win rate. While he provides consistent burn damage, he is generally outshone by higher-tier carries like Victor who fulfill a similar frontline damage role more effectively.
Mina
Mina holds a 47.9% win rate. She is a short-range “glass cannon” who can hit hard but is extremely fragile; if she is pinned down or countered by items, she is removed from the game instantly.
Mirage
Mirage has a 47.8% win rate. He is a specialized solo laner with high rotational power, but he lacks a “big win button” ultimate for teamfights and struggles when falling behind.
Venator
Venator also sits at a 47.8% win rate. He offers high weapon damage and scaling as a tactical arms expert, but his weak neutral game and low mobility make him an easy target in coordinated play.
Vindicta
Vindicta holds a 47.7% win rate. As the game’s sniper, she excels at long range but is extremely vulnerable when grounded or dived, making her a liability in the current mobility-heavy meta.
Kelvin
Kelvin has a 46.8% win rate. He is specialized in slowing and zoning enemies, but he currently lacks the damage output to carry solo and is easily out-poked by other long-range heroes.
Holliday
Holliday holds a 46.1% win rate. She is a highly technical “sharpshooter” whose effective use depends on trickshots and precise combos, which often feels clunky compared to more direct DPS heroes.
Paradox
Paradox has a 45.4% win rate. While she is a favorite in professional play for her utility and positional swapping, her high mechanical requirement and lack of objective damage make her low-impact for the average player.
The Doorman
The Doorman holds a 45.1% win rate. He provides unique map mobility through portals, but he is extremely squishy and requires near-perfect team coordination to avoid being picked off early.
Shiv
Shiv currently sits at the bottom with a 43.7% win rate. Following multiple nerfs to his daggers and gun damage, he struggles significantly from behind and lacks the hard crowd control needed to compete in the current meta.
Unused Heroes
If you’re a longtime Deadlock player, then you likely have noticed some names missing from the list above. Heroes like Boho, The Boss, Cadence, Druid, Fortuna, Graf, Gunslinger, Kali, Rutger, Skyrunner, Swan, Thumper, Tokamak, and Vandal are absent from most sources nowadays simply because they’re either completely unavailable or available only through specific process (like accessing console commands, for instance).
Given that our list pertains only to characters that are readily available — i.e. you can pick as soon as you fire up the game, no secret shenanigans necessary, we chose to use only them.
Furthermore, the missing characters have little to no competitive data for us to base ourselves upon, so we wouldn’t use them even if we wanted to.
Deadlock is available in early access format, exclusively on Windows. The game is developed by Valve Software and its updates can be followed through Steam.
