Deadlock New Heroes: Release Schedule, Voting and Priority Tokens

You have already decided to main Rat King. Or Baba. Or you just want to discover what Solomon actually does. There is one small detail left: when can you play them?

The first hero in the new batch is scheduled for October 2, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Voting determines the name. The first release date is not automatically Rat King’s release date, however enthusiastic his supporters are.

This guide was checked on October 2 before the first scheduled release. It covers the announced rollout and current voting rules without declaring an unconfirmed winner.

City Never Sleeps revealed Nurse Harrow, Deadman Danny, Baba, Solomon, Rat King and Violet. They are six separate upcoming additions to the roster.

You may already have encountered tier lists ranking heroes who have not been released. Treat those as lists of expectations. A character design can inspire guesses about abilities; it cannot establish how strong the character will be in normal matches.

Liking Rat King because he is Rat King is perfectly reasonable. Planning the definitive best build around an unverified ability kit is rather more ambitious.

Valve announced two releases per week, Tuesdays and Fridays at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time, beginning October 2. Following that cadence produces this calendar, assuming the schedule remains unchanged:

All dates are in 2026. These are release slots, not names assigned to dates. Pacific Time is UTC−7 on these dates. In Moscow, each release falls at midnight at the start of the following day.

Check the in-game countdown before a particular release. The calendar follows the announced pattern; it is not a guarantee against a delay or schedule change.

Voting now takes place in the pregame lobby. Find the voting machine with the Vote for the Next Hero prompt, use your Interact binding, select a candidate and confirm. Vote Submitted indicates a successful submission.

Follow the binding shown by the object rather than copying a key from someone else’s video. Interact can be rebound.

The current rules describe one vote during each Standard or Street Brawl match. The winning team’s votes count double, and the first win of the day doubles that again. Winning is a more productive contribution than a five-minute campaign speech before the match.

This move also explains why older advice about returning to the hideout to spend accumulated votes may not match the current flow. For this release wave, look for the Voting Machine during Pre-Game.

A vote influences which hero joins the game next. A New Hero Priority Token helps you get a particular character through matchmaking.

The announcement says players begin earning tokens when the first new hero releases. The client description tells you to drag an available token onto a hero card to increase your chance of receiving that character. The token is spent only if you are actually assigned that hero.

That distinction matters on release night. You can campaign enthusiastically for a character and still miss out on playing them in your first match afterward. Winning the vote releases the hero to the community; it does not reserve them for every voter.

The token is described in terms of chance, too. It should not be presented as a guaranteed pick. Other players in the matchmaking pool have preferences of their own.

A hero’s release and your personal Ranked eligibility for that hero are separate events. The current system requires 15 Standard wins on an individual hero before you can select them in Ranked. Your account and eligible roster also need to meet the mode’s overall requirements.

The plan to start climbing exclusively on a character the moment they arrive can therefore hit a qualification gate. Our Ranked unlock guide explains those requirements.

The first Standard matches also answer a more useful question than an early tier list: do you enjoy playing this character? You can love a design and dislike the distance, rhythm or precision its abilities demand. Votes cannot answer that for you.

Leave time to read abilities and practice, rather than budgeting only for the matchmaking queue. Test ranges, input sequences and how the hero escapes a bad fight. A familiar build copied from another character may quickly prove unsuitable.

Check individual hero settings as well. Sensitivity, reticle and casting choices can inherit base values or use their own overrides. Unexpected button behavior is not necessarily part of the new ability. Our HUD and hero settings guide covers where to look.

Leave some room for surprises on release night. It is one of the few moments when nearly everyone is learning together. Your first ridiculous mistake may prove more memorable than the polished combo you perform a month later.