I don’t have children, but if I did, I’d probably love them less than I love Deadlock, Valve’s work-in-progress MOBA shooter. It might be unfinished, but its anarchic invite-only test has served up better live service than most live service games with its constant reinvention—a habit Deadlock’s carried into 2026 with the massive update released Thursday. That update brought a new mode which is almost my favorite way to play the game now… if it weren’t for one critical aspect.
A normal match of Deadlock is familiar MOBA fare and is therefore extremely stressful. Games usually last between 20 and 45 minutes, and there’s very little downtime as teams vie for objectives and farm creeps. Furthermore, every match is ranked—there’s no casual queue. Even if you just want to try a new build and unwind, your lackadaisical performance might be mucking up a teammate’s chance to get promoted. This environment is fundamentally hostile to the habitual chiller.
Its random item shops also helped me appreciate items I don’t use so often in standard matches, like the Restorative Locket—its healing ability, which grows stronger as nearby enemies use abilities, shines in a mode where you’re constantly in a close-up scrap. At its best, Street Brawl reminds me of Battlerite, a gone but not forgotten MOBA that I can’t talk about too much or else I’ll get choked up.
As someone who was starting to burn out on the ranked ladder grind, Street Brawl was the exact salve I needed to restore my excitement for Deadlock. The problem is, I’m already starting to see a pattern form: heroes with superlative pushing power and huge area-of-effect abilities like Bebop, McGinnis, and Seven really shine in the mode, even with random items. Because you can queue as any hero you like, you see these extra-powerful picks nearly every game. On the flipside, heroes like Drifter—who specializes in hunting down isolated enemies—are less enticing.
