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Valve’s November 21, 2024 Deadlock update introduced a new matchmaking system, alongside changes to objectives, the economy, items, heroes and map routes. Its matchmaking rules are historical: Valve announced a later move to separate Standard and Ranked modes in July 2026.
What changed in the November 21, 2024 update?
The headline change was a matchmaking rework. Valve described it as “a new version of the matchmaker.” The update replaced the split between normal and ranked queues with one primary matchmaking mode and removed limited queue hours. It also changed how the system estimated player skill, updated rank badges immediately when a player crossed a badge threshold, and added party and lane-coordination options.
The same patch made broad gameplay changes. It adjusted soul rewards, Mid Boss and Walker objectives, powerups, the Urn, healing and anti-healing, items, individual heroes, and several map locations. The examples below illustrate the update; they are not a complete list of its settings.
How the 2024 matchmaking system worked
One primary queue and per-hero estimates
Instead of maintaining separate normal and ranked pools, the November 2024 system used one primary matchmaking mode. Valve said the matchmaker used a player’s core MMR together with offsets for individual heroes, allowing it to account for the player’s estimated skill and familiarity on the selected hero. Its familiarity and skill estimates used the player’s 20 most recent games on that hero.
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Rank badges and leaderboards
Badges updated as soon as a player’s MMR crossed a badge threshold, rather than waiting for a weekly or game-count update. Valve also added regional leaderboards for North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Oceania, with separate boards for core MMR and hero MMR. Under the rules stated in the November 2024 post, leaderboard consideration required 50 games in the preceding 30 days; a hero leaderboard also required 20 games on the relevant hero. Those thresholds describe that update, not current eligibility rules.
Parties, match quality and lane coordination
Parties could queue at any size, though a wide skill spread could reduce MMR gains, particularly when the matchmaker had limited information about a party member. For high-MMR parties, the maximum size at Ascendant 1 and above increased from two players to three.
Valve said it would give matches it judged low quality less weight in rank updates. Its example was a match at 5 a.m. in a low-population region. Players could also enable a solo-only preference with mm_prefer_solo_only true.
Parties gained an option to prioritize putting members in the same lanes. During the opening rooftop and zipline phase, a player could request a lane swap, subject to the teammate’s acceptance. Other interface additions included notifications for rank-level increases and a post-game display of each team’s average badge.
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Gameplay, objectives and economy adjustments
Souls, Mid Boss and Walkers
The patch reduced post-lane soul sharing for larger groups and reduced souls from hero kills along a time-based curve. It also lowered the health of the first Mid Boss trooper.
Walkers received several defensive and offensive changes. Their stomp and laser gained damage based on the Walker’s maximum health; nearby allies gained bullet and spirit resistance; and Walker resistance scaled with the number of nearby enemies. The listed health of the middle-lane Walker rose from 5,800 to 8,000. These are values in Valve’s patch notes, not measurements of match outcomes.
Powerups and the Urn
Powerups shifted from a fixed strength to a progression in which effects grew stronger between 10 and 40 minutes. Valve specified different progressions for gun, survival, casting and movement powerups.
The initial Urn bounty fell from 4,050 to 3,000, while its reveal time increased from 20 to 25 seconds. The notes also described an alternate Urn delivery mechanic as a two-day experiment for that weekend, with the normal mechanic returning on Monday. That temporary test was separate from the other Urn changes and should not be read as a permanent rule.
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Map changes
Several neutral camps moved, and routes or interiors changed in places including the Radio Station, the lane-connection corridor, the Armory/Warehouse entrance and side-lane teleporters. The patch therefore affected navigation and access to parts of the map as well as combat values.
Healing, anti-healing and item changes
Valve described this set of changes as a heal and anti-heal rebalance. Some sources of sustain and item lifesteal were reduced, but some healing-reduction effects were reduced too. The direction was not uniform: the patch adjusted both healing and the tools that counter it.
| Example | November 21, 2024 patch-note change |
|---|---|
| Abrams — Infernal Resilience | 14% to 11% |
| Shiv — Bloodletting | 22% to 20% |
| Bullet Lifesteal | 28% to 26% |
| Toxic Bullets healing reduction | 65% to 50% |
| Decay healing reduction | 70% to 55% |
These percentages are specific balance settings from Valve’s November 2024 notes, not measured effects in live matches. The update also introduced Spellslinger Headshots, Spirit Snatch and Arcane Surge, and reworked Silencer. It changed other item prerequisites, cooldowns, resistances, ranges, health values and active effects; exact item details depend on the individual entry in the patch notes.
Notable hero changes
The update included hero adjustments, bug fixes and ability redesigns. Several characters received changes in more than one direction, so a blanket label such as “buffed” or “nerfed” can obscure what actually changed.
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Haze
Smoke Bomb’s cooldown decreased from 37 to 30 seconds, and its upgrades changed. In a separate adjustment, Fixation dealt 30% less damage to objectives.
McGinnis
Turret health rules changed: base health increased from 75 to 150, while Spirit Resistance fell from 70% to 30%. Turrets also gained a per-boon health increase and a damage-per-second cap.
Shiv
The patch adjusted Serrated Knives, Slice and Dice, and Killing Blow. Cooldowns, damage, thresholds and upgrades changed in different directions, so the notes do not reduce to a single overall buff-or-nerf description.
Vindicta
Stake gained a larger radius and an effect that pulled enemies. Assassinate’s minimum charge increased, while its low-health bonus damage decreased.
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These examples are selective. The official November 21 update contains the full hero-by-hero list and exact values for each change.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Are the November 2024 matchmaking rules still current?
No. The matchmaking details above describe Valve’s November 21, 2024 update, not the present-day queue system. In its July 30, 2026 Matchmaking Update, Valve announced separate Standard and Ranked modes. Standard was described as lower-stakes, with no party-size or skill-spread restrictions. Ranked has distinct access, rank, hero-selection and party rules.
The 2026 update also described choosing heroes before games are formed, a pre-game phase, hero swaps, lane adjustments and a revised ban system. Because those later rules differ substantially from the 2024 single-primary-mode design, players looking for current queue requirements should consult Valve’s July 2026 matchmaking announcement rather than rely on this historical patch summary.
Valve’s January 30, 2026 update is another indication that the game continued to change after November 2024: it added hero avoidance selection to Standard Mode and Street Brawl and adjusted items and heroes. Neither the balance figures nor the matchmaking settings in the November 2024 notes should be treated as current live-game values.
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