Deadlock Fight Night (DFN) has set the early access standard for Deadlock esports, dating back to the very early days of the game’s life. Headlined by veteran broadcast talent coming over from Overwatch and League of Legends esports and the game’s top talent from NA and EU, DFN has continued to showcase the potential of Deadlock esports. So, to celebrate the 20th iteration of Deadlock Fight Night, here are my main takeaways on the state of the game, its esports future, and more.
In nearly every match in Deadlock Fight Night #20, teams were able to run away with games off the back of some incredible crowd control carries. Whether this was Ivan “Dimov” Dimov on the Holliday for Virtus.pro in EU, or João “Hydration” Goes Telles on the Mo & Krill for Hydra Nation in NA, it seems that both regions consistently love to funnel these heavy CC heroes. Now, we also saw a Mo & Krill that was essentially relegated to a support role thanks to some serious focus fire in DFN #20, so this isn’t to say that these heroes are outright broken.
This comes down, at least in part, to the coordination these top teams are bringing to the table right now, which may explain why some of these heroes may not feel as effective in standard matchmaking. Also, at least in Hydra Nation’s case, the relentless aggression can work to shield their crowd-control heroes from being dove as often.
In any case, when any of the top teams are firing on all cylinders, you can almost always expect a hero with heavy crowd control to be involved.
What is the State of Deadlock in 2025?! | Deadlock analysis, roadmap, patches, hopes, & dreams
In the NA final between Hydra Nation and Larp Lords, the latter used their final pick of the draft on Vyper, a hero we had only seen once prior in Deadlock Fight Night (1-0 record, used by Hydration) and had the broadcast talent completely speechless. This was completely shocking, considering a hero like Kelvin was still on the table and Hydra Nation had a very brawl-heavy dive lineup set up with Krill, Calico, Infernus, and Yamato. But, Larp Lords took the risk on Vyper, and while they lost that map in 26 minutes, it felt like they had to take a risk of some kind to try and throw Hydra Nation out of whack.
This didn’t result in a win, but the Vyper was able to be competitive and deal loads of damage for Larp Lords. The problems in that match seemed much more centered around a failure to protect Grey Talon and Shiv struggling to find value on the front line. With some different circumstances at play and a different draft from Larp Lords, I think that Vyper could have been a really nice pick to try and burst down some of the Hydra Nation tanks.
Either way, I hope teams continue to take shots like this in high-stakes games. While there is a meta and some heroes are clearly better than others, don’t undersell the value of pocket picks and coordinating around them, especially when you are David trying to slay a Goliath.
Deadlock Fight Night #20 presented by Intel
This is less about the game, and more about the DFN product as a whole, which I have grown to love purely as a fan. In truth, I haven’t felt this way about a game’s budding esports scene since the early Apex and pre-OWL days of Overwatch esports. As someone who committed years to that game and its esport, I’m hopeful for a different future for Valve and Deadlock, and I think that grassroots energy like Deadlock Fight Night is just the right thing for right now.
The broadcast feels polished, the narratives write themselves, it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and we get to see some of the world’s best figure out this incredibly complex game. And as a former Overwatch esports journalist, it’s great to see faces like Mitch “Uber” Leslie make an appearance here and there, as well as more consistent showings from Jake “Jake” Lyon and Andrew “ZP” Rush. And, for the real fans out there, it’s awesome to see Solomon “SLMN” Cammack involved in the production side of things, among the other talented crew.
All in all, I wanted to take a small part of this to show some gratitude for everyone involved in the entire DFN product. As someone rooting for this game and its esport, thank you, this is a refreshing breath of fresh air in an esports climate filled with, pardon our French, the same old bullshit.
Read More: How to access Deadlock’s surprising hero lore
Otherwise, stay tuned here at The Game Haus for more Deadlock coverage as the game continues in early access for the foreseeable future.
If you enjoyed this content, consider checking out more from Connor or any of the other TGH writing staff! Also, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for even more in-depth sports, gaming, and esports coverage.
“From Our Haus to Yours”
