Match week flow
Once the season is underway, every match week follows the same flow: from matchups published through to result submitted (and any dispute resolved). Team Managers (Captain & Vice Captain) are involved at every stage; Players only need to see the match time, show up for the hero draft, and play the match. The timeline below shows the same milestones for both roles so you can see the split of responsibility.
Team Manager
Cap & Vice · Every stage
Player
All 6 · Draft & play
Step-by-step detail
1. Matchups announced (Monday)
Matchups are published around Monday 10:00 AM Sydney time. The platform shows that week's matchups and opens the scheduling step at the same time. You'll see your opponent; Captain or Vice Captain then select availability — the times your team can play (after coordinating with your players).
2. Scheduling
Scheduling decides when the match is played. The platform is designed to make it easy and fair to get a time everyone likes. Here’s a summary; for the full step-by-step with screenshots and detail, see the Scheduling guide under Guides.
How scheduling works (summary)
Select availability
Each Captain picks when their team can play. Slots are league (Sydney) time but shown in your local timezone. Second Captain to submit sees the first Captain’s choices as blue dots.
Blue dots = opponent available
So you can aim for an overlap. Only your green selections are submitted.
Both submit → system finds overlap
Overlapping slots = times both teams selected as available.
Outcome
One overlap → match scheduled. Multiple overlaps → preference round (each picks preferred; same = that time, different = earliest). No overlap → round 2, then moderation if still none.
Deadline & forfeit
Usually Wednesday 11:59 PM AEDT; platform reminds if one side hasn’t. Agreed time is used for forfeit cut-off.
What the availability modal looks like
Only Captain and Vice Captain see the Select Your Availability modal when they're scheduling — players share their availability with their cap off the platform. If you're a player, you won't see this screen unless you become a Team Manager; here's what it looks like so you know what your Captain is using. (Dummy dates and sample selections below.)
Select Your Availability
Pick the times your team can play
Timezone (this example): Times are shown in Sydneytime (league time). In the real modal, the platform shows these same slots in your profile or browser timezone (e.g. Perth, Auckland) so you pick when you're actually free.
Tip: Only your green selections are submitted. The blue dot shows when the opponent can play (for context only). Select multiple days and time slots to maximise the chance of finding an overlap.
3. Hero draft
30 minutes before the scheduled match time the hero draft opens and the platform sends DM alerts to Team Managers. A notification also appears in the centre of the top navbar. Captains and Vice Captains control the picks and bans; Players can watch but have no controls. All 6 players from each team should be available for the draft (or at least know the outcome).
The draft is a pick/ban flow: each team bans heroes and picks heroes in a set order. The platform supports two draft formats (templates). Your league chooses which one is used per season:
Template A
Snake
Format taken from the Deadlock Nightshift Tournament. Draft order follows a snake pattern (1→12, 12→1, …).
- Snake pick order
- Single block (bans then picks)
Template B
Alternating + mid-draft ban
Alternating pick order with a mid-draft ban phase.
- Team A, team B, A, B…
- Mid-draft ban phase
What you’ll see: A live draft screen with a phase stepper (Ban #1, Pick #1, …), picked and banned hero cards for each team, and a hero pool to choose from when it’s your turn. There’s a per-turn timer; you can pause once per draft if needed.
When the draft is done, the home Captain creates the custom game in Deadlock and shares the party code; the away Captain and all players join with that code. See Custom match creation for lobby setup and settings.
Below is an example of what the draft screen looks like partway through.
4. Playing the match
After the hero draft is complete and the Custom match lobby is configured, everyone connects and selects the correct heroes from the draft. Once the Custom match has the correct server settings and all players are ready, the match can be started.
Match ID during play (bottom right):
End-game scoreboard (match ID top right) — screenshot required:
5. Results submission
Usually the winning Captain (or Vice Captain) submits the match result on the platform. Three things are required:
Once the result is submitted, the other team's Captain (or Vice) can confirm or dispute. Once confirmed — or resolved after a dispute — the result is locked and standings update.
6. Disputes (if any)
See also: Scheduling guide (full scheduling flow) · Custom match creation (lobby setup) · How the league works (season structure)