Dadlock — A Deadlock Podcast for the Rest of Us

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Deadlock has had a little time to settle after the City Never Sleeps rollout, so Omni and Yarn check back in on where the game actually stands now.

This week: Baba, Graves and Rat King are sitting near the top of the win-rate charts, Deadman Danny continues to be an airborne pain in the ass, some older heroes are getting pushed out of the spotlight, and the increasingly crowded team fights still have us asking what the hell is happening on our screens.

Plus: Rat King Happy Meals, questionable build advice, Lash vs. Deadman Danny in Dead or Locked, and an opening performance from MC Cringe that nobody requested.

Hop in the "The Van" and find Dadlock everywhere: https://linktr.ee/dadlock

Dadlock is an unofficial fan podcast and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve Corporation. Deadlock is a trademark of Valve Corporation.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

This week’s Dadlock is extra large...make sure to bring your appetite!

Violet and Nurse Harrow are finally here, so Omni and Yarn dig into both new heroes: why Violet has become such a weirdly divisive character, what's going on with Nurse Harrow, and what happens when seemingly every new character arrives with another enormous teamfight-changing ability, then we do what Dads were made to do...ramble until it's time to talk about lore some more and who needs kissin' or killin'.

Love you!

Join the Dadlock Discord

Find people to play with, share builds and clips, talk Deadlock, submit ideas for the show, and interact with Omni and Yarn.

All Dadlock links

Dadlock: A Deadlock Podcast is a weekly podcast about Valve’s Deadlock — patches, heroes, ranked, builds, lore, strategy, and whatever else distracts us along the way.

Dadlock is an unofficial fan podcast and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve Corporation. Deadlock is a trademark of Valve Corporation.

Explicit language and adult humor.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Solomon and Deadman Danny are finally here, and Deadlock continues its campaign to put more shit on our screens than our aging eyes can process.

This week, Omni and Yarn dig into both new heroes: why Solomon might be one of the coolest characters Valve has added yet, Deadman Danny has also arrived, and whether Deadlock is starting to suffer from kit creep as every new hero gets more tools, mobility, utility, damage, and visual nonsense than all the OGs.

Join the Dadlock Discord

Find people to play with, share builds and clips, talk Deadlock, submit ideas for the show, and interact with Omni and Yarn.

All Dadlock links

Dadlock: A Deadlock Podcast is a weekly podcast about Valve’s Deadlock — patches, heroes, ranked, builds, lore, strategy, and whatever else distracts us along the way.

Dadlock is an unofficial fan podcast and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve Corporation.

Explicit language and adult humor.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Rat King and Baba have officially arrived in Deadlock, and we're digging into how both heroes feel, how they fit into the game, and what their arrival says about where Valve is taking Deadlock next.

Join the Dadlock Discord!

Come argue about Deadlock, share builds, submit ideas for the show, and tell us what we got wrong.

LINKTREE

Dadlock: A Deadlock Podcast is a weekly podcast about Valve's Deadlock—patches, heroes, gameplay, lore, strategy, builds, and whatever else distracts us along the way.

Dadlock is an unofficial fan podcast and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve.

Explicit language and adult humor.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Deadlock’s City Never Sleeps update is enormous, and join your dads as we attempt to process all of it.

Omni and Yarn dive into the new map, redesigned jungle camps, Times Square, the deeply menacing Statue of Liberty, the strange new fog zone, steam vents, environmental details, and whether Valve has finally made Deadlock feel even more like a proper MOBA.

Then they get into the Broker and corrupted-item system, the performance hit from the new update, the redesigned health bars and UI, the new item shop, accessibility features, auto-move, keybind customization, and the increasingly urgent question of whether Yarn needs a new computer.

And there are six new heroes. We talk Rat King, Solomon, Nurse Harrow, Baba, Violet, and Deadman Danny, speculate wildly about how they might play, and determine the proper voting order completely scientifically.

Topics include:

• Deadlock: City Never Sleeps
• The completely redesigned map
• New jungle camps and environmental details
• The Broker and corrupted items
• Performance and optimization problems
• Rat King, Solomon, Nurse Harrow, Baba, Violet & Deadman Danny
• New health bars, HUD and item shop
• Accessibility and control changes
• Deadlock Lore: Dynamo
• Dead or Locked: Haze vs. Rem
• Magic: The Gathering
• Lanterns, Watchmen & President Curtis

Dadlock: A Deadlock Podcast is a weekly podcast about Valve’s Deadlock—patches, heroes, gameplay, lore, strategy, and whatever else distracts us along the way.

Explicit language and adult humor.

Dadlock is an unofficial fan podcast and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Dadlock Episode One

Deadlock’s September 16 update is here, and you dads have opinions. Omni and Yarn dig into Valve’s latest Deadlock patch, including movement changes, how they feel about ranked matchmaking, the soul economy, jungle farming, and changes to items like Spiritual Overflow, Golden Goose Egg, Trophy Collector, Lifestrike, and Cultist Sacrifice.

We also get into why low-ELO Deadlock sometimes feels like everyone is playing a completely different game, whether Deadlock needs a more defined jungler role, the current state of Warden and, and why you should probably stop playing every match like you’re already in Eternus.

Yarn guesses McGinnis lore and the deeply questionable source of all that green soul goo, and the dads check in on what we’ve been playing outside Deadlock—including Subnautica, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Crimson Desert.

Topics include:

• Deadlock September 16, 2026 patch
• Movement and gun-cycle changes
• Ranked matchmaking and rank shields
• Low-ELO vs. high-ELO Deadlock
• Abrams, Warden, Wraith, Silver, and more
• Spiritual Overflow, Lifestrike, Golden Goose Egg, Trophy Collector, and Cultist Sacrifice
• Deadlock’s soul economy and farming changes
• Jungle camps and whether Deadlock needs a true jungler role
• McGinnis lore
• Dead or Locked: Paradox vs. Mo & Krill
• What are you playin'?
• The usual deeply unnecessary dad behavior

Chapters

00:00 – Welcome to Deadlock Dads

02:49 – The September 16 Deadlock patch

03:18 – Movement changes

04:31 – Ranked matchmaking and the low-ELO experience

07:44 – Slows, Warden, and item changes 10:31 – Valve turns down the soul economy

11:39 – Does Deadlock need a real jungler role?

16:41 – Mid Boss, Doorman, and annoying strategies

21:12 – Deadlock Lore: What the hell is McGinnis doing?

32:47 – Dead or Locked: Paradox vs. Mo & Krill

36:07 – Dad life

37:46 – What else we’ve been watching and playing

We are not professional Deadlock players so we might be wrong from time to time. If you want to correct us or share your thoughts on Deadlock, the Dads, or life itself. Email Dadlock at dadlock.podcast@gmail.com

Your Dads love you...

Explicit language and adult humor.