A couple of days ago, S2 Games presented a new competitive drafting mode for Heroes of Newerth. In a preview video, Director of Operations and Balance Designers promote the new lock pick mode as well as give us a quick runthrough of how it works.
- "Lock pick is a way for Heroes of Newerth to branch out to the public scene who aren't so compettiive, give them an opportunity to see if they can become competitive and also giv the competitive players themselves give a new way of drafting," says Aaron Van Note, Heroes of Newerth Balance Designer.
A quick look on how Lock Pick works
1. All picks and bans are made by the captains of each team. Both teams ban two heroes in secret, resulting in up to four bans.
2. Lock phase. Each team chooses three unbanned heroes to lock. The combined six heroes go into the locked pool.
3. A normal banning phase where each team bans three heroes that have not been previously banned or locked.
4. A picking phase. Each team picks three heroes that have not been banned or locked.
5. The final phase. Each team picks two heroes each from the locked pool.
1. All picks and bans are made by the captains of each team. Both teams ban two heroes in secret, resulting in up to four bans.
2. Lock phase. Each team chooses three unbanned heroes to lock. The combined six heroes go into the locked pool.
3. A normal banning phase where each team bans three heroes that have not been previously banned or locked.
4. A picking phase. Each team picks three heroes that have not been banned or locked.
5. The final phase. Each team picks two heroes each from the locked pool.
The mode was introduced in the 2.6.7 patch released last Friday. The new mode is expected to be picked up by the major tournament series in the competitive scene.
