Solomon takes his chess pieces into Deadlock’s streets
Valve’s newest hero sends bishops, rooks and a queen into battle as Deadlock passes Team Fortress 2’s recorded Steam peak.
Solomon joined Deadlock on October 9 with a chess army ready to leave the table. Valve’s newest hero slides bishops through the streets, sends rooks charging into enemies and brings out a queen to lock down a fight. Central Park chess has acquired a considerably larger playing area.
His Rook Battery stalls opponents in its path, while Setup Bishop plants damage dealers that he can reposition. Develop Queen supplies the finishing threat. There is a defensive move, too: Kingside Knight protects allies and helps them retreat. A knight offering an escape route feels like a welcome change from the usual fork.
Solomon is the third arrival from the six-hero City Never Sleeps lineup. Players vote for the release order in the pregame lobby, and the winning team’s votes count double. New heroes unlock on Tuesdays and Fridays at 2 p.m. Pacific. Winning the match buys a little extra influence over the roster.
The same day Solomon arrived, Deadlock reached 262,145 concurrent Steam players, according to SteamDB. That puts it 8,148 above Team Fortress 2’s recorded Steam peak of 253,997, set on July 13, 2023. Valve’s friend-invite playtest now has a chess master and a rather crowded park.
Valve’s Solomon announcement · October 9 · Valve · City Never Sleeps and hero voting