RazielWith the major updating landing on a Tuesday afternoon, players in the competitive scene of Deadlock had a lot to learn before DLNS on Wednesday evening. A new map with new routes, mob placements, UI updates, and more. A limited time, week-long mechanic was also presented with this update, and that was The Broker.
The Broker was a shop that opened up some time into a match to offer corrupted version of items. For example, on an item such as Divine Barrier, you may have greatly reduced cooldown, an enhanced shield, and ability range, but that would come at the cost of a randomized reduced stat such as fire rate, weapon damage, or more.
For DLNS #58, it was up to the teams to agree in on when they wanted The Broker to spawn in each series, or really if he would spawn at all. While some teams agreed on letting The Broker be apart of the match in some capacity, most disagreed on start times or didn't get to the time he would spawn, so we weren't able to see the true impact that a randomized shop like this could have in a competitive setting.
While both teams would gain access to The Broker at whatever time the teams agreed upon, the general sentiment is that it could potentially shake the game up too much. While a corrupted Divine Barrier could benefit one team heavily, it may not benefit the other team as much or cost that team more to take.
Fans of the tournament have extremely mixed reactions, while some find it against the competitive spirit, some lament that it takes away the fun of watching or being able to watch the adaptability of the best of the best in the scene navigate around this new challenge.
What are your thoughts about this? Should teams have let The Broker exist in his natural state, or was it correct to let teams decide when and if The Broker was allowed in their games? Does it go against the intention of how the game should be played if we allow pro players or tournament administrators dictate additions like this? Only time will tell at this point, as The Broker will soon be longer apart of the game, for now