Archon and Deadlock's Old Rank Names
Archon, Arcanist and Alchemist were removed from Deadlock on July 30, 2026. Which rank now sits in each of their places, and why Ritualist and Emissary moved up.
Archon, Arcanist and Alchemist were removed from Deadlock in the July 30, 2026 Matchmaking Update and replaced by Mystic, Sentinel and Acolyte. The ladder is still twelve tiers: Obscurus, Initiate, Seeker, Acolyte, Sentinel, Mystic, Ritualist, Emissary, Oracle, Phantom, Ascendant, Eternus. Structurally, the slot Archon used to occupy — directly below Oracle — is now called Emissary.
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The short version
Deadlock's July 30, 2026 Matchmaking Update deleted three ranks — Alchemist, Arcanist and Archon — and added three: Acolyte, Sentinel and Mystic. The ladder stayed twelve tiers deep, so nothing shifted at the very top or the very bottom.
If you stopped playing before that update and came back to a rank name you did not recognise, that is why. And if you are reading a guide that still lists Archon, that guide predates the update.
Old ladder against new
Before the update the ladder ran Obscurus, Initiate, Seeker, Alchemist, Arcanist, Ritualist, Emissary, Archon, Oracle, Phantom, Ascendant, Eternus.
It now runs Obscurus, Initiate, Seeker, Acolyte, Sentinel, Mystic, Ritualist, Emissary, Oracle, Phantom, Ascendant, Eternus. Six subranks, I through VI, on every rank except Obscurus.
Where each removed rank sat
Alchemist was the fourth tier, directly above Seeker. That position is now Acolyte. Arcanist was fifth; that position is now Sentinel. Archon was eighth, directly below Oracle, and that position is now Emissary.
This is a statement about the shape of the ladder, not a conversion table for your account. Three ranks left and three arrived, so the positions line up cleanly even though no individual rank was formally renamed.
The part most guides get wrong
Ritualist and Emissary both still exist, which makes it easy to assume they stayed put. They did not. Because three ranks were removed below them and three inserted, each moved up one position on the ladder.
So the tier that used to be Ritualist is now Mystic, and the tier that used to be Emissary is now Ritualist. A player who remembers grinding out of Ritualist before the update is remembering a different part of the ladder from where Ritualist sits today.
Why your own rank did not simply convert
The same update soft-reset the ladder and put everyone through 8 solo placement matches. Calibration cannot exit above Oracle VI, so even accounts that belong far higher have to climb out afterwards.
That is why a straight old-rank-to-new-rank conversion does not exist for individual accounts. The mapping above tells you what the ladder looks like; your placement matches tell you where you are on it.
What did not change
Oracle, Phantom, Ascendant and Eternus all kept their names and their positions. If you are climbing the top half of the ladder, older guides about those ranks are still broadly accurate.
Eternus also kept its unusual rule: its six subranks are daily percentile cuts rather than fixed point totals, with Eternus VI sitting at roughly the top 5% of Eternus players. That is the one part of the ladder where holding a rank means out-ranking a moving population rather than banking a score.
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FAST ANSWERS
What is Archon called now in Deadlock?
Archon was removed rather than renamed. It sat directly below Oracle in the old ladder, and that position is now held by Emissary. Your own account was not simply relabelled, though — the same update soft-reset the ladder and re-calibrated everyone over 8 placement matches.
What replaced Arcanist and Alchemist?
Sentinel sits where Arcanist did, and Acolyte sits where Alchemist did. Together with Mystic they keep the ladder at twelve tiers.
Do Ritualist and Emissary still exist?
Yes, and this is the detail most guides miss. Both survived the update but each moved up one position, because three ranks were removed below them and three new ones were inserted. Old Ritualist territory is now Mystic, and old Emissary territory is now Ritualist.
Did any rank names survive unchanged?
Everything from Oracle upward. Oracle, Phantom, Ascendant and Eternus mean the same thing before and after the update, so guides written about the top of the ladder are still accurate.
Why do other sites still show Archon?
Most rank and boosting pages were written before July 30, 2026 and have not been updated. If a site is still selling an Archon boost, it is quoting a rank that no longer exists.
Does my old rank convert directly to a new one?
No. Treat the mapping below as a guide to the ladder's shape, not a conversion for your account. The update applied a soft reset and 8 solo placement matches, and calibration cannot place you above Oracle VI, so where you land is decided by those games.