Lock Pick Mode Explained

[WalzY]

Lock Pick mode is only available for teams of 5 queueing together.
The captain (who is the leader of the TMM group, NOT the highest MMR player) does ALL of the picks/bans for his team. It is therefore strongly advised that his team help him with clear suggestions/advice due to time pressure.
Players may swap heroes freely as normal.
Each team has a total of 60 seconds reserve time available for use.
Blind bans are done AT THE SAME TIME and therefore may overlap, e.g. Legion bans Hag and Slither, Hellbourne bans Tempest and Slither. The blind bands are Hag, Tempest and Slither.
All locks are available to be picked by EITHER team. (Your locks may be picked by the other team)
While the overall pick/ban time totals a maximum of 6 min 45 sec excluding the 60 sec reserve time for each team, the intensity and constant strategy changes mean you will be under heavy time pressure possibly resulting in panic bans/picks (pay particular attention to the time available for each stage) and will most certainly require the reserve time.
Players may only ready up during discussion time after all the picks are completed.


The following table is in chronological order from top to bottom.

Each * denotes a new turn.

Time (sec)
* | 10
* | 40 | Legion 2x Blind Ban | Hellbourne 2x Blind Ban
* | 10
* | 40 | Legion 1x Lock
* | 40 | Hellbourne 2x Lock
* | 40 | Legion 2x Lock
* | 40 | Hellbourne 1x Lock
* | 10
* | 25 | Legion 1x Ban
* | 25 | Hellbourne 1x Ban
* | 25 | Legion 1x Ban
* | 25 | Hellbourne 1x Ban
* | 25 | Legion 1x Ban
* | 25 | Hellbourne 1x Ban
* | 10
* | 40 | Legion 1x Pick
* | 40 | Hellbourne 2x Pick
* | 40 | Legion 2x Pick
* | 40 | Hellbourne 1x Pick
* | 10
* | 25 | Legion 1x Lock Pick
* | 25 | Hellbourne 2x Lock Pick
* | 25 | Legion 1x Lock Pick * | 30 | Discussion time before start

[WalzY]

For S2, I would also add that I feel it extremely necessary for it to be made possible to practice lock picking with 2 players. Currently 10 players are required to practice it properly without jumping into TMM.

[WalzY]

Also interesting to note that different strategies may be required according to whether you're legion or hellbourne - most notably because of the important "locked picks" with legion getting first turn from the locked pool but only getting 1 hero, and hellbourne picking second but getting 2 heroes, after which legion is left with 1 pick from the 3 remaining locks.

[Zestiwafflez]

Also interesting to note that different strategies may be required according to whether you're legion or hellbourne - most notably because of the important "locked picks" with legion getting first turn from the locked pool but only getting 1 hero, and hellbourne picking second but getting 2 heroes, after which legion is left with 1 pick from the 3 remaining locks.

I agree, it is imperative that team 1 (legion) must lock very well, they must pick a strong first hero and will need to pick their second hero out of the 3 most unfavorable heroes in the pool. I think that this mode has a lot of potential to put unexercised heroes on the board, and varied hero involvement is an important aspect of this game.

[SuperCommand]

if that table is correct then LP seems bit flawed. The team that locks the first hero also PICKS the first lock? It's almost like playing banning pick 2 times. Wouldn't it be more strategical if the team that locks the first hero will pick locked heroes 2nd?

[Wingser]

I still don't get how it works :o

[Wyverex]

Good work with the table in OP. But you might want to clear when is someone's turn.
Something like:
* | 25 | 1x Lock Pick |
* | 25 | | 2x Lock Pick
* | 25 | 1x Lock Pick |

Just format it better than I did :p

[narvoxx]

looks pretty good

[WalzY]

if that table is correct then LP seems bit flawed. The team that locks the first hero also PICKS the first lock? It's almost like playing banning pick 2 times. Wouldn't it be more strategical if the team that locks the first hero will pick locked heroes 2nd?

On the face of it, it does seem a bit flawed. Locking first isn't an advantage though, as each time ultimately locks in 3 heroes, to provide a lock pool of 6 heroes from which 3 must be chosen. If anything, locking first may provide an indication of tactics/lanes to the other team. Having the first PICK from the locks, however, can be considered an advantage. The lock picks is where strategy comes into it though - as despite getting first pick from the locks they also get last pick which could leave them in a nasty situation. Allow me to demonstrate. Legion locks Bubbles, Behemoth, Tempest. Hellbourne locks Night Hound, Scout, Warbeast. Legion guarantees themselves Bubbles with their first lock pick. Hellbourne then decides to steal the heroes legion locked (behemoth and tempest), leaving Legion with a choice from Night Hound, Scout, and Warbeast - not to be relished. I can't say I've played quite enough lock pick to make a judgment on whether the tactics of the lock pick mode are 100% balanced but so far I simply see different strategies being required according to whether you're legion or hellbourne. The mode is a very clever game of chess, and I guess the picks can be game winning and give one side a considerable advantage - i.e. your captain needs to be a damn good chess player/hero picker.


Good work with the table in OP. But you might want to clear when is someone's turn.
Something like:
* | 25 | 1x Lock Pick |
* | 25 | | 2x Lock Pick
* | 25 | 1x Lock Pick |

Just format it better than I did :p

Re-formatted the table (originally lined up the table with spaces but then realised the spaces don't get counted when I submitted the thread). It's now clearer whos turn it is, though the table is a bit longer :) Hope that helps!

[Wyverex]

Thanks for the change, it does look better now :)

PS it might be worth noting that players can't ready-up before all 10 heroes were picked (i.e. only during Discussion Phase)

[vlmndd]

Ugh, I haven't had the chance to play this mode yet. One thing that did seem odd was that both sides have 2 blind bans. So 1 team makes their bans and thent he other. BUT how does the game function in that field - suppose Legion bans Glacius and Parasite in the dark - If hellborn wants to ban glacius aswell and some 3rd hero or who knows, maybe even parasite, will there be total of 3/2 heros banned not 4?

[Wyverex]

Both teams Blind Ban at the same time.
And yes, Blind bans can overlap, so Blind bans will ban anywhere between 2 and 4 heroes total.

[WalzY]

Both teams Blind Ban at the same time.
And yes, Blind bans can overlap, so Blind bans will ban anywhere between 2 and 4 heroes total.

This, and I've added the ready-up thing :) thanks again

[Loki]

My observations:

The blind ban phase is equal with respect to both teams.

Locks and lock picks don't follow each other directly. By the time you get to pick locked heroes, you have to take into account all the new bans/picks on the board. This can affect which heroes from the locked pool you want, and which may be very poor choices. Some lock picks may be made just to prevent the other team from getting too much synergy.
* | 40 | Legion 1x Lock
* | 40 | Hellbourne 2x Lock
* | 40 | Legion 2x Lock
* | 40 | Hellbourne 1x Lock
* | 25 | Legion 1x Lock Pick
* | 25 | Hellbourne 2x Lock Pick
* | 25 | Legion 1x Lock Pick

Let's say this is a black and white world, and every hero is good or bad. No synergy exists. What happens is this.
Legion's objective is to have 1 good hero in the pool, giving them an advantage because HB have 2 bad heroes and Legion only have one.
Hellbourne's objective is to have exactly 3 good heroes in the lock pool, so they get 2 good heroes and Legion only get 1.

If both teams know this, they can prevent this from happening by cleverly locking good or bad heroes. This means there's always 0, 2 or 4+ good heroes. In each case, Legion gets the best hero first, but HB gets the second- and third- best. (In the case of 2, HB gets the worst good hero but the best bad hero as compensation.) It seems about equal. If either side is stupid enough to allow 1 or 3 good heroes to be in the lock pool, they will lose the drafting.


The rest of the banning/picking is straightforward. If you are Legion, you can assume to have one of the heroes from the lock pool. Hellbourne can assume they get 2 out of 3 heroes they want. If anything, I would say Legion has a slight advantage here because they can guarantee one hero from the lock pool, thus allowing a slightly more synergized line-up. HB will have to keep guessing and attempt to ban/pick heroes that they think Legion want to use, because after the first three picks, Legion can effectively choose 3 heroes for their lineup at once. (One from the lock pool and two from the pick pool.) It may be hard to see these choices coming.

Hellbourne can't pull a similar stunt because they have no guarantee of a certain hero, and Legion can respond to synergy by first-picking the locked hero HB had in mind. They can also counter HB's strategy because their two picks are later than the Hellbourne's.


But that's just my theory. :)

[WalzY]

^ Yes, I think Hellbourne are going to have a more uncertain time in this mode regarding their picks - and they need to be more flexible in their lineup. Legion have the advantage of being able to secure a lineup more easily.