How to Play Frontline in Deadlock

Give your team room to act.

Your job on the team

Your job is to make dangerous space usable. You might hold an entrance, threaten a charge, draw a defensive cooldown or interrupt someone diving your carry. The value is what your teammates can do because of that pressure.

Frontline is broader than “tank.” Durability helps you stay in the area, but enemies also need a reason to respect you: control, damage, displacement or a strong threat if they walk past. A durable hero far from the team can be ignored instead of creating useful space.

Heroes that can play this role

These are common playstyles, not exclusive classes. Your build and team needs decide which job to emphasise.

AbramsBabaBillyInfernusKelvinLashMo & KrillRat KingShivSilverVictorViscousWardenYamato

Laning priorities

Use cover and pressure to help secure the wave. Threaten a close-range trade when the enemy has spent a key spell or stepped too far forward, but avoid losing half your health just to stand aggressively. Your partner must be close enough to benefit.

A missed engage often changes who controls the next few seconds. If your charge or other important approach fails, return to cover and resources instead of forcing another trade without the tool that made it favourable.

For the shared fundamentals, read the Deadlock laning guide.

What to do after lane

Move toward the space your team needs next: an objective entrance, a dangerous wave or an area your carry wants to farm. Check who is following before walking through the contested doorway. Being first only helps if the team can use the information and pressure.

Take accessible farm so you can survive your next job. Frontline does not mean permanently giving up souls, but it also does not justify consuming every safe resource while damage dealers are waiting for a spike. Prioritise the item that makes your next commitment workable.

Pressure can be enough without a full engage. Holding a threatening angle may keep enemies away from a wave or force them through another entrance. Stay ready to retreat if the teammates using your space have moved elsewhere.

Teamfight positioning and decisions

Before engaging, check the distance to your follow-up and the enemy tools that punish you. A catch beside your team is often stronger than a deeper catch they cannot reach. Threaten the engage until you see a useful opening rather than spending it simply because it is available.

After committing, decide whether to keep pushing, hold the area or turn back. If an enemy bypasses you and reaches your carry, protecting that ally may matter more than chasing another target. You are still creating space when you use control defensively.

Use a route that lets you disengage or receive help. Drop behind cover when the enemy has spent pressure on you and your own survival tools are unavailable. Surviving the first commitment can let you return for the second opening.

How to choose items for your role

Buy for the damage and control you actually absorb. Healing reduction, sustained weapon pressure and spirit burst make different demands on your durability. Read the shielding versus resistance guide before treating every defensive item as interchangeable.

A counter active can be useful when you can apply it while holding space. A personal control-prevention item needs to be used before the catch when its purpose is prevention; passive protection is more useful if you cannot reliably act in time. Compare crowd-control answers and keep enough threat that enemies must still respect your position.

Use the Counter Item Helper to compare answers to the enemy heroes, then choose the purchase that fits your job.

Common mistakes

• Engaging beyond the reach of your team.
• Taking damage in open ground without gaining space or forcing a useful response.
• Chasing a backline target while your carry is being caught behind you.
• Buying only health or damage without identifying why the last commitment failed.

A practical example

On Abrams, holding a charge threat at an entrance can give your carry a safer firing angle. If the enemy walks past to dive that carry, turn the threat onto the diver rather than charging away from the fight your team needs to win.

Explore the other roles

Back to the full hero roles chart →

Gun Carry

Sustained weapon damage built on farm, fired from safe angles.

How to play gun carry Spirit Carry

Ability-based damage windows, timed around cooldowns and safe approaches.

How to play spirit carry Pick

Catches exposed enemies and lines up control with nearby teammates.

How to play pick Support

Saves, healing, control and utility that keep teammates effective.

How to play support

Frequently asked questions