New Feature: Draft in-game. Learn how to use it

Hi Metal Gladiators,

The competitive scene of Heavy Metal Machines has just won a long-awaited tool: the in-game Draft! From now on, players will have a further in-depth strategy available for the matches in a system that’s fully integrated with Ranked Matches, Community Tournaments, and the Colosseum.

How does it work?

The novelty is the integration of the old Draft tool available on the web within the game. The system consists of phases of banning and choosing Machines to determine which Machines each Team will use within the match. The feature also brings a makeover to our Machine selection screen that will follow a pattern even in Casual Matches.

The initial premise of the in-game Draft is that a Machine can be chosen by only one of the Teams, thus preventing two equal choices for each side. When starting a 4×4 match in Draft’s modes, both teams start their Machine ban period. During that time, all players will be able to vote for which Machine they want to ban from the match and prevent both Teams from picking it. Each Team’s most voted Machine is banned and will be visually blocked by a red line on the screen. If both Teams choose the same Machine to ban, only that Machine will be banned. If there is a tie in the number of votes within the same Team, the system will randomly ban one of the tied Machines.

After the ban phase, the pick phase begins. The system will choose one Team to be “Team 1,” and the other Team will be “Team 2”. In Ranked and Coliseum modes, it will be determined at random, while in Custom Matches, the room leader can define this. The order of choices will occur as follows:

• Team 1 – Pick 1
• Team 2 – Picks 2 and 3
• Team 1 – Picks 4 and 5
• Team 2 – Pick 6
• Team 1 – Pick 7
• Team 2 – Pick 8

During the pick phase, any Team player will select an available Machine that has not been picked. Teams must continuously communicate and plan who will choose which Machine in each pick to maximize their composition power.

Where will the in-game Draft be?

The Draft comes to fulfill a direct request from our Community for the competitive queues. It will be present at Colosseum Matches and Ranked Mode. It will be an option that can be enabled or disabled by the lobby leader in Custom Matches.

It is also worth remembering that we also have an update on our Machine rotation in these competitive modes along with Draft. Thus, we guarantee that all players always have at least one Machine to choose from in their turn. Of course, we encourage all Teams to get all the Machines in the game to further increase their strategic options at the time of the match.

Did you like the news? Please leave your feedback in the comments or on our Discord about what you thought of the Draft and what else you expect to see in Heavy Metal Machines!

See you in the Arenas!