Even though Vainglory (Free) has seen its share of tournaments and competitions since its launch last year, one thing it has been strangely missing is a built-in Draft mode for true tournament play. That changes with Version 1.14 with a significant revamping of Ranked play.

Starting with the Super Evil Megacorp’s Mobile MOBA’s next update, all ranked play matches will feature Draft mode with a standard 1:2:2:1 mode along with one ban per player prior to hero picks. Considering the lack of native chat during hero picking, Version 1.14 will also launch a bevy of new communication tools to assist players in recommending hero picks. For example, players can give a thumbs up or thumbs down to heroes during the selection stage and they can inform the rest of their team whether they plan on going with a crystal, weapon or utility build. Finally, once a team is set, players can swap heroes amongst teammates with consent. Another significant change is a ban on having the same hero being used on both sides, which means that each team in a ranked battle will consist of unique heroes. It also means players will need 8 heroes unlocked to player

Mandatory draft mode for ranked play is an interesting move and one I think might detract some folks that don’t necessarily want to deal with some of the nuances of draft picks, but I think the intent from the developers is to train all players interested in ranked play in the possibility of moving on to formal tournament play. At the very least, I know it means I’ll need to train up on a few more heroes just in case my faves get banned or picked.

No word currently on Version 1.14 will hit the street, but we’ll be on the look out whenever a date materializes. Meanwhile, check out the full update preview here.