Pro Deathmatch

Deathmatch is a game mode that was was released on 23rd May 2017. Deathmatch is a competitive mode in which players compete to get the most kills, while preventing enemies from getting kills and avoiding deaths. Players can choose one from one, two, or three random starting ship each from the same tier.

All Deathmatch games begin with the player spawning in at a random location on the map with a fully upgraded ships, and with half the ship's gem capacity filled up to a cap of 200. Each ship has an infinite number of live each round which means that it is impossible to upgrade/downgrade to a different ship. Asteroids in deathmatch mode have a much larger amount of health and yield no gems. As such, it is only possible to obtain more gems by dueling with other ships and causing them to drop their gems. Due to these mechanics, mining asteroids is a pointless task. Only a fraction of the gems lost by each player upon taking damage will actually drop, making gems still scarce even though each respawn brings you back to the starting gem level. However, deaths do not necessarily matter due to the infinite lives each player possess. It is a unique stratagem to commit suicide on asteroids when near death than to let another player have a kill and potentially win.

Deathmatch features a unique target mechanic, wherein players are are randomly assigned a target to kill. Killing these targets yields a reward of two points, as opposed to the standard one point given for a non-target kill. It is, thus, advisable to focus solely on killing your assigned target or anyone chasing you, to prevent them from getting two additional points. The player who gets 12 points first is the winner of the round.

All ship names and colors are anonymous in deathmatch except for your own and all leaderboard/revenge markers are disabled. The lack of any indicators as to who is who is in place to prevent teaming between players, which would provide a very large advantage. The first incarnation of this game mode featured a limited chat system, though this was later removed entirely to prevent said teaming. Map sizes are very small, and they often have a rather high density of asteroids. Using choke points to lure enemy ships in and destroying them can be an effective strategy. Upon respawning, ships are invulnerable for a very short amount of time in comparison to most other game mode.

Kill-stealing is also present in Deathmatch, as the player who gets the last shot on other ships is rewarded the kill. It is recommended to focus on weaker ships before attacking stronger ones with full shields, as the only goal is to win. Barracuda-only rounds have been removed entirely featuring that ship could last for an incredibly long time in comparison to other ships. There are still rounds with the Barracuda and the best counter is to get the ship with bullets and RCS away from the ship. (Any bullet based ship will do even the H-mercury) You just have to be careful to not get in front of a asteroid for long or your going to be taking insane damage.

Deathmatch games are by far the shortest of any other mode and are typically is a very fast-paced and competitive mode. Players can utilize this mode to effectively train with specific ships with little commitment or punishment for dying.

Pro Deathmatch Championship

Pro Deathmatch Championship rankings in Europe as of 21-Jun-2017.

The Pro Deathmatch Championship is a unique feature for ECP players. It ranks ECP players in different regions with an Elo-rating system. Winning matches in Deathmatch results in an increased points and ranking, while losing matches decreases the player's score/ranking. The points gained or lost by a player depends on the points of the other players inside the match. Winning against a much higher ranked opponent will lead to gaining many more points, and the opponent losing many more points, than winning against a similarly ranked player or a non-ECP player.

The first round of Deathmatch for the player does not count for the rankings. Non-ECP players also do not participate in the rankings. Leaving the round after the initial ship countdown has finished (and thus a random ship has been chosen for the player) affects the rankings and counts as a loss, and ranking points are lost. Leaving before the countdown has finished does not affect the rankings.

Rankings are updated every day at 22:00 / 10 PM UTC. Official rankings indicate the updated rankings for the day, while Live rankings indicate the rankings at the exact time one is looking, and the changes in the ranks potentially due the next day.