Quick Match

Quick Match is a gameplay mode of Heroes of the Storm.

This mode sets two teams of five human-controlled heroes against each other on one random battleground in Player-Versus-Player style combat. In Quick Match you select the hero you want ahead of time and are guaranteed to play that hero. Both teams might have the same hero (e.g. both teams might have Raynor), but matchmaking prefers to not make mirror matches. These teams are selected based on the player's past performance (a somewhat hidden statistic not available in-game) to create a level playing field, as well as the roles of heroes chosen. For example, if a player queues without other party members as a Support, they are extremely unlikely to be matched with four other Support teammates.

Playing in this mode will net you daily quest progress, as well as bonus gold and experience. Players who queue for Quick Match games using roles that are in short supply will receive 50% bonus experience for being team players. Just look for the “Call of the Nexus” Bonus Experience indicator located above each Hero when viewing the Hero Selection screen.

During 2016 about 45% of total game time was spent in Quick Match.

Matchmaking in Quick Match
The main purpose of Quick Match is that you have a guaranteed character selection, and matches that start as soon as possible. This is something the Draft Mode cannot offer. Quick Match is a place where you can try things out that may not always be optimal for what you would normally choose in a Ranked game.

Quick Match will do its best to make a good game using a large number of factors but while archetypes may be even, certain hero combinations may end up having an advantage/disadvantage that are partially related to whatever combination you may have done with your group, at what time you are playing or even in what region. If you and your friends queue up as 4 Supports and 1 Warrior at 2am, it can make things more complicated. You may have a solid comp for a map like Cursed Hollow but if you end up on Braxis with a sub-optimal top laner you're potentially looking at an uphill battle.

At it's core though, Quick Match isn't there to make the perfect game but just one that thinks is overall fair while allowing you to pick what Hero you want to play. It also allows you to build guaranteed compositions with friends if you are looking to execute a specific combo which is awkward to draft for or might not have the support of your teammates (Stitches/Medivh; Malfurion/Tracer; Cho'Gall + Ana/Auriel). If you are in the mood to win with a "real" composition on a map, Unranked Draft or Ranked Draft might be better.

Regardless of the above, there are some guidelines for the Matchmaking. All those guidelines can however effect queue times, so they can be bend by the system.

Player Matching "Rules"

 * Players are matched with and against players of the same Matchmaking Rating. Quick Match does have its own MMR, separate from Unranked and Ranked Play.
 * Players should be matched with and against players of slightly lower skill when playing a Hero for the first time, and slightly higher skill when playing Heroes with which they have extensive experience. This results in a higher percentage of evenly-matched games, in which each team has a 45% - 55% probability of victory, and should encourages more players to try out a greater variety of Heroes in Quick Match games.
 * There is a reduced possibility that you'll be matched against a party that has three more members than the largest party on your own team:
 * Solo players: A reduced possibility to be matched against four or five-player parties.
 * Duo players: A reduced possibility to be be matched against five-player parties.
 * Three-player parties: Can match against any party size.
 * It is important to note that the matchmaker will still prioritize match quality over party size, and may pull in parties outside of these ranges, if the resulting game is the most suitable match available. This means that it's still possible to play against a party that's larger than your own, but this will only occur in rare cases.
 * Finding a game fast is rated over finding games where teams may match each other so it would be fair. At 3 AM in the night you will still find a game in less than 30 seconds.

Team Composition Rules

 * Quick Match will prefer not to mirror individual heroes, i.e. place the same hero on both teams, when other options are available.
 * Quick Match prefers to mirror certain roles in the opposing teams:
 * Both teams have at least one Tank or neither will (Varian, while categorized as a Bruiser, is considered Tank in terms of QM matchmaking)
 * Both teams have at least one Healer or neither will
 * If neither team has Tanks, both teams have at least one Bruiser hero or neither will
 * If neither team has Healers, both teams have at least one Support hero or neither will


 * Quick Match also prefers to limit the number of certain roles:
 * No more than 3 Tank or Bruiser heroes.
 * No more than 4 Assassins.
 * No more than 2 Healers and Supports.
 * No more than 3 Melee heroes.
 * The number of stealth characters you can have on a team should be limited to 1. This includes Nova, Samuro, Valeera, and Zeratul.
 * It is very unlikely that you will encounter more than one of the following heroes (with unique roles, or have limited lane presence) on the same Quick Match team: Abathur, Cho'gall, Lt. Morales, Murky, Nova, The Lost Vikings.
 * Note: Parties can still bend those rules! This means that you may still see heroes like Abathur and Cho'gall on the same team if those players entered the queue as a party.
 * If you are matched against a team that has two of the above heroes in their composition, such as Abathur and Murky, your team may also receive two of the listed heroes.



Call of the Nexus
Call of the Nexus is a Quick Match feature introduced in November 2018 that allows players to see which heroes are currently on high demand by the matchmaker. Selecting and playing these heroes grants the player 50% more Hero XP after the match and their queue times are generally lower. Call of the Nexus is indicated by a green up-arrow in the corner of the hero icon in the hero selection screen.

Trivia

 * Quick Match was formerly named Versus Mode and had to be unlocked by completing a Cooperative Mode match.
 * Initially, Call of the Nexus also introduced a set of matchmaking rules that guaranteed a tank, a healer and a ranged assassin in every team composition. The shortage of players willing to queue as healers and tanks, however, caused massive rise in queue times for other roles, leading to this part of the update to be soon reverted.