Season 40 is almost a month in, and the dust from Patch 2.1.61 has mostly settled. The mage overhaul reshuffled mid lane, Gloo and Freya got clipped, and Marcel walked into the ban phase like he owned the place. Here is where every meta pick stands at the mid-April checkpoint, with the numbers to back it up.
If you play ranked this week, these are the heroes that should be in your pool, on your ban list, or off your screen entirely.
What Changed Since the Patch Dropped
Three shifts are still driving the meta a month after 2.1.61 went live:
- Mage normalization. 13 mages were buffed and 27 got mana and cooldown adjustments, which pulled mid lane out of the Yve/Pharsa duopoly.
- Targeted nerfs to Gloo and Freya. Gloo lost passive damage reduction; Freya lost 33% of her ultimate HP regen. Both are still meta, just less oppressive.
- Marcel’s release. The Soul Photographer Support landed at a 67.87% ban rate in Mythical Glory within weeks.
Fighters and Supports are carrying the season. Mid lane is playable again, but it is not the role winning games on its own.
S-Tier: The Must-Ban, Must-Pick Heroes
These are the heroes dictating draft phase right now. If they are open, they get picked. If the enemy leaves them up twice in a row, something is wrong with their coach.
| Hero | Role | Win Rate | Ban Rate | Notes |
| Gloo | EXP / Tank | 56.1% | 76.8% | Nerfed and still the #1 ban target |
| Marcel | Roam / Support | 54% | 67.9% | Stasis ultimate reshapes teamfights |
| Lolita | Roam | 56.3% | 48% | Hard counter to projectile marksmen |
| Sora | EXP | 53% | 55% | Best hybrid EXP laner in the meta |
| Fredrinn | EXP / Jungle | 54% | 52% | Anti-carry, scales into anything |
| Floryn | Support | 55% | 45% | Forces anti-heal purchases |
| Zhuxin | Mid | 53% | 98.5% | Nearly always banned at high ranks |
| Diggie | Roam | 54% | 50% | CC cleanse counter to dive comps |
| Estes | Support | 54% | 58% | Sustain queen against fighter metas |
Zhuxin’s 98.5% ban rate is the stat of the patch, though worth noting it reflects Mythical Glory+ data from MLBBHub and MLBB.GG trackers. At lower ranks she gets through draft more often. Either way, she is not being tested, she is being deleted.
A-Tier: The Reliable Picks for Mid-April
When the S-tier gets banned out, these are your next-best options. None of them lose you the draft, and most of them are genuinely better than their tier suggests for solo queue.
- Hayabusa remains the safest Jungle pick for players who cannot lock in a utility jungler. His untargetable ultimate is still a get-out-of-jail button in a meta full of burst.
- Arlott thrives with utility junglers back in the rotation. His Ultimate groups enemies for follow-up, which is exactly what the current teamfight meta wants.
- Hanabi is the gold lane default. Her passive CC immunity makes her the most reliable sustained-damage carry, especially with the 5% adaptive penetration emblem rework.
- Kimmy punishes the healing-heavy meta with ranged poke that does not care about positioning.
- Suyou is the jungler most opponents have not practiced against. He counters four-physical compositions cleanly.
- Harley dives the mid lane buffs punish. If the enemy picks a mage with no escape, Harley is the direct answer.
- Khufra and Tigreal remain top-tier engage options. Khufra’s ball form specifically clips Lancelot and Hayabusa.
- Kaja is consistently undervalued. Pulling a fed carry out of a teamfight wins close games.
B-Tier: Situational Picks
These heroes work, but they need the right draft or the right opponent. Locking them in blind is a coin flip.
- Masha and Leomord are the flexible EXP alternatives when Sora and Gloo are off the table.
- Yu Zhong, Thamuz, Guinevere, Cici, Chou, and Ruby round out the fighter pool with matchup-dependent ceilings.
- Hilda works as a roam bruiser, but loses priority to Lolita and Marcel in most drafts.
- Karrie, Melissa, Irithel, and Natan are your marksman options when Hanabi gets contested.
- Gord deserves a callout. The mana normalization fixed the biggest weakness in his kit, and most players in your bracket have not adjusted yet. He is the most undervalued pickup of the patch.
- Aurora and Eudora both climbed after their 2.1.61 tweaks. Aurora especially, with the magic power scaling on her freeze duration.
- Mathilda and Franco remain reliable roamer backups when the S-tier support pool dries up.
C-Tier and Below: Skip These in Ranked
Blunt version: these heroes are traps in high-rank solo queue this season. The common thread is scaling dependency or squishy burst kits. In a meta built on sustain and anti-heal purchases, heroes that need to scale for 15 minutes get absorbed by healing compositions before they come online.
- Layla and Wanwan need time and setup that the current meta will not give them.
- Nolan‘s burst-and-retreat pattern gets swallowed by healing comps.
- Gatotkaca builds stacks by taking damage, which does not survive the current burst windows.
- Barats, Joy, and Bruno are niche-only. Joy still works if you have 200+ games on her.
- Ixia got her laning phase clipped directly in 2.1.61 and has not recovered.
- Selena, Alucard, Zilong, Roger, Martis, Aulus, and Yin round out the avoid list.
- Freya sits at the top of this bracket after her second nerf in a row. Still functional in the right hands, no longer a safe blind pick.
Role-by-Role Quick Read
- Jungle: Suyou, Fredrinn, Hayabusa, Arlott. Fanny still viable if you have 300+ games on her, otherwise skip.
- EXP: Sora, Gloo when unbanned, Masha, Yu Zhong, Leomord. Fighters with sustain own this lane.
- Mid: Zhuxin if somehow open, Kimmy, Harley, Gord, Kaja. Mage buffs made mid the fastest-rotating lane.
- Gold: Hanabi with a Lolita ban, Natan, Karrie against tank stacks, Melissa, Irithel.
- Roam: Marcel, Lolita, Diggie, Floryn, Estes, Mathilda, Khufra, Tigreal. The deepest role in the game right now.
Ban Priority for Solo Queue
If you are climbing alone, ban in this order and adjust based on your draft:
- Gloo (76.8% ban rate exists for a reason)
- Marcel if your team lacks reliable follow-up
- Lolita if your comp depends on a marksman
- Zhuxin if she somehow slipped past your teammates
- Diggie if you are running a healing composition
The One-Sentence April 2026 Meta Read
Durable fighters and utility supports win games, mid lane is finally playable again, and the Advanced Server is already two patches ahead, with 2.1.62 stripping Terizla’s mana entirely and 2.1.64 walking it back with cooldown nerfs to Skill 1 and Skill 2. Add another Freya nerf on top, and this tier list has a shelf life measured in days, not weeks.
Build your pool around a fighter, a roamer, and one flexible mid or jungle pick, and you will cover 90% of the drafts you hit this month. Check back after the next patch drops. Moonton is on a two-week cadence, and the S40 mid-season adjustments are due soon.
