Quick answer (29 October 2026, Patch 2.2.16a, Season 42 "Starward Decade"): The best Aulus counters right now are Alice (+3.0 win-rate points), Zhuxin (+2.5) and Floryn (+2.4), followed by Yve (+2.1), Estes (+2.0) and Freya (+1.9), on mlbbhub's ranked counter data (release of 28 October 2026). For items, buy Dominance Ice or Sea Halberd to cut the healing on his enhanced basic attacks to 60%, and Blade Armor to punish the swings themselves. The single most important counter-play: hit him with a stun or knock-up within 2 seconds of him pressing Aulus, Charge!, before he turns control-immune.
Why is Aulus so hard to deal with in Season 42?
Because the ladder keeps banning him instead of learning him. On mlbbhub's Patch 2.2.16a ranked statistics (rolling seven-day window, snapshot 29 October 2026), Aulus is S-tier with a 53.60% win rate, a 0.85% pick rate and a 41.72% ban rate. That ban rate is the fifth highest in the game, behind only Hirara (68.02%), Belerick (56.95%), Eudora (54.28%) and Estes (45.76%).
| Metric (all ranks, Patch 2.2.16a) | Aulus | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Tier | S | mlbbhub tier list, 29 Oct 2026 |
| Win rate | 53.60% | mlbbhub statistics, 7-day window |
| Pick rate | 0.85% | mlbbhub statistics, 7-day window |
| Ban rate | 41.72% (5th highest of 133 heroes) | mlbbhub statistics, 7-day window |
His numbers have also come down. Moonton nerfed him in Patch 2.2.16a on 14 October 2026, and when we refreshed our Mobile Legends tier list on 18 October, mlbbhub's seven-day grid (which still included a few pre-nerf days) had him at 57.65%. The patch is the likeliest reason for the drop, though a seven-day window also moves with who is playing him. Either way, if you keep losing to him, the fix is usually a counter-pick and one timing rule, not a permanent ban.
How does Aulus's kit work after Patch 2.2.16a?
You can't counter a hero you don't understand, and Aulus has changed twice since his April rework (Patch 2.1.67, 22 April 2026). Here is the current kit, from the Patch 2.2.16 and Patch 2.2.16a notes on Liquipedia.
Passive, Fighting Spirit. Every time Aulus deals skill damage, he gets 2 seconds of enhanced basic attacks (stacking up to 4 seconds). Enhanced swings hit in a line, slow, heal him and give extra attack speed and range. Since 2.2.16a they heal 15 (+20% Total Physical Attack) HP per hit instead of 30 (+15%). That is less healing below 300 Total Physical Attack, the same at exactly 300, and slightly more above it, so the change mostly weakens an under-farmed Aulus. The attack-speed bonus is now a flat 20% instead of scaling with level.
Skill 1, Aulus, Charge! Removes all slows, grants extra movement speed for 5 seconds, and if Aulus takes no high-level control effect within 2 seconds, he becomes Enraged and gains Control Immunity for the rest of the skill's duration. Its base cooldown went from 14–12 seconds to 15 seconds at every level in 2.2.16a (cooldown reduction still lowers it).
Skill 2, The Power of Axe. A fan-shaped swing that stuns for 0.3 seconds (new in 2.2.16), with a recast dash that he can now use even if the first cast missed. Cooldown 10–8 seconds.
Ultimate, Undying Fury. That is the name in the September and October patch notes; the April revamp notes and most hero databases call it Cleaving Axe, so expect to see both. Four strikes and then a wide final slash, with damage reduction while he swings. 2.2.16a changed the numbers to 150–230 base damage per strike and 450–690 on the final slash, and shortened the wind-up of that last hit.
Moonton's own note on the October nerf sums up the design:
"Reduced Aulus's sustainability while retaining his early-to-mid game burst potential." — Patch 2.2.16a notes, 14 October 2026
That sentence is the counter plan. Aulus is still a burst threat early and mid game, but his healing lives almost entirely inside short enhanced-attack windows, and those windows only open when his skills deal damage to something, whether that is a hero, a minion or a jungle creep. Deny him skill hits on your heroes and you deny him both damage and sustain.
Which heroes counter Aulus best?
These are the six heroes with a measured edge over Aulus in ranked. The edge is the head-to-head win-rate advantage in percentage points, from mlbbhub's counter page (Patch 2.2.16a release, 28 October 2026). mlbbhub measures the edge from head-to-head ranked outcomes in Moonton's published game data and does not publish sample sizes, so read a 2-point gap as a lean, not a guarantee. Hero tiers and win rates are from each hero's mlbbhub page on 29 October 2026.
| Counter | Role and lane | Edge vs Aulus | Hero's own tier and WR | Why it works |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alice | Tank/Mage, EXP or Jungle | +3.0 | A, 50.97% | Outlasts his short window, ult immobilizes |
| Zhuxin | Mage, Mid | +2.5 | B, 50.40% | Lifts and throws him out of the fight |
| Floryn | Support, Roam | +2.4 | S, 54.12% | Global double heal undoes his burst |
| Yve | Mage, Mid | +2.1 | A, 52.56% | Stacking slows and an immobilizing Starfield |
| Estes | Support, Roam | +2.0 | A, 52.77% | Linked healing plus a 90% slow zone |
| Freya | Fighter, EXP or Jungle | +1.9 | C, 48.15% | Out-duels him in long fights |
Alice (+3.0). The best counter, and it's about tempo. Aulus wants a short, dense fight; Alice wants a long one. Her passive's Blood Banquet effect heals her every half-second while her skills keep hitting, so the extra damage Aulus gets from his enhanced swings bleeds away into her sustain. Her ultimate, Throne of Ruin, gives her Control Immunity and 50% damage reduction while she channels, then immobilizes everyone in range for 1 second, which is enough to cancel his dash follow-up. Play her EXP lane straight into him.
Zhuxin (+2.5). Her Lantern Flare stacks Soul Snare, and at 10 stacks she pulls the target airborne for 1 second and throws them where she wants. Against a melee hero who has to stay in contact for his passive to work, being thrown away from the fight is the worst thing that can happen. The airborne also counts as hard control, so a well-timed throw inside his 2-second Charge window stops the Enraged state completely.
Floryn (+2.4). Floryn doesn't fight Aulus; she makes his work pointless. Her ultimate, Bloom, heals every allied hero twice no matter where they are, and Sprout stuns for 0.5 seconds. Aulus's whole threat is turning one good entry into a fast kill, and a global double heal arriving mid-combo turns that kill into a failed dive. She is also S-tier in her own right this patch.
Yve (+2.1). Void Crystal slows targets hit multiple times by up to 40%, and her ultimate, Real World Manipulation, creates a Starfield whose swipe attacks slow by 40% and which immobilizes enemies for 0.8 seconds when they enter or leave it (once per enemy). Aulus's Charge removes slows only at the moment he presses it, so slows you apply after he casts it still stick. Drop the Starfield on the space he has to cross and he arrives late and slowed.
Estes (+2.0). Same logic as Floryn, plus area denial. His Domain of Moon Goddess slows enemies by 90% for 1.5 seconds when they touch its edge, and his ultimate refreshes and doubles his healing link on every nearby ally. Estes's own 45.76% ban rate tells you how much the ladder respects this. If he is open, he is a strong answer.
Freya (+1.9). The only fighter on the list. Her edge comes from out-lasting him in a straight duel: her Leap of Faith shield and her Valkyrie-state healing keep her alive through his enhanced window. She is C-tier overall this patch, so only pick her if you are comfortable on her. See our full how to counter Freya guide for her own weaknesses.
Three draft answers from experience, not statistics. mlbbhub's written Aulus guide also names Valir, Jawhead and Phoveus as heroes to avoid him into. The kits explain why: Valir's Searing Torrent knocks him to the end of its path, Jawhead's Ejector throws him into bad ground, and Phoveus's Astaros' Gaze reacts every time an enemy dashes nearby, which punishes the Power of Axe recast. These three don't appear in the top six by measured edge, so treat them as situational picks rather than hard counters.
Who should you NOT pick into Aulus? The same data runs the other way. Aulus beats Gloo (+3.3), Lolita (+2.8), Sun (+2.4), Minsitthar (+2.2) and Tigreal (+2.2). Slow frontliners who want to stand and trade are exactly the targets his enhanced swings eat.
What items counter Aulus?
Aulus does damage with basic attacks, heals on those basic attacks, and needs to stay close. Each part has an item answer. Costs and passives are from mlbbhub's item database (Patch 2.2.16a catalog, 28 October 2026).
| Item | Cost | Passive that matters | Who buys it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dominance Ice | 2,010 gold | Lifebane: reduces Shield and HP Regen of enemies within 5 units to 60% for 1s; Fortress Shield adds +4 Physical and Magic Defense per nearby enemy hero, up to 20 | Tanks, roamers, EXP frontliners |
| Sea Halberd | 2,050 gold | Lifebane: dealing damage cuts the target's Shield and HP Regen to 60% for 3s | Marksmen and physical fighters |
| Blade Armor | 1,910 gold | When hit by a basic attack, returns 30% (+2% of your Physical Defense) of the incoming damage and slows the attacker by 15% for 1s | Frontliners he dives onto |
| Antique Cuirass | 2,170 gold | When hit by a skill, cuts the attacker's Physical Damage by 4% for 2s, stacking 3 times | Tanks absorbing his Power of Axe and ultimate |
| Winter Crown | 1,910 gold | Active: frozen, untargetable and immune to damage for 2s | Mages and marksmen he dives |
Which one first? If you are the hero he walks into, buy Dominance Ice: the aura works without you landing anything and removes 40% of the healing from every enhanced swing while he stands next to you. If you are the marksman, Sea Halberd does the same job from range. Blade Armor is the specialist pick when he is fed, because his enhanced window is a burst of fast basic attacks and every one of them pays you back. Winter Crown is for the carry he targets: freeze during his ultimate and the final slash lands on nothing. For full item stats, see our MLBB items guide.
How do you beat Aulus in lane and in teamfights?
The right pick only wins the matchup if you fight at the right moment. Five rules:
- Use the 2-second rule. When Aulus presses Charge, a timer starts. If he takes a stun, knock-up or other hard control inside those 2 seconds, he never becomes Enraged and never gets Control Immunity. If you wait, your crowd control bounces off. Hold your hard CC for the moment he commits, not for later in the fight.
- Don't slow him before he Charges. Charge removes all slows on cast. Save slows for after he has used it, when they actually stick.
- Punish after Charge expires. If he survives the first 2 seconds clean, his Control Immunity lasts for the rest of the skill's effect, so don't throw crowd control into it. Once the effect ends, the skill sits on a 15-second base cooldown (shorter with cooldown reduction). That gap, with no slow-cleanse and no immunity, is your window to fight him or take an objective.
- Avoid both Power of Axe hits. The fan swing stuns for 0.3 seconds, and since 2.2.16 he can use the damaging recast even if the fan missed. Both hits deal skill damage, so either one opens his enhanced window. Side-stepping the fan only removes the stun; you also need to walk out of the recast's landing area. Note that a fan that only clips minions still opens his window, so the stun is the part you are really dodging when he is clearing a wave.
- Don't trade inside his window. Enhanced attacks last 2 to 4 seconds after a skill hit. Back off for those seconds, then turn on him once they end. Kiting him beats out-trading him.
A comment from one r/MobileLegendsGame thread this week sums up the macro side well. An Aulus player wrote about facing Karina: "She is so easy to outfarm and outrotate. You can legit dodge almost all fights and still be 2k ahead." That works in reverse too. Aulus wants early fights, so if your draft scales better, don't take his fights. Trade objectives on the other side of the map, especially when his Charge is down. For which jungler to put against him, see our best jungle heroes for Season 42.
Should you ban Aulus in ranked?
Sometimes. A 41.72% ban rate means a large share of ranked drafts already remove him, and his 53.60% win rate across all ranks still justifies it. But two things argue against an automatic ban.
First, the October nerf took real power away from him: less healing per swing until he passes 300 Total Physical Attack, less attack speed late, and a longer Charge cooldown at max level. Second, the counter-picks are strong and easy to get. Floryn is S-tier and Alice is A-tier on their own, so you are not giving up anything by drafting into him.
Ban him if your team has no hard crowd control and no healer. Leave him open if you have Alice, Floryn or Estes ready and would rather spend the ban on Hirara or Belerick. Our best heroes to ban guide covers the rest of the list, and the MLBB patch notes cover every 2.2.16a change. If you play Aulus yourself, the other side of this matchup is in our Aulus build guide.
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FAQ
Who is the best counter to Aulus in Mobile Legends? Alice, with a +3.0-point ranked win-rate edge on mlbbhub's counter data (Patch 2.2.16a, 28 October 2026), followed by Zhuxin at +2.5 and Floryn at +2.4. Alice works because her sustain outlasts his short enhanced-attack window and her ultimate immobilizes him for 1 second.
What item counters Aulus? Dominance Ice for tanks and roamers, Sea Halberd for physical damage dealers. Both reduce the healing from his enhanced basic attacks to 60%. Blade Armor is the third option because his damage comes from fast basic attacks.
Can you stun Aulus during Aulus, Charge? Yes, but only within the first 2 seconds. If he takes no high-level control effect in that time, he becomes Enraged and is Control Immune for the rest of the skill's duration. Stun or knock him up early in the skill and he never gets the immunity.
Was Aulus nerfed in Season 42? Yes. Patch 2.2.16a on 14 October 2026 changed the healing on his enhanced basic attacks from 30 (+15% Total Physical Attack) to 15 (+20% Total Physical Attack), which is less healing below 300 Total Physical Attack, made their attack speed a flat 20%, lowered their base damage, and set Aulus, Charge to a 15-second cooldown at every level. His ultimate was buffed at rank 1 and cut at max rank in the same patch.
Why is Aulus banned so much? He is S-tier with a 53.60% win rate on mlbbhub's 29 October data, and his kit punishes teams that spend crowd control too late. His 41.72% ban rate is the fifth highest in the game.
Does Aulus counter tanks? Slow ones, yes. On mlbbhub's data he has his biggest edges over Gloo (+3.3), Lolita (+2.8) and Tigreal (+2.2). Tanks with hard control, such as Alice, are the exception.
Data in this guide is dated: kit changes from the Patch 2.2.16 and 2.2.16a notes on Liquipedia; ranked win, pick and ban rates from mlbbhub (Patch 2.2.16a, snapshot 29 October 2026); counter edges from mlbbhub's 28 October 2026 data release; item stats from mlbbhub's 28 October 2026 catalog. Hero balance changes every patch, so check the in-game hero page after the next update.
