Quick answer (20 October 2026, Patch 2.2.16a, Season 42 "Starward Decade"): The best Freya counters right now are Phoveus and Minsitthar, the only two heroes with a large measured edge over her in ranked (+4.9 and +4.7 win-rate points on mlbbhub's counter data, updated 17 October 2026). Edith, Franco and Esmeralda follow at +1.7 to +1.8. For items, buy Dominance Ice or Sea Halberd to cut her Leap of Faith shield and her ultimate healing to 60%, and Blade Armor to punish the basic attacks her whole kit is built on. Then fight her at the right moment: after her ultimate's dive lands, never during it, and when her Sacred Orb bar is empty.
Why is Freya so hard to counter in Season 42?
Freya is two different heroes depending on where you meet her.
In public ranked she is unremarkable. On mlbbhub's Patch 2.2.16a ranked data (fetched 20 October 2026) she sits in C-tier with a 48.11% win rate, a 0.7% pick rate and a 1.78% ban rate.
In pro play she is the most feared hero in the game. In the MPL Philippines Season 18 regular season, mlbbhub's verified draft records (covering 55 of 56 completed matches) show Freya banned in 114 of 127 drafted games (90%), ahead of Atlas (103) and Fanny (84), and red side spent its first ban on her 81 times. mlbbhub's separate season statistics page, which counts the whole season rather than the verified subset, lists her at 117 bans, 14 picks and 10 wins.
| Where | Freya's numbers | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Ranked, all ranks (Patch 2.2.16a) | C-tier, 48.11% WR, 0.7% pick, 1.78% ban | mlbbhub hero page, 20 Oct 2026 |
| MPL PH S18, verified drafts (127 games) | Banned in 114, first-banned by red side 81 times | mlbbhub MPL PH drafts, 20 Oct 2026 |
| MPL PH S18, season statistics | 117 bans, 14 picks, 10 wins | mlbbhub MPL PH stats, 20 Oct 2026 |
The gap is about coordination. Freya's Skill 1 is a short leap, not a true engage, so she is at her best following a teammate's crowd control into a fight. Pro teams build that for her every game; a solo-queue lobby rarely does. That is also the good news for you: in ranked you don't need to ban her, you need to answer her. MPL PH Season 18 wraps up with its playoffs on 25 October 2026 (per Liquipedia), so expect a lot of Freya talk this week, but the pro numbers span several patches and should not be read as the current ranked meta.
How does Freya's kit work after her rework?
You can't counter a hero you don't understand, and most Freya counter guides still describe her old kit. Freya was revamped in Patch 2.1.30 (4 November 2025), which replaced her old skill-spam attack-speed loop with a resource bar. Her current kit, per Liquipedia's Freya page:
| Skill | What it does | Why it matters for countering |
|---|---|---|
| Power of Einherjar (passive) | Each basic attack stores 1 Sacred Orb, up to 6. Spending an orb gives her next basic attack 100% attack speed. Orbs regenerate slowly out of combat. | Her damage is a meter. An empty bar means a much weaker Freya. |
| Leap of Faith (Skill 1) | Leaps to an area, knocks enemies airborne for 0.4s and gives her a 500–900 (+100% total Physical Attack) shield. Cooldown 8–6s. | The shield is the thing your anti-shield tools target. |
| Valkyrie Slash (Skill 2) | Charges forward, deals damage and slows by 30% for 0.5s. No cooldown, but costs 2 Sacred Orbs. | From a full bar, three back-to-back slashes empty it unless she auto-attacks in between to refill. |
| Valkyrie Descent (Ultimate) | Dives to a target area with Control Immunity, slowing enemies by 40% for 2s, then enters a 10-second Valkyrie state: splash basic attacks that each restore 40–80 (+40% total Physical Attack) HP. Base cooldown 44/36/28s (before cooldown reduction). | Your crowd control is wasted during the dive and live again once she lands. Her healing is basic-attack healing, so anti-heal works. |
The balance history since the rework is all on the ultimate:
| Patch | Date | Change to Freya |
|---|---|---|
| 2.1.30 | 4 Nov 2025 | Revamp: Sacred Orb passive, new Skill 2 Valkyrie Slash |
| 2.1.40 | 18 Dec 2025 | Ultimate cooldown 54–46s (starts on cast) → 34–26s (starts after cast); 50% damage reduction while diving |
| 2.1.61 | 11 Mar 2026 | Ultimate healing per basic attack 60–120 → 40–80 |
| 2.1.88 | 17 Jun 2026 | Ultimate cooldown 34–26s → 44–28s, Valkyrie state 12s → 10s, empowered basic range and Leap of Faith range 3.5 → 3.3 |
| 2.2.16 / 2.2.16a | 16 Sep / 14 Oct 2026 | No changes |
The 2.1.88 patch note puts the intent plainly: Moonton "Reduced the duration and effectiveness of Freya's ranged attacks." (Liquipedia, Patch 2.1.88). Two numbers from that patch decide most Freya fights today: 10 seconds of Valkyrie state and up to 44 seconds of base cooldown at rank 1.
Which heroes counter Freya best?
These are the heroes with a measured win-rate edge over Freya in ranked, from mlbbhub's counter tool (data updated 17 October 2026). The edge is how many percentage points of win rate the counter gains in that matchup across ranked games; mlbbhub does not publish per-matchup sample sizes, so treat it as a statistical tilt, not a guaranteed win:
| Counter | Role and lane | Edge vs Freya | Why it works |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phoveus | Fighter, EXP Lane | +4.9 pts | Built to punish heroes who dash near him, and every Freya active skill moves her |
| Minsitthar | Fighter, EXP Lane or Roam | +4.7 pts | His ultimate stops enemies inside it from using movement skills |
| Edith | Tank/Marksman, EXP Lane or Roam | +1.8 pts | A durable EXP laner who survives Freya's early all-in |
| Franco | Tank, Roam | +1.8 pts | Hook and suppression after she lands |
| Esmeralda | Tank/Mage, EXP Lane | +1.7 pts | Her Skill 1 absorbs nearby enemy shields, including Leap of Faith's |
Phoveus is the hardest counter. mlbbhub's explanation is that "all of Freya's skills have movement components, making her vulnerable to Phoveus's unique counter": every Leap of Faith, Valkyrie Slash and Valkyrie Descent she casts near him feeds his enhanced basic attacks. Freya's whole combo is movement, so her main way to play around him is to stay out of his range or wait for him to commit first. If you are an EXP laner and Freya is locked first, Phoveus is the strongest measured answer.
Minsitthar is the hard lockdown. His ultimate, King's Calling, summons Royal Guards in a field, and enemies inside it cannot use movement skills while it lasts. Against Freya that switches off Leap of Faith and Valkyrie Slash, leaving her a melee hero with no gap-closer and no escape. Players in r/MobileLegendsGame say the same thing in fewer words: one April 2026 thread on learning Freya warns that "she gets fully countered by minsi". Minsitthar is also A-tier at 51.55% in ranked on mlbbhub, so he is a strong pick in his own right, not a one-trick ban dodge.
Franco is the roam answer. His Iron Hook drags a target and Bloody Hunt is a suppression, which Purify cannot cleanse. Don't throw the hook while she is diving (she is control-immune for that moment). Hook her the instant she lands in your backline.
Esmeralda and Edith are the EXP Lane safety picks. Esmeralda's Skill 1, Frostmoon Shield, absorbs the shields of nearby enemies into her own shield (her passive then converts her shield into HP), so Freya's Leap of Faith shield ends up working for Esmeralda. Edith simply survives the level-4 all-in that Freya's laning depends on (see our Edith build guide).
mlbbhub also lists Khufra, Minotaur, Carmilla and Marcel as heroes whose crowd control works into Freya's profile. Treat that as a kit-based suggestion, not a measured edge. In practice any reliable stun or knock-up that you hold until after her dive lands does the job.
Who should NOT be your Freya answer? On the same data Freya beats Lolita (+2.6), Masha (+2.6), Yve (+2.5), Ling (+2.2), Mathilda (+1.8) and Kagura (+1.7). If you main Masha, our how to counter Masha guide shows the other side of this matchup.
What items counter Freya?
Freya's power rests on three things: a shield, healing on every Valkyrie-state basic attack, and a lot of basic attacks. Each one has an item answer. Stats and gold costs below are from mlbbhub's item database (synced from Liquipedia on 17 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; also +8 Hybrid Defense per nearby enemy hero, up to 40 | Tanks, roamers, EXP frontliners |
| Sea Halberd | 2,050 gold | Lifebane: damage reduces 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% of the incoming damage (calculated before damage reduction) plus 20% of your Physical Defense, and slows the attacker by 15% for 1s | Frontliners she dives onto |
| Antique Cuirass | 2,170 gold | When hit by a skill, cuts the attacker's Physical Damage by 6% for 2s, stacking 3 times | Tanks who absorb her Valkyrie Slashes |
Which one first? If you are the hero she lands on, Dominance Ice is the best single buy: it hits both her shield and her healing, and its aura works without you having to land a hit. If you are the marksman she is diving, Sea Halberd does the same job from range. Blade Armor is the specialist pick: Freya's Valkyrie state is ten seconds of splash basic attacks, and every one of them pays you back.
How do you beat Freya in lane and in teamfights?
The right hero and items only win you the matchup if you fight at the right time. Five rules:
- Count her slashes. Valkyrie Slash costs 2 orbs and she holds 6. Three back-to-back slashes empty her bar, and she then has to auto-attack to refill it. If you see her chain three, that is your trade window.
- Don't fight a Freya who just walked out of a jungle camp. Orbs regenerate out of combat and every basic attack stores one, so a Freya who has been hitting creeps arrives with a full bar.
- Never spend crowd control on the dive. Valkyrie Descent grants Control Immunity and, since Patch 2.1.40, 50% damage reduction while she is in the air. Hold your stun, hook or King's Calling for the moment she lands.
- Kite the 10 seconds. Her Valkyrie-state basic attacks have a range of 3.3, down from 3.5 since Patch 2.1.88. Ranged heroes and anyone with a dash can walk out of it. Make her chase for ten seconds and you get a window of up to 28 to 44 seconds (base cooldown, shorter with cooldown reduction) before she can do it again.
- Track the ultimate timer. At max rank her ultimate still has a 28-second base cooldown after a 10-second window. Turtle and Lord fights that start right after she has used it are fights she is far worse at taking.
The general principle: Freya wins long fights where she can keep attacking, and loses short ones where she can't. Burst her the moment she lands, or deny her the fight entirely. For which heroes fill that role in your lane, see the best EXP Lane heroes for Season 42.
Should you ban Freya in ranked?
Usually not. A 1.78% ranked ban rate and a 48.11% win rate say most of the ladder already agrees. Your ban is worth more on the heroes that are actually winning ranked games this patch. On mlbbhub's tier list the most-banned heroes across all ranks are Hirara, Eudora, Belerick, Aulus and Estes, and our best heroes to ban guide covers why. Two of them, Aulus and Hirara, were nerfed on 14 October in Patch 2.2.16a (see our MLBB patch notes).
The exception is a coordinated five-stack. If the enemy team is a full party and you see a Franco, Atlas or Khufra on their side, Freya becomes the hero pros treat her as, and an early ban is reasonable. For the full Season 42 picture, check the Mobile Legends tier list.
Want a counter-pick pool without the grind?
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FAQ
Who is the best counter to Freya in Mobile Legends? Phoveus, with a +4.9-point ranked win-rate edge on mlbbhub's ranked data (updated 17 October 2026), followed closely by Minsitthar at +4.7. Both work because Freya's three active skills are movement skills: Phoveus punishes them and Minsitthar's ultimate disables them.
What item counters Freya? Dominance Ice for tanks and Sea Halberd for physical damage dealers. Both reduce her Leap of Faith shield and her Valkyrie-state healing to 60% of normal. Blade Armor is a strong third option because her damage comes from basic attacks.
Can you stun Freya during her ultimate? Not during the dive: Valkyrie Descent grants Control Immunity while she is in the air, plus 50% damage reduction since Patch 2.1.40. Once she lands and enters the Valkyrie state, crowd control works on her normally, so save your stun for the landing.
Why is Freya banned so much in MPL but not in ranked? Pro teams draft reliable engage heroes such as Atlas and Franco for her to follow, which makes her ten-second Valkyrie state lethal. In solo queue she often has to start fights herself, which her short Leap of Faith does poorly. That is why she was banned in 114 of 127 verified MPL PH Season 18 drafts but holds only a 1.78% ban rate in ranked.
Was Freya nerfed in Season 42? No. Patch 2.2.16 (16 September 2026) and Patch 2.2.16a (14 October 2026) left her unchanged. Her last balance change was the Patch 2.1.88 nerf on 17 June 2026, which raised her ultimate's base cooldown to 44–28 seconds and cut the Valkyrie state from 12 to 10 seconds.
How many times can Freya use Valkyrie Slash? Three times back to back from a full bar, if she doesn't auto-attack in between. The skill has no cooldown but costs 2 of her 6 Sacred Orbs per cast, and she refills orbs with basic attacks or slowly while out of combat.
Data in this guide is dated: kit numbers from Liquipedia's Freya page; ranked win, pick and ban rates and counter edges from mlbbhub (Patch 2.2.16a, fetched 20 October 2026); MPL Philippines Season 18 draft data from mlbbhub's verified draft records as of 20 October 2026. Hero balance changes every patch, so check the in-game hero page after the next update.
