Quick answer (26 October 2026, Patch 2.2.16a, Season 42 "Starward Decade"): the best Gusion build is a pure magic-burst build. Start with Arcane Boots and Genius Wand, then Holy Crystal and Divine Glaive, and finish with Blood Wings and Winter Crown (11,670 gold, mlbbhub's default jungle build). Run the Assassin emblem with Rupture, Seasoned Hunter and Killing Spree, and Retribution in the jungle or Execute in mid. Gusion is a B-tier pick on both mlbbhub and mlbb.io, winning about 48.5% of ranked games with a 1.3% pick rate. None of the 2026 patches changed his skills, and none of the items below appear in the patch notes since mlbbhub last reviewed these builds.
Gusion is a big search term in the Philippines and Indonesia, and he's also one of the most argued-about heroes in the game. He lost the M8 skin vote to Freya earlier this year, and r/MobileLegendsGame still runs posts like "Why bother learn gusion if this mf exist" and "MOONTON!! REMOVE SKY PIERCER AND MY LIFE IS YOURS". The hero itself is simple to describe and hard to play: throw daggers, reset them with your ultimate, recall all of them through one target, and delete that target in about a second when it goes right. This guide covers the build, the emblem, the exact combo, and who beats him.
Is Gusion good in Season 42?
He's an average pick in the numbers and a dangerous one in good hands. Here's where he sits on the two big trackers:
| Tracker (26 Oct 2026) | Tier | Win rate | Pick rate | Ban rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| mlbbhub (all ranks) | B | 48.56% | 1.32% | 3.87% |
| mlbb.io (all ranks) | B (up from C) | 48.5% | 1.3% | 3.6% |
The rank split on mlbbhub (refreshed 26 October 2026) is unusually flat. His win rate barely moves across the ladder: 48.60% in Epic, 48.47% in Legend, 48.46% in Mythic, 48.59% in Mythical Honor and 48.77% in Mythical Glory+. What does change is how scared people are of him. His ban rate falls from 6.00% in Epic and 5.62% in Legend to 3.90% in Mythic, 3.16% in Mythical Honor and just 1.68% in Mythical Glory+. Low-rank players ban the assassin that deleted them last game. High-rank players draft around him instead.
That flat win rate is the honest summary. Gusion isn't a hero who wins games by being picked. He wins games when the player lands the combo on the right target, and loses them when they don't.
What changed for Gusion recently?
Nothing in his kit. The last direct Gusion balance change we found in Liquipedia's patch archive was Patch 1.9.90 (18 June 2025), a buff. The patch note, verbatim (Liquipedia, Patch 1.9.90):
"Reduced skill downtime and increased error tolerance when retreating."
That patch made Shadowblade Slaughter's cooldown a flat 9 seconds (it had been 11 to 9), cut Incandescence's cooldown from 28–20s to 24–16s, and gave the second dash more range and speed.
Two 2026 system changes still touch him. Patch 2.1.88 (17 June 2026) added Gusion to a list of heroes whose "enhanced Basic Attacks... will now be cached and no longer be interrupted by skills" (mlbbhub, Patch 2.1.88), which helps the auto-attack you weave into his combo. And Patch 2.2.16 (16 September 2026) let his empowered basic attacks trigger their HP regen on turrets: "Enhanced Basic Attacks from Sun, Argus, Gusion, Thamuz, Dyrroth, and Masha can now trigger HP Regen effects when attacking Turrets" (Liquipedia, Patch 2.2.16). The live hotfix, 2.2.16a, didn't mention him.
How does Gusion's kit work?
Gusion, "Holy Blade," is an Assassin listed for the Jungle with Burst and Magic Damage specialties and a mana bar. Every number below is from his official skill text as mirrored on Liquipedia and mlbbhub. Damage figures are base values at skill level 1. All of his skills and his passive deal magic damage and scale with magic power, so he builds magic power and magic penetration.
- Passive: Dagger Specialist. Each skill cast adds a rune to his dagger, up to 4 stacks. Each stack makes his next basic attack deal extra damage equal to 3% of the target's Max HP and heal him for 50 (+25% Total Magic Power) HP.
- Skill 1: Sword Spike. Throws a dagger that deals 200 (+50% Total Magic Power) magic damage to the first enemy hit and marks them. Cast it again and Gusion moves behind the marked enemy for another 200 (+100% Total Magic Power). This second cast can't be interrupted while he's moving. Cooldown 9s down to 6s, 50–75 mana.
- Skill 2: Shadowblade Slaughter. Throws a volley of daggers, each dealing 100 (+40% Total Magic Power) magic damage and slowing by 6% for 2 seconds (stacking to 30%). Cast it again to recall the daggers, each dealing 65 (+40% Total Magic Power) on the way back. Cooldown 9s, 60–85 mana.
- Ultimate: Incandescence. Gusion dashes to a target location and resets the cooldowns of Sword Spike and Shadowblade Slaughter. If he cast Shadowblade Slaughter once before the reset, he can throw a second volley of five daggers while the first five stay on the ground, then recall all ten together. Cast again for a short second dash. Cooldown 24s / 20s / 16s.
The ultimate deals no damage at all. It's a reset button, and it's the whole hero: one Gusion rotation is really two rotations stacked back to back. mlbbhub's guide puts it plainly: "Gusion is a one-second assassin."
What is the full Gusion combo?
There are two ways to open, and they use different rules.
The full teamfight combo. This is the sequence in the teamfight tip shown on mlbbhub. Use it when the target is already in range and you're committing:
- Skill 2 – throw the first volley at the target.
- Ultimate – dash in and reset both skills.
- Skill 2 – throw a second volley of five daggers. The first five are still out.
- Skill 1, then Skill 1 again – mark the target, then move behind them.
- Skill 2 (recast) – recall all ten daggers. From behind the target, most of them pass back through on the way, if you're lined up well.
- Ultimate (recast) – dash out, or onto the next low-HP target.
Weave a basic attack between casts whenever you can. Each skill you cast adds a passive stack, so an auto in the middle of the combo carries the 3% Max HP damage and the heal. That's the only sustain in his kit.
The pick attempt. When you're hunting from fog, mlbbhub's guide recommends opening with Skill 1 as a range check. If it lands on the right target, follow with the full rotation. If it misses, don't spend Skill 2 or the ultimate. Without the mark you can't get behind the target, so the recall daggers won't converge on them. Walk away and wait for the cooldown.
And be very careful about diving into three or more enemies. mlbbhub's guide is blunt about it: "The Gusion fantasy is one isolated kill."
Skill order. Level the ultimate whenever it is available. mlbb.io's community data maxes Sword Spike first, then Shadowblade Slaughter. In mid lane, take Shadowblade Slaughter at level 1 for wave clear.
What is the best Gusion build in Season 42?
mlbbhub publishes three curated Gusion builds. They're labelled for Patch 2.1.67. We checked mlbbhub's archive of every later Original Server patch, from 2.1.67a to 2.2.16a: none of the items or talents in these builds appear in them, so the builds still hold. The one related change is Retribution, which Patch 2.1.88's jungle rework made stronger. Costs are from the mlbbhub item database. For every item in the game, see our MLBB items guide.
Jungle burst build (default)
| Slot | Item | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcane Boots | 690 |
| 2 | Genius Wand | 2,000 |
| 3 | Holy Crystal | 3,000 |
| 4 | Divine Glaive | 1,970 |
| 5 | Blood Wings | 2,100 |
| 6 | Winter Crown | 1,910 |
| Total | 11,670 |
The first three items are the core, and they work together:
- Arcane Boots give 10 magic penetration and 40 movement speed.
- Genius Wand adds 75 magic power and 10 more magic penetration. Its passive cuts the target's magic defense by 3 (+0.3 per hero level) for 2 seconds, stacking 3 times. A Gusion combo hits the same target many times in a second, so the wand reaches full stacks almost immediately.
- Holy Crystal is the big damage item: 165 magic power, plus a passive that gives 21–35% extra magic power depending on your level. mlbbhub puts his real spike at Genius Wand plus Holy Crystal, "usually around the 9-to-11 minute mark."
Divine Glaive adds 40% magic penetration, plus extra penetration against high-magic-defense targets, capped at 20%. Blood Wings gives 90 magic power and an 800-point shield that scales with magic power. The shield regenerates 20 seconds after it was last damaged, and it gives extra movement speed while it's up, which helps you walk out after a kill. Winter Crown's active freezes you, untargetable and immune to damage, for 2 seconds (100-second cooldown). Use it when the enemy's burst lands after your combo is done.
Mid execute build
For mid lane, mlbbhub swaps to Arcane Boots, Genius Wand, Starlium Scythe, Holy Crystal, Divine Glaive and Blood Wings (11,980 gold), with Execute instead of Retribution and Master Assassin instead of Seasoned Hunter. Execute exists to finish the targets the combo leaves on a sliver of HP.
The Sky Piercer snowball option
Sky Piercer is the item Reddit loves to hate, and it shows up in 3 of the 7 community Gusion builds on mlbb.io. It costs only 1,500 gold for 60 adaptive attack and 15 movement speed. Its passive executes any hero you damage who is below 4% HP, and each kill adds 10 stacks that raise that threshold by 0.1% each, up to 80 stacks. Every death costs you 30% of your stacks. mlbbhub's third build, "Jungle Snowball Execute," uses it. Buy it when you're already ahead. When you're dying a lot, it does very little.
Swaps. mlbbhub recommends Tough Boots over Arcane Boots when chain crowd control is what stops your combo, Glowing Wand over Blood Wings against healing and shields, and Immortality over Winter Crown for late Lord fights. mlbbhub also warns against Blade of Despair and other physical items, because his skills scale only with magic power: "Gusion deals magic damage, full stop."
What do players actually build?
mlbb.io tracks 7 community Gusion builds submitted between 29 July and 26 September 2026, and they line up with mlbbhub: Arcane Boots in 7 of 7, Genius Wand and Divine Glaive in 6 of 7, Holy Crystal in 5 of 7, and Sky Piercer and Lightning Truncheon in 3 of 7 each. mlbb.io marks Genius Wand as his power spike. Nobody in the sample buys a physical item.
What emblem and battle spell should Gusion use?
Emblem. The Assassin emblem, in 6 of the 7 mlbb.io builds and all three mlbbhub builds. Talent text below is from mlbbhub's emblem data:
- Rupture: gives 5 adaptive penetration. Gusion's extra magic power is always higher than his extra physical attack, so it turns into magic penetration.
- Seasoned Hunter: +15% damage against Lord and Turtle, halved against regular creeps. It's the jungle pick. In mid, mlbbhub uses Master Assassin instead, which adds 7% damage to a hero when they're the only enemy hero nearby. That's exactly the kind of target Gusion hunts.
- Killing Spree: when you damage a hero below 30% HP, you instantly recover 15% of your lost HP and gain 20% movement speed for 3 seconds. Killing an enemy hero resets its 30-second cooldown, which is how you chain from one kill to the next.
Some community builds use Lethal Ignition instead (4 of 7 on mlbb.io). It fires after you deal damage above 7% of a hero's Max HP three times in 5 seconds. mlbbhub argues against it for Gusion, because his combo usually finishes before the extra burn adds anything. Our emblem guide covers every talent.
Battle spell. Retribution in the jungle (71% of mlbb.io's builds). Execute in mid lane. Petrify shows up in the other 29% of community builds. The battle spells guide explains how each one works.
How do you play Gusion?
Jungle or mid? Liquipedia lists him as a jungler and mlbbhub's main build is a jungle build, but mlbb.io lists both Jungle and Mid Lane. He works in either. The jungle gives you the fastest route to level 4, and level 4 is when Gusion becomes Gusion. You can see how he stacks up against other junglers in our best jungle heroes for Season 42 list.
Early game (before level 4). Don't force fights. Without the ultimate, you get one Skill 1 and one Skill 2 per cycle, and a miss leaves you with nothing. mlbbhub suggests starting blue in the jungle, because he is mana-hungry. In mid, clear waves with Shadowblade Slaughter and wait. A Reddit reply on facing mid Gusion gets the matchup right from the other side: "You can outpoke and snowball pre-lv4."
Mid game (minutes 9 to 18). This is your window. Genius Wand and Holy Crystal are done, and a clean full combo can delete a squishy mage or marksman. Wait in the fog, pick one target, throw Skill 1 from out of sight, and only commit if it lands on the right hero. If it hits the tank, walk away.
Late game. The enemy has magic defense and more HP, and your combo stops one-shotting. Play for picks on whoever wanders off alone, and use Winter Crown or Immortality to survive the return fire.
Pick him when the enemy has a squishy, immobile carry and little instant crowd control. Skip him when the enemy draft has two or more of Lolita, Khufra, Chou, Franco or Ruby, which mlbbhub's guide lists as the heroes that break his combo.
Who counters Gusion?
Both trackers agree on the top four:
| Counter | mlbbhub | mlbb.io |
|---|---|---|
| Lolita | +3.4 | +3.2 |
| Roger | +2.2 | +2.1 |
| Khufra | +2.1 | +2.2 |
| Chip | +1.8 | +2.3 |
| Eudora | +1.8 | — |
(Win-rate edge against Gusion in percentage points, as each site reports it, 26 October 2026.)
Lolita is the hard counter, and Moonton says so itself. The official threat note (mirrored on mlbbhub) reads: "Gusion's daggers of 'Sword Spike' and 'Shadowblade Slaughter' will be counteracted by the shield provided by Lolita's 'Guardian's Bulwark'. This will largely lower the damage Gusion deal to his enemies." Khufra and Chip have crowd control that stops him mid-combo. Roger is durable enough to survive the burst and punish him for it.
Who Gusion beats: both sites list Aamon (+2.6 on mlbbhub, +1.3 on mlbb.io). mlbbhub adds Valir (+2.2), Yve (+2.1), X.Borg (+1.8) and Natalia (+1.7). Moonton's official counter note names Pharsa, who "can't escape" because Gusion catches her with Sword Spike and Incandescence. His best teammate on mlbb.io is Johnson (+3.4), and Moonton's ally note names Angela, whose Heartguard keeps him alive after he dives.
How to beat Gusion if you're facing him
- Draft Lolita. Her shield eats both waves of daggers.
- Punish him before level 4. Without the ultimate reset, he's a mage with a slow and one blink.
- Stay grouped. He wants an isolated target. If your carry stands next to the tank, he has to dive into the whole team to reach them.
- Save crowd control for the dive. He can't be interrupted while Sword Spike moves him behind a target, but the throws and the recall can be. Hit him the moment he lands.
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Picking Gusion for mid instead? Compare him with the mages in our best mid lane heroes for Season 42.
FAQ
Is Gusion good in MLBB Season 42? He's B-tier on both mlbbhub and mlbb.io for Patch 2.2.16a, winning about 48.5% of ranked games. His win rate is almost the same at every rank, from 48.46% in Mythic to 48.77% in Mythical Glory+, but he's banned far more in Epic (6.00%) than in Mythical Glory+ (1.68%).
What is the best build for Gusion? mlbbhub's default jungle build is Arcane Boots, Genius Wand, Holy Crystal, Divine Glaive, Blood Wings and Winter Crown, for 11,670 gold. Use the Assassin emblem with Rupture, Seasoned Hunter and Killing Spree, and Retribution. In mid, swap in Starlium Scythe, Master Assassin and Execute.
What is Gusion's combo? The full teamfight combo is Skill 2, ultimate, Skill 2, Skill 1, Skill 1 again, then recast Skill 2 to recall all ten daggers through the target. The ultimate resets both skills, so you get two five-dagger volleys before the recall. When hunting from fog, open with Skill 1 instead and only commit if it hits.
Is Gusion physical or magic damage? His skills and passive deal magic damage and scale with magic power, so build magic power and magic penetration. Physical items like Blade of Despair don't help his combo.
Should Gusion buy Sky Piercer? Only when you're ahead. It executes heroes below 4% HP, and the threshold grows with every kill, but you lose 30% of your stacks each time you die. Three of the seven community builds on mlbb.io use it.
Who counters Gusion? Lolita is the strongest counter on both mlbbhub and mlbb.io, because her shield blocks his daggers. Khufra, Chip and Roger also have a clear edge.
Stats checked on 26 October 2026 against mlbbhub (Patch 2.2.16a, rank table refreshed 26 October 2026), mlbb.io (data updated 25 October 2026) and Liquipedia's patch archive. Patch 2.2.16a is the live Original Server patch; anything you see from the Advance Server isn't in the live game. Hero numbers change often in MLBB, so check the patch number before you trust any guide, including this one.
