Quick answer (22 October 2026, Patch 2.2.16a, Season 42 "Starward Decade"): Build Swift Boots, Corrosion Scythe, Demon Hunter Sword, Golden Staff, Malefic Gun, plus Rose Gold Meteor, Sea Halberd or Wind of Nature as the situational last slot. Take the Marksman emblem with Swift, Bargain Hunter and Weakness Finder, and run Aegis as your battle spell. Skip the crit build: Golden Staff turns crit chance into Attack Speed.
Those picks come from the 15 community builds submitted to mlbb.io between 24 July and 20 October 2026: 13 run Corrosion Scythe, 12 run Demon Hunter Sword, and 80% take Aegis. Hanabi holds a 52.36% ranked win rate (A-tier) on mlbbhub, even after the Patch 2.2.16 nerf to her Petal Blade bounces.
Is Hanabi still good after the Patch 2.2.16 nerf?
Yes. She's a strong pick when the enemy wants to fight in a group, and a weak one into fast divers.
Patch 2.2.16 shipped on 16 September 2026 with Season 42, and Hanabi was one of the nerfed heroes (see our MLBB patch notes). The change was a single new rule on her passive. Here is Moonton's design note, quoted from the in-game patch text mirrored on Liquipedia:
"Hanabi dealt excessive damage to a single target through consecutive Petal Blade bounces in small-scale team fights. To preserve her single-target poke during the laning phase, we haven't changed her base bounce damage. Instead, we've added a bounce damage falloff."
The patch line itself reads: "When Hanabi's Basic Attack or skill bounces hit the same target repeatedly, subsequent bounces deal 30% less damage…" Patch 2.2.16a (14 October) didn't touch her again.
So the nerf hit 1v1s and 2v2s, where her bounces kept landing on the same body. Five-man fights, where the bounces spread across several targets, barely changed. The current numbers bear that out:
| Source (fetched 22 Oct 2026) | Tier | Win rate | Pick rate | Ban rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| mlbbhub, ranked, Patch 2.2.16a | A | 52.36% | 2.52% | 5% |
| mlbb.io, all ranks (data updated 21 Oct) | S (up from A) | 52.6% | 2.6% | 4.9% |
mlbb.io sums her up like this: "Hanabi is the most-spammed Gold Laner in Mythic today and still holds 52.4% wins — free wins if you can aim." Our Gold Lane heroes ranking explains why the lane as a whole lost power this season. Hanabi came out of the nerf better than most of the others.
How does Hanabi's kit work?
Hanabi, "The Scarlet Flower", is a Gold Lane Marksman (specialty Finisher/Damage) who uses mana and was released in April 2018. The values below come from the official skill text mirrored on Liquipedia's Hanabi page. That page doesn't show the 2.2.16 falloff line yet, so read it alongside the patch note above.
| Skill | What it does | Key numbers |
|---|---|---|
| Ninjutsu: Petal Barrage (passive) | Her basic attacks and skills launch Petal Blades that bounce up to 4 times to nearby enemies. Bounces from basic attacks inherit her Attack Effects. Since 2.2.16, repeated bounces on the same target deal 30% less. | Up to 4 bounces |
| Ninjutsu: Equinox (Skill 1) | Passive: whenever she has a shield from any source, she is immune to control effects. Active: a 5-second shield that grants +20% Movement Speed and +25% Attack Speed. 20% of her damage to heroes (10% to non-heroes) is added to the shield, capped at 50% of her max HP. | Shield 300–600 (+40% Total PA), CD 15s → 10s |
| Ninjutsu: Soul Scroll (Skill 2) | Fires a kunai that deals 350–600 (+80% Total PA) physical damage, slows by 60% for 1s and marks targets. Her next basic-attack bounce on a marked enemy deals extra damage with no damage decay. | CD 8s → 6s |
| Forbidden Jutsu: Higanbana (Ultimate) | Throws Higanbana at the first enemy hero hit for 300–500 (+50% Total PA) and immobilizes them for 0.8s. After 1s it blooms and damages nearby enemies; since 2.2.16, a repeat hit on the same target takes the 30% falloff. | CD 40/35/30s |
Two things follow from this table. They're why the build below looks the way it does:
- Equinox gives her control immunity. Her whole fight depends on having a shield up when the enemy's crowd control lands. The passive counts any shield, including Aegis or a shield from a teammate. So more shield sources mean more time she can't be stunned.
- The passive multiplies Attack Effects. Every item that adds on-hit damage (Corrosion Scythe, Demon Hunter Sword) also applies through her bounces. That's why on-hit items beat raw crit on her.
What is the best Hanabi build in Season 42?
There's no official "best build", and the community data has a clear limit. mlbb.io says it plainly: "Build submissions carry no match outcome… It reports how many players run each choice, and nothing more." Treat the numbers below as what players submit and run, not as proof that a build wins more. Item costs and passives are from mlbbhub's item database (catalog regenerated 19 October 2026).
| Slot | Item | Builds using it (of 15) | Cost | Why it's there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boots | Swift Boots | 7 | 710 | +15% Attack Speed. Some builds skip boots entirely. |
| Core 1 | Corrosion Scythe | 13 | 2,050 | +30% Attack Speed. Its Impulse passive stacks another +6% per hit (up to 5). This is her first power spike. |
| Core 2 | Demon Hunter Sword | 12 | 2,180 | Basic attacks deal 8% of the target's current HP and heal (10 + 4 × hero level). This shreds tanks and keeps her healthy in long fights. |
| Core 3 | Golden Staff | 9 | 2,000 | After every 2 non-critical basics, the next one triggers Attack Effects 2 extra times. That stacks with her bounces. |
| Core 4 | Malefic Gun | 8 | 2,120 | +30% Physical Penetration and +12% basic-attack range |
| Flex | Windtalker | 5 | 1,880 | Attack speed and wave clear. Pick this if you're leaning crit. |
| Defensive | Rose Gold Meteor | 5 | 1,820 | A shield when you drop below 30% HP (60s cooldown). Good against burst. |
mlbbhub's curated "Gold Lane Shield DPS" set lands almost exactly on this consensus: Swift Boots, Corrosion Scythe, Demon Hunter Sword, Golden Staff, Sea Halberd, Rose Gold Meteor, for a total of 10,810 gold. The one difference is that it uses Sea Halberd as the anti-heal slot instead of Malefic Gun.
Build order that works in practice: Corrosion Scythe → Demon Hunter Sword is the checkpoint. mlbbhub's guide puts it "usually around the eight to ten minute mark if lane did not collapse" and says that's when you start contesting objective fights. Boots can come before or after Scythe, depending on how much pressure your lane is under.
Situational swaps
- Sea Halberd (2,050) against Estes, Floryn, Rafaela or heavy lifesteal. It cuts shields and HP regen to 60% for 3 seconds after each hit.
- Wind of Nature (1,910) against physical assassins and double physical dive. It makes you immune to physical damage for 2s (90s cooldown).
- Malefic Roar (2,060) if the enemy front line is stacking armor and Malefic Gun's penetration isn't enough.
- Rose Gold Meteor (1,820) as the burst hedge when one mage or assassin keeps deleting you before your autos come online.
Should Hanabi build crit?
Usually not. That's the argument in the r/MobileLegendsGame thread that prompted this guide. A player posted a full-crit "Critnabi" game, and the replies were brutal: "she just tickles the carmilla" and "crits doing 300dmg." The item text explains the result.
- Golden Staff and crit don't mix. Its Swift passive turns crit chance into Attack Speed ("Every 1% of critical chance gained will increase attack speed by 1%", per the item text), and its Endless Strike passive counts "2 non-critical Basic Attacks". With Golden Staff in the bag, the crit chance on crit items stops paying out as crits. A real crit build has to drop Golden Staff, her best on-hit multiplier.
- Her passive multiplies Attack Effects, not crit. Corrosion Scythe's bonus damage and Demon Hunter Sword's 8% current-HP damage both ride the Petal Blade bounces. A crit build gives that up for raw damage on the main target, and since Patch 2.2.16 that's exactly where her bounces now fall off.
- Crit has one real use. mlbbhub calls it "a draft exception, not the default": the enemy has only one real front-liner, your team already controls tempo, and you need squishy fights to end faster. In that case, Windtalker into Berserker's Fury (2,390) or Haas's Claws (2,020) is fine. Commit to it fully. A half-crit, half-on-hit inventory is the worst of both.
What emblem and battle spell should Hanabi use?
Emblem: the Marksman emblem appears in 9 of the 15 mlbb.io builds. The recommended setup takes one talent from each tier: Swift in slot 1 (7 builds), Bargain Hunter in slot 2 (5 builds) and Weakness Finder as the core talent in slot 3 (7 builds). They stack, so you get all three. Our emblem guide covers what each talent does.
Battle spell: Aegis is in 80% of the builds. It works because Aegis is a shield, and any shield turns on Equinox's control immunity. That gives her a second window of crowd-control immunity while Equinox is on cooldown (without Equinox's speed bonuses). Flicker is the other real option. mlbbhub's guide calls it the safer default "because Hanabi dies to the second layer of danger, not the first one", and saves Aegis for drafts where your front line handles the engage. The battle spells guide compares both.
Skill priority: mlbbhub's guide says to put early points into Soul Scroll before Equinox, because the mark is how you win lane trades. Level the ultimate whenever it's available. If your lane is under constant dive pressure, an early extra point in Equinox for the bigger shield is a reasonable deviation.
How do you play Hanabi? Combos, lane and teamfights
Lane (first 5 minutes): open with Soul Scroll on the wave and the enemy marksman together, then auto the marked target so the bounce gets its no-decay bonus. Keep the wave on your half until your roamer or jungler shows up. Against lane bullies, an even lane is a good lane. mlbbhub lists Bruno, Beatrix and Irithel as the gold laners that force Hanabi onto the back foot. The goal is your Corrosion Scythe and Demon Hunter Sword timing, not early kills.
Teamfight combo: this follows mlbbhub's guide text.
- Soul Scroll (Skill 2) into the group to slow and mark.
- Higanbana (ultimate) on a hero who has already committed to walking in. That immobilizes them, and the bloom hits everyone standing near them.
- Equinox (Skill 1) before the enemy engage lands, not after. The shield only protects you from crowd control that hasn't hit yet.
- Basic attacks on whoever is in the middle of the group, usually the diver or bruiser who reached your line, rather than the enemy carry at the back. Each bounce needs nearby targets to land on.
Positioning: stand one layer behind your peel. If you hang back at max range, you cut your bounces off from the group. If you step past your tank, you hand the enemy a free kill. Hanabi plays best in narrow spaces like the entrances to the Lord pit. She plays worst in open-river chases and isolated side lanes. Those are the 1v1 and 2v2 fights Patch 2.2.16 nerfed.
Who counters Hanabi, and who does she beat?
The two trackers measure slightly different windows, but they agree on the top three. Figures are win-rate edges in percentage points from head-to-head ranked games, fetched 21 October 2026.
| Counters Hanabi | mlbbhub (7-day) | mlbb.io (20 Oct) |
|---|---|---|
| Lolita | +3.7 | +3.0 |
| Beatrix | +3.4 | +3.0 |
| Wanwan | +2.8 | +3.2 |
| Joy | — | +3.0 |
| Karina | — | +2.3 |
mlbb.io also flags a rank split. Wanwan, Joy and Karina barely trouble Hanabi in Epic but become real counters in Mythic+, because they need coordinated, high-skill play. Ixia, Yve and Granger counter her in Epic but fall off in Mythic+. Burst divers like Hayabusa and Natalia are the other danger, because they can reach her before the shield-and-lifesteal loop gets going. If you're playing against Hanabi, mlbb.io's item answer is Blade Armor or Antique Cuirass.
Hanabi beats (mlbb.io): Popol and Kupa +3.7, Kaja +2.7, Moskov +2.2, Kalea +2.0, Arlott +1.3. mlbbhub agrees on Popol and Kupa (+3.0) and Kaja (+2.2), and adds Saber (+2.5). The pattern makes sense. Heroes who rely on landing crowd control on her lose to a marksman who's immune to control while shielded. Best teammates (mlbb.io synergy): Lolita +2.2, Mathilda +1.6, Roger +1.3.
For where she sits against every other hero this season, see the Season 42 tier list.
Want Hanabi on a ranked-ready account, or a Gold Lane climb handled for you? timesaver.gg covers both, and the build above works the same either way.
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FAQ
Is Hanabi still good after the Season 42 nerf? Yes. Patch 2.2.16 added a 30% falloff when her bounces keep hitting the same target, which weakened her in small fights. She still holds a 52.36% (mlbbhub, A-tier) to 52.6% (mlbb.io, S-tier) ranked win rate as of 22 October 2026, Patch 2.2.16a.
What is the best build for Hanabi? Corrosion Scythe and Demon Hunter Sword first, then Golden Staff, Malefic Gun and Swift Boots, with Rose Gold Meteor, Sea Halberd or Wind of Nature as the situational last slot. Those are the most common items across 15 recent community builds on mlbb.io.
Should I build crit on Hanabi? Only in drafts with almost no enemy front line. Golden Staff converts crit chance into Attack Speed, so a crit build has to drop it, and her passive multiplies on-hit Attack Effects rather than crits. Crit gives up her biggest damage multiplier.
What is the best emblem for Hanabi? The Marksman emblem with Swift (slot 1), Bargain Hunter (slot 2) and Weakness Finder (slot 3). It's the most common setup in the current community builds.
Aegis or Flicker on Hanabi? Aegis is in 80% of current builds, because any shield turns on Equinox's control immunity. Pick Flicker when the enemy has burst divers who can reach you twice in one fight.
Who is the best counter to Hanabi? Lolita, Beatrix and Wanwan top both mlbbhub's and mlbb.io's counter lists, with edges of about 3 percentage points each. Wanwan, Joy and Karina get stronger against her in Mythic and above.
Data in this guide: Patch 2.2.16a (Original Server), Season 42, checked 22 October 2026. Win rates and builds change with every patch, so check back after the next Original Server update.
