Quick answer: As of 16 September 2026 — the launch day of Season 42 "Starward Decade" — there is no single official Mobile Legends tier list, and the credible third-party lists genuinely disagree. Post-launch win-rate data (mlbbhub, 16 Sep) puts revamped Masha, Rafaela, Marcel, Melissa and Gloo at the top, while editorial lists written before the revamps still have Masha in B-tier. The eight Season 42 revamps — Masha, Bruno, Brody, Kadita, Badang, Clint, Paquito and Luo Yi — reset the meta, and only Masha received a full gameplay rework. This guide shows you what each list says, why they disagree, and how to read a tier list without getting burned. Every claim is dated to Season 42 / mid-September 2026; MLBB balance shifts monthly, so check the patch stamp before you trust any list — including this one.
Key takeaways
- Season 42 "Starward Decade" is live as of 16 September 2026, launching alongside the game's 10th Anniversary. Confirmed by post-launch coverage from esports.id (16 Sep) and community trackers.
- Eight heroes were revamped at launch: Masha, Bruno, Brody, Kadita, Badang, Clint, Paquito, Luo Yi. Only Masha is a full gameplay rework — the other seven are primarily visual reworks with skill tweaks.
- The tier lists don't agree, and that's the real story. Masha ranges from S-tier ("hidden OP") on post-launch win-rate data to B/C-tier on lists written before the revamp.
- A tier list is only as good as its patch stamp and its method. Win-rate lists, pro pick-ban lists, and solo-queue opinion lists measure different things and will never line up perfectly.
- Ban priorities that multiple lists agree on right now: Hirara, Eudora, Belerick, Melissa and Guinevere are recurring must-bans in mid-September 2026 reporting.
Why there is no "official" Mobile Legends tier list
Moonton does not publish a tier list. Every ranking you see — on esports.gg, ONE Esports, GamingOnPhone, Sportskeeda, or a community tracker — is a third party's interpretation of the current patch. That matters more in Mobile Legends than in most games, because the game runs on a roughly monthly patch cadence and a ~3-month ranked season, so a "best heroes" list has a short shelf life.
Right now that shelf life is measured in days, not weeks. Season 41 "Scarlet Embers" ended and Season 42 "Starward Decade" went live on 16 September 2026, carrying eight hero revamps. Any tier list published before that date is describing a meta that no longer exists. If you're reading a list with no patch or date stamp, close the tab — that's the single most important rule on this page.
One honest caveat up front: Moonton does not pre-publish Original Server version numbers, and the live Season 42 build number is genuinely unconfirmed. Some trackers label it patch 2.2.16, but that same number is also reported as an Advance Server patch, which is a separate test track whose changes routinely never ship. So this guide anchors to Season 42, mid-September 2026 rather than a specific live version number.
The eight Season 42 revamps that reset the meta
Season 42 shipped visual and gameplay reworks for Masha, Bruno, Brody, Kadita, Badang, Clint, Paquito and Luo Yi — a list confirmed in the 9 September preview (GamingOnPhone) and re-confirmed by independent post-launch coverage on 16 September. No hero was dropped or swapped from the preview list.
The crucial distinction, and the one most tier lists get lazy about: only Masha received a full gameplay rework. The other seven are largely visual reworks with skill optimizations — they look new, but they don't necessarily play differently enough to jump tiers. Treat "revamped" and "buffed" as two different words.
Masha: the flashpoint of every Season 42 tier list
Masha's rework is the reason the lists disagree so violently. According to consistent reporting across GamingOnPhone, GameMarket and esports.id, revamped Masha now:
- Deals AoE damage on her basic attacks, turning her into a teamfight brawler rather than a solo split-pusher.
- Has her second skill reworked into a blink, giving her the mobility her old kit lacked.
- Can stun with her ultimate while enabling burst damage.
- Keeps her identity as a scaling sustained-combat brawler — she gets stronger the longer a fight runs, healing off the damage she deals. As esports.id put it, her "strength increases as the match progresses."
That profile — low pick rate, high win rate, brand-new combos — is exactly what splits the tier lists in half, which brings us to the actual rankings.
Mobile Legends tier list — Season 42, mid-September 2026
Below are the credible lists as they stand right now, presented as separate data points, not merged into one fake consensus. Each row tells you the source, the date, and — critically — what it measures. Where they agree is a stronger signal than where any one of them shouts.
Post-launch win-rate model — mlbbhub, updated 16 September 2026 (ranks by win rate against a 50% baseline, adjusted by pick/ban contest):
- S-tier: Rafaela (~58.5% WR), Marcel (~58.4% WR, heavily banned), Melissa (~57.0% WR), Masha (~56.1% WR, flagged "hidden OP"), Gloo (~54.6% WR), plus Minotaur, Argus, Khufra, Estes, Miya and Floryn in the top band.
Pre-revamp editorial lists — for contrast:
- Pocket Tactics (updated 7 August 2026) places Masha in B-tier (Fighter) and C-tier (Tank), with Hayabusa, Arlott, Lancelot, Suyou and Sun near the top. This list predates Season 42 entirely.
- Gfinity Esports (updated 14 September 2026) describes a "September 2026 meta" with Belerick, Sun, Silvanna, Yi Sun-shin and the Rafaela/Floryn support core on top — and still lists Masha in B-tier.
The single clearest disagreement: Masha is S-tier on the one list built on post-launch data, and B-tier on the lists written before her rework landed. Both can be "right" for what they measure — one is reacting to 16 September win rates, the others are describing the meta as it was days earlier. If you're picking heroes today, weight the post-launch data; if you want a settled meta, wait a week for the pick rates to stabilize.
One rare point of agreement worth trusting more: the sustain-support meta. mlbbhub, GameMarket and Gfinity independently elevate Rafaela, Floryn and Estes. When three lists using three different methods all land on the same heroes, that's the closest thing to a real signal you'll get on launch day.
How to actually read a tier list
Three questions decide whether a list is worth anything:
- What patch and date is it stamped to? No stamp, no trust. A Season 41 list is worthless for Season 42 climbing.
- What is it measuring? Win rate rewards easy-to-pilot, low-pick heroes (that's why Masha spikes). Pro pick-ban rewards heroes that warp the draft. Solo-queue opinion rewards heroes that carry a bad team. These produce different lists on purpose.
- Who wrote it, and do they show their method? A tracker that publishes a data window and a win-rate baseline is more useful than a single creator's Epic-rank opinion — even if the creator is good.
Who to ban in Season 42
Ban priority is where the lists converge more than the S-tier does, because a hero that wins the draft is easier to agree on than the "single best hero." Across mid-September 2026 reporting, the recurring must-bans are:
- Hirara and Eudora — the highest ban rates on post-launch data (both above 60% on mlbbhub, 16 Sep).
- Belerick — a recurring roam ban across multiple lists.
- Melissa and Guinevere — flagged as high-priority bans on both win-rate and opinion lists.
- Marcel and Gloo — high contest heroes: strong when picked, so frequently removed.
Two cautions. First, these numbers are early — launch-day ban rates move fast as players adapt. Second, despite the pre-launch preview chatter, Paquito is not currently a top reported ban after his revamp; some balance notes actually trimmed his early-game burst, so don't reflex-ban him on reputation alone.
Get season-ready faster
Season resets wipe your rank and hand you a fresh climb — and the Season 42 meta is unusually open right now while everyone relearns eight revamped heroes. If you'd rather spend that window at the rank you actually play at instead of re-grinding calibration, timesaver.gg can help:
Want to skip the reset grind and start Season 42 where you belong? These services are the fastest routes into the new meta.
- Mobile Legends Accounts — ranked-ready MLBB accounts with hero and skin collections and instant handover, so you can jump straight into the Season 42 heroes.
- Mobile Legends Rank Boost — Warrior to Mythical Immortal, piloted or self-play, pick your target rank.
- All Mobile Legends services — the full hub for accounts, rank and more.
We only describe what we deliver and our own handling — we make no claims about game rules, account safety guarantees, or ban risk.
For the mechanics behind the climb, read our companion guides: how the Season 42 rank reset works and everything new in the Season 42 "Starward Decade" update.
FAQ
Is revamped Masha actually good in Season 42, or still a troll pick? Early post-launch win-rate data (mlbbhub, 16 September 2026) puts revamped Masha in S-tier at roughly a 56% win rate and flags her as a "hidden OP" pick because her pick rate is still very low. That combination — high win rate, low pick rate — usually means a hero is strong but slept-on rather than genuinely bad. The catch is that it's launch-day data; treat "S-tier Masha" as an early read, not a settled fact.
Do I have to relearn Masha's combos after the revamp? Yes. Her second skill is now a blink and her ultimate can stun, so her old positioning-and-sustain playstyle doesn't fully carry over. If you were a Masha main, expect to re-practice her rotations before you take her into ranked.
Why do different Mobile Legends tier lists rank the revamped heroes so differently? Because they measure different things and were written on different dates. Lists built on post-Season-42 win-rate data (like mlbbhub's 16 September update) react instantly to the revamps, while editorial lists written in early-to-mid September still reflect the pre-revamp meta. A win-rate model and a single creator's ranked opinion will almost never produce the same order — that's expected, not a mistake.
Which of the eight Season 42 revamps actually changed how the hero plays? Only Masha received a full gameplay rework. Bruno, Brody, Kadita, Badang, Clint, Paquito and Luo Yi got primarily visual reworks with skill optimizations, so they look new but mostly play the way they did before. Don't assume all eight jumped tiers just because they were "revamped."
What patch is the current Mobile Legends meta on? The meta is on Season 42 "Starward Decade," live from 16 September 2026. Moonton doesn't pre-publish Original Server version numbers, and the exact live build number for Season 42 is currently unconfirmed across trackers — so anchor any tier list to the season and date rather than a version number.
Who should I ban in Season 42 ranked? As of mid-September 2026, the most consistently reported must-bans are Hirara, Eudora, Belerick, Melissa and Guinevere, with Marcel and Gloo close behind. Ban rates shift quickly right after a season launch, so re-check before a big ranked session.
This tier list is valid for Season 42 "Starward Decade" as of 16 September 2026. Mobile Legends balance changes roughly monthly — we'll refresh this page as the Season 42 meta settles and the next patch lands.
