MLBB Season 40 Tier List: Best Heroes for Every Role

MLBB Season 40 Meta: What's Changed

Season 40 of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang has brought significant meta shifts. The latest balance patches have shaken up the tier lists across every role, with several previously dominant heroes falling out of favor and a few unexpected picks climbing to the top. This tier list reflects the current ranked meta as of March 2026, focused on what's actually winning games from Legend to Mythical Glory.

A quick note on tier definitions: S-tier heroes are pick-or-ban worthy and dominate when played correctly. A-tier heroes are strong, reliable choices that fit into most team compositions. B-tier heroes are situationally effective but have clear weaknesses or are outperformed by higher-tier options.

Tank

S-Tier

• Khufra: His ball-form engage remains one of the best initiation tools in the game. The recent buff to his passive healing makes him harder to poke out of lane, and his ability to counter dash-heavy compositions keeps him permanently relevant.
• Atlas: The ultimate teamfight disruptor. A well-timed Fatal Links can single-handedly win a teamfight, and his roaming speed lets him maintain map presence across all three lanes.

A-Tier

• Cici: Surprisingly effective as a tank-roamer in Season 40. Her crowd control chains well with aggressive junglers, and her mobility makes her one of the best vision-control tanks in the game.
• Akai: The wall-pin specialist. In the right hands, Akai can remove a key enemy carry from every teamfight. Less consistent than Khufra or Atlas, but devastating when the map geometry favors him.
• Tigreal: The classic. His kit hasn't changed much, but it doesn't need to. Flicker-ultimate is still one of the most game-changing combos in Mobile Legends.

B-Tier

• Grock: Fell out of favor due to the meta shifting toward sustained fights rather than early-game aggression. Still viable but outclassed.
• Minotaur: His rage mechanic makes him inconsistent. When his ultimate is up, he's an A-tier tank. When it's not, he's a liability.

Fighter

S-Tier

• Arlott: The EXP lane king this season. His sustain, burst, and crowd control give him winning matchups against almost every other fighter. The recent adjustment to his passive made him even stickier in extended trades.
• Cici: Yes, she's here too. Cici's versatility is her greatest strength. Played as a fighter, she becomes an unkillable split-pusher with strong 1v1 potential.

A-Tier

• Yu Zhong: The Black Dragon thrives in the current meta of extended teamfights. His transformation provides massive AoE damage and sustain that tanks struggle to deal with.
• Esmeralda: Shield-stealing remains a powerful mechanic, especially against compositions that rely on shield-heavy supports. She's a counter-pick specialist who can hard-carry when drafted correctly.
• Paquito: Still a strong pick for players who can execute his combos consistently. His burst-and-disengage playstyle punishes positioning errors hard.

B-Tier

• Terizla: Immobile and predictable, but his damage output is genuinely terrifying. Works best in lower ranks where opponents don't kite him effectively.
• Balmond: A solid early-game bully who falls off significantly past the 10-minute mark.

Assassin

S-Tier

• Ling: Wall-hopping assassin who continues to terrorize backlines. His ability to access any fight from any angle makes him impossible to fully counter. Requires high mechanical skill but rewards it generously.
• Fanny: In the hands of a specialist, Fanny is the most oppressive jungler in the game. Her cable mobility is unmatched, and a fed Fanny can end games before opponents have time to scale.

A-Tier

• Joy: Her dash-reset mechanic gives her incredible chase potential and teamfight mobility. She's less burst-oriented than Ling but more consistent in drawn-out skirmishes.
• Lancelot: The elegant assassin remains a strong pick with his invincibility frames and burst combo. Slightly less dominant than in previous seasons due to tank itemization buffs.
• Hayabusa: The split-push assassin. Hayabusa's strength isn't raw teamfight power. It's forcing enemies to make bad rotations by constantly threatening side lanes.

B-Tier

• Saber: His point-and-click ultimate is reliable but his overall kit feels outdated. Useful as a counter-pick against immobile mages.
• Karina: Needs snowball leads to be effective. If she falls behind, she offers very little to the team.

Mage

S-Tier

• Valentina: Her ultimate, which copies an enemy hero's ultimate, makes her the most adaptable mage in the game. In a meta where ultimate abilities are fight-deciding, Valentina's value is enormous.
• Yve: Her zoning ultimate controls massive areas of the map, making her the premier teamfight mage. The recent buff to her first skill's damage has improved her laning phase significantly.

A-Tier

• Pharsa: Long-range artillery that can safely contribute to fights from fog of war. Her bird-form mobility gives her surprising roaming capability for a mage.
• Kagura: High skill ceiling, high reward. Her umbrella mechanics allow for outplay potential that no other mage can match, but she demands precision.
• Xavier: Global ultimate pressure combined with solid lane poke. Xavier punishes teams that group up and rewards players with strong map awareness.

B-Tier

• Eudora: The one-shot specialist. Simple but effective in lower ranks. Falls off hard against players who build magic defense or position properly.
• Nana: Her passive makes her hard to kill, but her damage output is mediocre. Best used as an anti-assassin pick rather than a primary damage source.

Marksman

S-Tier

• Brody: His stacking passive and long-range ultimate make him the most oppressive laning marksman. He spikes earlier than almost any other marksman and stays relevant throughout the game.
• Melissa: Her anti-dive kit makes her the safest marksman pick in the current meta. Against assassin-heavy compositions, she's practically unkillable with proper positioning.

A-Tier

• Wanwan: Her ultimate's invulnerability and potential for multi-kills makes her a teamfight powerhouse, but she needs to hit weakness marks to activate it, adding a mechanical barrier.
• Claude: The DHS (Demon Hunter Sword) abuser. Claude melts tanks and thrives in extended fights. His teleport gives him repositioning options that most marksmen lack.
• Beatrix: Four weapons, four playstyles. Her versatility is her selling point, and the ability to adapt her damage type mid-game gives her unique strategic value.

B-Tier

• Layla: Longest attack range in the game but zero mobility. Effective when protected but collapses quickly against competent dive compositions.
• Hanabi: Her immunity shield is nice, but she takes too long to come online. Games in Season 40 are often decided before she hits her power spike.

Support

S-Tier

• Rafaela: Don't sleep on Rafaela in Season 40. Her heal-and-speed buff combination enables aggressive rotations, and her ultimate is a massive teamfight tool. She quietly became one of the best supports in the game.
• Angela: The global presence support. Her ability to attach to a diving fighter or assassin and provide heals, shields, and crowd control from safety makes her a force multiplier for aggressive team compositions.

A-Tier

• Estes: Pure healing output that can turn losing fights into winning ones. Strong against poke compositions but vulnerable to burst damage and anti-heal items.
• Diggie: The anti-CC specialist. In a meta filled with crowd control chains, Diggie's ultimate provides team-wide immunity that can completely negate enemy initiation.
• Floryn: Global healing ultimate and a free extra item for a teammate. Her value is understated but consistent across all stages of the game.

B-Tier

• Faramis: His resurrection zone is either game-winning or completely useless, with very little in between. Too situational for consistent ranked play.

Meta Summary

Season 40's meta rewards aggressive, rotation-heavy play. Teams that secure early objectives and snowball through map control are winning more games than passive scaling compositions. The strongest drafts combine a durable frontline (Khufra/Atlas), a mobile jungler (Ling/Fanny), and a marksman who can survive dives (Melissa/Brody).

Adaptability is key. The heroes ranked highest here aren't necessarily the ones with the biggest numbers. They're the ones that give you the most options in any game state.