Welcome back to our 2nd Mobile Legends Tier List, this time featuring January 2020 and the start of season 15 already! As you probably have guessed, our new list will look quite different from the previous; huge map adjustments and balance tweaks caused severe shifts in the meta.
Read – Mobile Legends Map Update Chess-TD and Silvanna
For now, lets start with a comprehensive table of how individual Heroes fare at the start of S15. If you’re looking for specific details on the Meta, make sure to check out the following analysis.
| Tier | Marksman | Mage | Assassin | Fighter | Tank | Support |
| S: Overpowered | Kimmy Granger | Kimmy | Helcurt Ling | X-Borg Masha Chou | Khufra Hylos Grock | Kaja |
| S-: Strong | Wanwan Claude Bruno | Esmeralda Lylia Chang’e Zhask Valir | Gusion Hayabusa | Leomord Thamuz Badang | Baxia Belerick Lolita Franco | Estes Angela |
| A: Good | Karrie Moskov | Lunox Harith Kagura Gord Pharsa Kadita | Selena | Guinevere Terizla Aldous Dyrroth | Minotaur Akai Johnson | Diggie |
| B: Fair | Lesley Irithel Hanabi Clint | Harley Odette Aurora Nana | Lancelot Natalia | Silvanna Ruby Minsitthar Jawhead Lapu-Lapu Martis | Tigrael Gatotkaca Uranus | Rafaela |
| C: Below Average | Miya Yi Sun-Shin | Alice Cyclopse Vale Vexana Eudora | Fanny Karina Hanzo Saber | Argus Alucard Roger Sun Bane Alpha | Faramis | |
| D: Weak | Layla | Freya Zilong Hilda Balmond |
Bye-bye Blue Buff
Only one Blue Buff that also gives 10% rather than 20% CDR – we all knew this would lead to issues, both in-game as well as Hero selection. (Blue) Buff dependant Heroes such as Fanny or Harith have a much harder time now; both your own teammates and aggressive enemy invades will screw you over big time.
At the same time, mages overall seem to suffer from the changes, mainly the Buff reliant ones. While someone like Gord or Chang’e fares decently even without it, having both an Assassin and Mage who need the Buff gives you a significant disadvantage.
Farm Race
More jungle monsters to farm mean those who farm quickly will also stack up jungle items insanely fast now. Similarly, Heroes that can solo the Buff at level one and then proceed to invade the enemy find themselves with a huge early game advantage if they know what they’re doing.
Therefore we shouldn’t be surprised to see Kimmy and Granger dominate the new Meta – especially since Kimmy functions perfectly well as (Blue) Buff independent Mage when building hybrid.
Also, the likes of Selena or Lylia – especially when paired with double Tank setup – can easily steal your buff and keep denying you gold and experience. Heroes like Grock or Hylos will just proceed to dive you over and over again if u didn’t manage to fight back early on.
The introduction of Red Buff strengthens Marksmen (physical damage dealers in general) even further. True damage paired with a remarkable slow – snowballing is predestined. Most of the time early game comps end up dominating the battlefield, not giving their opponents much room for comebacks.
Read – Mobile Legends Chess-TD Guide
Patch Notes: Winners and Losers
Struggle of Mages
While early game and fast clear speed define the meta (hi, Masha!), the balance tweaks also brought a breath of fresh air.
Harith arguably suffers the most, considering both his cooldowns as well as CDR on Blue Buff got nerfed. Until you manage to reach 35% CDR, you won’t be able to dash fluently – pretty much the nail in the coffin. And though new Heroes tend to be on the strong side, Silvanna feels rather underwhelming. Despite offering lots of CC and a powerful lockdown on her ultimate, her kit is also very telegraphed and her damage output comparably low. She resembles an updated version of Zilong – not bad, but not great either.
Overall Mages seem to have a harder time performing well. The Buff changes hit them, double Tank meta also gives many Mages headache since most of them struggle to take them down. A good amount of them also struggles to keep up with the clear speed of Assassins. This doesn’t mean they’re in a bad spot, but they definitely feel the Meta shift.
Pharsa however slowly rises up in priority. Additional buffs after her revamp gave her more frontload damage as well as mobility; her only drawback remains that highly mobile enemies have an easy time dodging her skillshots.
Blind Spots
When it comes to Wanwan, Moonton overdid it. Not only did some QoL changes make hitting weaknesses much easier, but being able to ult literally anyone once you unlock it is insane. Paired with sick mobility, purify and CC, she has become a real nightmare to deal with. Meanwhile, they seem to deliberately ignore the state of Helcurt and Ling. Both remain perma-bans and whoever fool leaves them open will regret it quickly. Following a similar trend, both Kaja and X-Borg do exceptionally well despite nerfs.
Pretty much any Hero that has good early game pressure fares at least decently at the moment.
Disclaimer: Note that Tier Lists are always a highly subjective topic and you might have a different view on the strength of certain Heroes. Also, the efficiency of Heroes can fluctuate depending on Rank. Similarly, our Mobile Legends Tier List for January 2020 doesn’t focus on competitive or 5-man setups, but mainly SoloQ.
So, who is your personal favourite for the start of season 15? Who would you rate differently on our Mobile Legends Tier List for January 2020? Let us know in the comment section below. Also, make sure to visit our Discord server for more gaming discussions.
