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- For the past few patches, Tanks have been dominating the meta to the point that no other picks have been viable.
- Exchanters and healers aside, even Assassins and other burst Junglers have been replaced by Tanks like Barats or Hylos.
- The upcoming items may give other roles a chance to stand their own, but only time will tell.
In a multiplayer game that’s been up and running for as long as Mobile Legends has, the meta is bound to change. With each patch, nerfs and buffs to prior heroes and items, as well as revamps and new additions altogether help to keep the meta fresh.
However, for the past 4-5 patches, Mobile Legends has been extremely stale with what works and what doesn’t. What doesn’t work is half the character roster.
The Tankiness Problem
Tanks are one of the staples of any kind of multiplayer game. Their job is to tank damage for their team and provide utilities or peels. However, in Mobile Legends, there’s been a trend of Tanks that can not only frontline and tank damage but also deal absurd amounts of damage while doing so.
Heroes like Uranus always existed which had enough sustain to survive the enemy team’s barrage of attacks while also dealing a significant amount of damage. Uranus was balanced around the fact that he had no CC, so you could simply ignore him and focus on the backline. Antiheal items also countered him.
The newer (and revamped) tanks seem to follow a different design philosophy. Terizla has one of the highest early game single instance damage out of any other Hero while also being absurdly difficult to kill. Akai deals damage based on his own HP and also has one of the strongest CC Ultimates in the game.
This makes any other damaging role pretty much useless. The most popular Junglers in the past few patches have been Friederin, Akai, and Barats for a reason. Each of these can initiate, assassinate, tank, and provide consistent DPS.
No Need To Support Your Team If The Enemy’s Dead
This advantage that tanks have goes beyond just their ability to deal damage. The most used supports in the past patches have mostly consisted of Tigreal, Atlas, and Minotaur. Tigreal being perma-banned in every match despite the recent nerf on him is something very concerning.
Setter tanks are so strong that no other supports can compare. No amount of healing and buffs can compete with a 5-person hard CC effect. This specific thing is healthy for the game if done in moderation.
Having good setters in the game is important, but other supports should have a power level that can compete.
Nolan Is The Only Assassin
Assassins perhaps got an even shorter end of the stick that supports. In a meta defined by tankiness, heroes that specialize in picking off squishy heroes are kinda useless.
Your 3000 matches Fanny might be able to barge in and one shot the enemy Layla, but an Akai can do so while also providing disruption and CC to help your team, and also tanking damage.
On his initial release, Nolan was absurdly broken and had a purify on his ultimate. In pro play, he was the only assassin being used (this was before the Helcurt revamp). When Moonton decided to remove the purify, assassins took a backseat once more.
Even Marskmen Can Tank
Perhaps the funniest and most extreme example of this is the reign of tank-build Karrie. She could out-damage the enemy MM early game because of her passive and early game items such as Thunderbelt and still scale well late.
Granted, Moonton fixed this quickly because a tanky marksman isn’t fair. Still, the most popular Marskmen for several patches being a Tank build Karrie shows just how important being chonky is in Mobile Legends.
Is This Being Fixed?
There are items Moonton has been testing such as Skypiercer and Wishing Lantern among others that may bring back other roles, but not enough time has passed to make a solid assumption.
With how things stand, as a salty assassin main, I hope the meta shifts again very soon.
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Heya, I’m Asad (Irre) Kashif! I’ve been writing about anything and everything since as far back as I can remember. Professionally, I started writing five years ago, working both as a ghostwriter and writing under my own name. As a published author and a council member in Orpheus, my journey in the world of writing has been fulfilling and dynamic.
I still cherish the essays I wrote about my favorite PS2 games, and I’m thrilled to have transformed my passion for game journalism into a career. I’m a theory crafter for Genshin Impact (and now Wuthering Waves) and have a deep love for roguelites and roguelikes. While I prefer indie games for their distinct aesthetic and vibes, I do enjoy triple-A games occasionally. I’ve also been playing League since season 6, and I main Akali! I have a keen interest in discovering and playing more obscure games, as well as researching forgotten titles. Additionally, I am a front-end programmer who dabbles a bit in gamedev occasionally.
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