The current state of the meta for Season 42 “Starward Decade” on Patch 2.2.16.

I cross-checked MLCounters (data dated Oct 9), MLBBHub, ACE eSports Insiders (Mythic+ stats), Esports.gg, PocketGamer, Pocket Tactics and IGItems. Hero-level win, ban and pick figures are only available from a few trackers, and they measure different rank brackets, so treat the numbers as approximate. ~ - METRICS & STATISTICS - ~ Highest win rates Aulus (~61.6%), Masha (~59-60%), Rafaela (~58%), Obsidia (~52.4%) and Lukas (~52%) lead the Mythic+ figures. Aulus and Masha are the two EXP lane monsters, and Rafaela is the top roamer. A separate tracker shows similar numbers for fighters: Aulus 59.8%, Masha 59.5%, Argus 55.8%. The current state: Aulus and Argus are rising after Patch 2.2.16 changes. Marcel’s changes were marked as mixed, and Paquito (53.2% to 50.1%), Miya (55.6% to 49.1%, pick rate taking a toll), Hanabi (53.6% to 50.1%, pick rate taking a toll) and Melissa (58.7% to 53%~) are trending down. Highest ban rates Masha (~72%), Aulus (~71%), Lukas (~67%) Eudora (76%) and Hirara (~65-91%) are the most banned. Hirara’s range is wide because brackets differ. Belerick and Eudora still carry heavy ban presence; ranks Hirara first (meta score 64.63, 53.19% win rate), then Belerick and Eudora. That score combines win, pick and ban rate, so it is not a win rate. Highest pick rates Obsidia is the most-picked Gold Laner and Minotaur is among the most-picked roamers. Obsidia is the new “consistent DPS” gold pick, replacing the hyper-carry style of Hanabi and Miya. Eudora is still the standout, without a doubt best and queen mid laner. She is a point-and-click burst mage who deletes assassins and squishies, which explains her ban rate. Miya and Hanabi have fallen out of the top spots. They are late-game scalers, heavily nerfed (refer to recent patch notes) and the current meta punishes slow scaling. WHAT THE CURRENT META FAVORS: Durable EXP fighters. Aulus, Masha and Lukas dominate the lane, with Esmerelda (new!), Guinevere, Paquito, Argus and Barats as backups. The lane is about surviving early pressure and taking over teamfights. Sustain and hybrid roamers. Rafaela, Marcel, Minotaur, Floryn, Carmilla and Belerick are the roam core. Healers and hybrid supports are outperforming pure engage tanks. Carmilla and Floryn still rank as one of the best roamers, Estes and Rafaela are best for utility, Minotaur is praised for utility and spammable CC, and Marcel is still a coveted, best CC roamer. One dominant jungler. Hirara is the priority pick or ban. Paquito, Fredrinn, Yi Sun-shin and Nolan follow. Tankier, sustain-heavy drafts. Classic assassins like Gusion, Hayabusa and Fanny are situational and struggles against tanky, sustain-heavy comps. HOW TO DEAL WITH THIS META: Against Aulus, Masha and Lukas: Ban them first if you can. Otherwise draft heavy crowd control, since their strength is surviving and brawling. Buy anti-heal (Dominance Ice, Sea Halberd, Necklace of Durance), because Masha and the healing roamers rely on sustain. Against Hirara and mobile junglers: Draft point-and-click burst such as Eudora. Keep strict vision control (Novaria and Selena for opressive vision spam) to deny surprise engages. Don’t force glass-cannon assassins into tank-heavy drafts. Hirara is built as a CD, monster and punishes heavy burst, Aggressive yet predictable heroes. Against sustain roamers (Rafaela, Marcel, Floryn, Carmilla): Get early anti-heal. Focus the support first. Their heals and CC are what hold the enemy team together. For climbing: learn one strong EXP fighter and one sustain roamer, because those two roles are carrying a lot of solo queue games. Or literally just spam Eudora. I'm telling you, shes a roamer, jungler, exp laner, mid laner, and gold laner. Shes literally the definition of opressive.