Mobile Legends draft: picks and bans

Draft pick opens in ranked at Epic. Each team bans a set number of heroes, then the teams pick in turns. The number of bans grows with the tier, and at the highest tiers, as in professional play, there are ten bans in total. When players of different tiers queue together, the draft follows the rules of the highest-ranked player. Community references for Season 42 differ on the exact ban count at each tier, so treat the in-game draft screen as the authority.

1. Heroes your team cannot answer. If nobody plays an anti-dash hero, ban the hardest assassin.
2. Heroes that counter your plan. A team planning around a marksman should ban an assassin that kills marksmen.
3. Currently overpowered heroes. Each patch has a few; check the patch notes. As of October 2026 the 2.2.16a hotfix nerfed Aulus, Hirara, Eudora and Rafaela, a sign they were among the strongest.
4. One-trick protection. If the enemy has a player with a famous main, banning it can be worth more than any meta ban. In solo queue you rarely know this; ignore it there.

Flexible heroes, those that can play two lanes, are valuable early because they hide your lane assignment. Lane counters are valuable late because the enemy cannot react.

• A frontline. Tank or tank-fighter who can absorb damage.
• Magic and physical damage. If all damage is physical, the enemy stacks armour.
• Crowd control. At least two reliable stuns, knock-ups or suppresses.
• Wave clear. Someone has to defend turrets against pushes.
• A win condition. Either early pressure or a late carry. Mixed plans fight each other.

KhufraValentinaEsmeraldaKarrieDiggieBaxia

Items are part of counter picking. A draft that loses on paper can win with the right items: anti-heal, the right defensive item and the right battle spell often matter more than a perfect counter.

1. Two junglers, or no roamer.
2. Picking only what you want, not what the team needs.
3. Five physical damage dealers.
4. Last-picking a hero you have never played to counter someone.
5. Arguing in the draft and losing the timer.
6. Banning a hero your own team asked to pick.

MPL leagues and international events such as the M-series World Championship and the Mid Season Cup use the full ten-ban draft. Pro drafts tend to prioritise flexible heroes and team-fight control, and the first picks are often heroes that are banned in nearly every series. Watching a pro draft with the commentary is one of the fastest ways to learn why picks are made. See the esports guide.

In solo queue, the draft often fails before a single pick because two players want the same lane. The game asks for a lane preference before the match; respect what your teammates selected and say your lane in chat early. If two players claim the same lane, the one who picks first usually takes it, and the other should fill.

1. Say your lane at the start of the ban phase.
2. If your lane is taken, pick from your second lane without arguing.
3. Use the pre-match swap to trade heroes if two players picked each other’s lanes.
4. Leave the last pick to the EXP or Gold laner when possible, so they can counter their lane opponent.

Suppose the enemy team first-picks Lancelot and then Estes. Your team should consider Khufra or Phoveus for the dashes, and an anti-heal plan for Estes: Baxia in roam or Dominance Ice and Glowing Wand in the build. If the enemy adds a marksman and a mage, last-pick an EXP laner who can dive the backline, such as Chou or Paquito. The result is a draft with an answer to each threat and its own plan: catch Lancelot, kill the healer, dive the carries.

A flex pick is a hero who can play more than one position. Picking one early hides your team’s lane assignment, so the enemy cannot counter-pick a lane they cannot predict. Common flex types are fighters who play both EXP lane and jungle, tank-fighters who play EXP lane or roam, and mages who play mid or roam. Flex picks matter most in high-rank and pro drafts; in solo queue, clear communication matters more.

• Fighters and tank-fighters who can jungle or play EXP lane.
• Mages who can roam with crowd control.
• Marksmen who can play mid or jungle in certain drafts.

Draft is a skill you can practise outside the match. Before each ranked session, look at the current patch notes and decide which three heroes you would ban if they were open, and which hero you would pick first if your main is banned. After each match, look at the final drafts on the results screen and ask whether your team had a frontline, mixed damage and a clear plan. Over a few dozen matches, patterns appear: the bans that saved games and the picks that lost them.