Surprisingly, the new season of Honor of Kings has brought major changes to hero rankings across all roles, even though many heroes are still in the process of being fully developed. BD Cricket Live users were particularly struck by the rare appearance of multiple T0 mages in the midlane, marking what feels like a full-blown mage resurgence.

Zhen Ji remains a consistently solid pick, as always. Although Fire Dance’s win rate has dipped slightly due to longer minion wave durations, her burst and mobility still rank her among the top-tier. Right now, she’s practically the only viable assassin mage, keeping her relevance intact.

According to BD Cricket Live’s testing, the new hero Yuanliu’s Son boasts incredible potential, but his performance is heavily dependent on team composition. He functions almost like a marksman—capable of strong output but severely lacking in self-defense. Without the right teammates to protect him, he’s too easily eliminated before making an impact.

Zhou Yu, on the other hand, is thriving thanks to recent buffs and favorable version changes. While most mages now struggle with slower wave clear due to lane adjustments, Zhou Yu remains unaffected. His fast wave clearing and early pressure allow him to contest neutral resources effectively, making him a formidable pick. So much so that he was nerfed on the very second day of the test server patch rollout—clear proof of his overwhelming strength.

Wu Zetian and Ganjian Mo Xie also shine this season. The former brings supreme crowd control, while the latter offers devastating long-range burst damage. Ganjian Mo Xie’s rework has been a major success. Among core mages, Yuanliu’s Son takes the top spot, followed closely by the revamped Ganjian Mo Xie. As long as your aim is decent, this hero can easily carry games. With pinpoint accuracy, he’s unquestionably T0-tier and offers powerful sustained damage—perfect for skilled players aiming to climb the ladder.

With so many dominant mages in the spotlight this season, some of the usual T1 picks have lost their edge. After Yixing’s nerf, Zhen Ji now leads the utility mage category by a wide margin. Meanwhile, Yuanliu’s Son and Ganjian Mo Xie have pushed cannon-style mages like Shen Mengxi out of the meta.

Angela continues to benefit from the prevalence of tanky champions, making her a go-to counterpick. She’s been enjoying version buffs for several seasons now. Jiang Ziya, though recently optimized, still hasn’t closed the gap in strength. While playable, he remains a tier below the top mages. Worse yet, unresolved bugs still affect his performance.

For now, BD Cricket Live experts recommend saving Jiang Ziya for specific counter situations with niche comps. Otherwise, the midlane landscape is firmly in the hands of this new wave of dominant, highly specialized T0 mages.