The EXP lane in patch 2.1.47 is a sustain war. Moonton nerfed Yu Zhong's passive HP regen (20 + 4×level down to 10 + 4×level), hit DHS across the board, and that combination pushed the meta toward tankier, regen-stacking profiles over pure damage fighters. The lane rewards heroes who can run 50+ lane trades without burning their HP bar. Assassins and glass-cannon fighters get punished here.
Here is where every relevant EXP laner sits in Mythical Honor+ right now.
#EXP Lane Tier List: Patch 2.1.47
| Hero | Tier | Win Rate | Role Profile | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hilda | S | 53.4% | Fighter/Tank | Medium |
| Uranus | A | 51.5% | Tank | Easy |
| Terizla | A | 51.0% | Fighter/Tank | Easy |
| Fredrinn | B | 50.7% | Fighter/Tank | Medium |
| Yu Zhong | B | 50.6% | Fighter | Hard |
| Phoveus | B | 50.1% | Fighter | Medium |
| Thamuz | B | 50.2% | Fighter | Medium |
| Esmeralda | D | 44.0% | Mage/Tank | Medium |
| Suyou | C | 48.3% | Assassin/Fighter | Hard |
| Arlott | C | 48.1% | Fighter/Assassin | Medium |
| Lapu-Lapu | C | 48.7% | Fighter | Medium |
| Cici | C | 48.7% | Fighter | Easy |
#Why Fighters and Tanks Dominate EXP Lane
EXP lane is isolated. You spend the first 4-5 minutes in a 1v1 with no backup. That punishes heroes who need team resources to stay alive. Fighters and tanks bring natural sustain, high base HP, and short-cooldown abilities that let them trade repeatedly without being outpaced.
The lane also rewards level advantage. Fighters spike at level 4 (when their skill sets complete) and again at level 8 with first items. Tanks like Uranus become exponentially harder to kill as the game progresses because their passive stacks compound. Both archetypes abuse the isolated early phase better than any other class.
Post-DHS nerf, raw damage-item stacking is less efficient. That shifts value toward innate sustain. Heroes who regen through skills rather than items are less affected. That is exactly Hilda, Uranus, Thamuz, and Yu Zhong's lane identity.
#S Tier
Hilda: 53.4% Win Rate
Hilda is the best EXP laner in patch 2.1.47. 53.4% win rate at Mythical Honor+ puts her comfortably above every other option in the lane.
Her numbers look simple on paper but the mechanic is broken in practice. Brush regen means she recovers 10-15% max HP per wave cycle without spending any gold on sustain items. She can run aggressive trades, back off to the brush, and be full HP again before the next wave. Opponents who can't force her out of the brush just lose the attrition war by default.
The execute ultimate also does something other EXP laners can't: it finishes low-HP enemies through their own sustain. Yu Zhong at 20% HP heals. Hilda's ult kills him anyway.
Her ban rate is climbing. If it gets above 35%, flex her to roam where she functions nearly as well.
#A Tier
Uranus: 51.5% Win Rate
51.5% win rate, and the gap between Uranus and the B-tier pack is larger than the numbers suggest. Uranus does not trade damage with opponents. He absorbs everything and regenerates it back. After stacking 6 passive charges (takes roughly 12-15 seconds of being in combat), he recovers more HP per second than most opponents deal.
The mechanic makes him nearly impossible to kill in sustained skirmishes. His weakness is burst damage: one hard CC chain into a full combo can kill him before stacks accumulate. Lunox has a 43.1% WR against him for exactly this reason.
At Mythical Honor+, where roamers visit EXP lane infrequently and the laning phase stretches longer, Uranus thrives. He also brings legitimate CC for turtle and lord fights, which makes him a non-throwaway pick even if he loses lane.
Terizla: 51.0% Win Rate
51.0% win rate, and Terizla is criminally undervalued in draft. His kit is straightforward, his difficulty rating is Easy, and he brings something most EXP laners don't: AoE crowd control in teamfights.
His passive converts received HP into physical damage on his skills. The more he gets hit, the harder he hits back. In a lane where you are eating damage every trade, that mechanic punishes opponents for playing aggressively. Yu Zhong at 43.5% WR against him is not a coincidence. Yu Zhong wants to run sustained trades. So does Terizla. Yu Zhong heals. Terizla hits harder.
Low skill floor makes Terizla a legitimate pick at any rank. The ceiling caps out, but for Mythical Honor you do not need the ceiling.
#B Tier
Fredrinn: 50.7% Win Rate
50.7% win rate, B-tier. The crystal energy mechanic should be better than it is in this patch.
Fredrinn stores 85% of received damage as Crystal Energy and converts it to HP through his skills. That sounds like a sustain-on-demand tank. The problem is that Esmeralda (44.5% WR against him) destroys that entirely. She absorbs his shields and then outheals him. Any EXP lane matchup against Esmeralda is a free loss unless the draft specifically counters her elsewhere.
His real strength is the true-damage ultimate, which scales off accumulated Crystal Energy. In teamfights where he eats multiple abilities, the ult output is disgusting. That value gets realized at level 6 and above. Before that, he is a mediocre laner. Counterpick him when the enemy has burst-heavy compositions or marksmen in lane.
Yu Zhong: 50.6% Win Rate
50.6% win rate, down from approximately 52.5% pre-patch. The Devour passive nerf (HP regen halved at low levels) hit his level 1-3 lane phase directly.
Yu Zhong's power window was always level 2-4. He used to win almost every early trade through sheer sustain. With the regen nerfed at early levels, opponents can now contest him in that window. He still scales, his dragon ultimate still provides AoE damage and CC, and he is still a legitimate pick. He is just not the dominant priority ban he was in pre-patch 2.1.47 ranked games.
He counters Terizla hard (43.5% WR for Yu Zhong). If you see Terizla first-picked, Yu Zhong answers it cleanly.
The Esmeralda matchup (44.5% WR against Yu Zhong) remains a genuine problem. She absorbs his shield-based sustain and heals through everything he does.
Phoveus: 50.1% Win Rate
50.1% win rate, and his tier placement is entirely matchup-dependent. Phoveus is a one-trick lane pick, and the trick is punishing dash-heavy opponents.
Every time an enemy uses a movement skill, Phoveus resets his Astaros Eye and can blink onto them. Against heroes like Chou, Arlott, Benedetta, or any blink-heavy EXP laner, Phoveus wins lane for free. His passive makes their mobility a liability rather than an escape.
Against opponents with no dashes? He is a mediocre fighter with decent sustain and nothing special. Check the enemy roster before locking him in. If you see two or more blink-heavy heroes, Phoveus instantly becomes an A-tier pick.
Thamuz: 50.2% Win Rate
50.2% win rate. Thamuz operates on a simple principle: his ultimate's HP regen is strong enough that he wins any trade he survives long enough to activate it. The scythes grant armor and magic resistance during the ult, and the regen output is 500-700 HP recovered over the duration at typical build points.
Baxia counters him with a 43.9% WR matchup specifically because Baxia's passive reduces HP regen and shield absorption by 50%. One hero completely eliminates Thamuz's lane identity. Check for Baxia in the enemy draft.
He counters Dyrroth cleanly (56.2% WR) since Dyrroth's burst cannot keep pace with Thamuz's ultimate regen. Also destroys Aldous in lane (57.6% WR) by denying stack farming through constant pressure.
#C Tier: Situational Picks
| Hero | Win Rate | Why C-Tier |
|---|---|---|
| Lapu-Lapu | 48.7% | Underperforms before level 4, Yu Zhong counters him (43.9% WR against Lapu-Lapu) |
| Cici | 48.7% | Esmeralda destroys her (45.1% WR against Cici), low durability base stats |
| Suyou | 48.3% | Primarily a jungler, lane phase weak without jungle income to accelerate burst build |
| Arlott | 48.1% | Chou (44.5% WR against Arlott) is permanently in the EXP lane meta; bad timing |
None of these heroes are unplayable, but all four have higher floors in other conditions. Suyou specifically belongs in jungle. 48.3% win rate in EXP lane is not a disaster but it is noticeably below the lane average.
#The Esmeralda Problem
Esmeralda sits at 44.0% overall win rate and D-tier. That number requires context.
The D-tier rating reflects her global stats including gold lane and mid lane appearances by players who do not know the matchup chart. In the EXP lane specifically, her win rate climbs considerably against the right composition. She beats Fredrinn (55.5% WR), Yu Zhong (55.5% WR), Thamuz (55.9% WR), and Cici (54.9% WR). She is the designated counter to every regen/shield-based EXP laner.
The problem is she loses to anything mobile. Wanwan beats her (44.0% WR for Esmeralda). Brody beats her (44.5% WR for Esmeralda). She has no mobility and her scaling requires staying in combat, which mobile opponents prevent.
Draft her specifically to counter Fredrinn or Yu Zhong. Do not pick her blind.
#Who to Pick at Mythical Honor+
The draft answer is tier-dependent.
In most games: Hilda if available, Uranus if you need tank frontline utility, Terizla if neither is available and you want a safer floor.
Against blink-heavy rosters: Phoveus becomes A-tier. Reprioritize him.
Against Fredrinn/Yu Zhong first picks: Esmeralda is a legitimate counter-pick despite the overall D-tier rating.
Against Dyrroth or Aldous: Thamuz provides the most one-sided lane win of any option.
The EXP lane in this patch rewards picking sustain matchups, not coinflipping mechanics. Hilda's 53.4% win rate reflects that. She requires no favorable matchup to function. The rest of the tier list mostly does.
For the full hero profiles, matchup data, and counter lists, check out the MLBB tier list and individual hero pages for Hilda, Uranus, and Yu Zhong.