Gusion Guide S39: Build, Combos & Tips

Gusion is one of the hardest assassins to play in MLBB, and one of the most rewarding. His ceiling is genuinely high, and the gap between a Gusion who half-knows his combos and one who executes them cleanly is a 3v1 kill versus walking into your own death. This guide covers everything you need to close that gap in Season 39.

Current stats: 50.4% win rate, B-tier at standard skill levels, but his pick/ban pressure at high rank tells the real story. Players who master his full combo sequence consistently outperform that number.

#Gusion's Skills: What They Actually Do

Before you touch combos, you need to understand how each skill works mechanically, not the tooltip version.

Passive: Dagger Specialist

Every skill you cast adds one rune stack, up to 3. When you hit 3 stacks, your next basic attack deals bonus magic damage based on the target's missing HP. That last word matters. The lower your target's health, the harder that basic attack hits.

This is why you always AA after a full combo. You've already burned their HP with daggers. That passive proc on a target at 10% health can deal more damage than some whole abilities.

Skill 1: Sword Spike

Throw a dagger in a straight line. First tap: dagger flies out and marks the target. Second tap: Gusion blinks to the marked target, dealing magic damage on arrival.

The gap between tap 1 and tap 2 is a window, not a forced action. You can throw the dagger, let your S2 land, then dash in. That delay is intentional and central to his combos.

S2 hits harder the closer you are, so the correct order is almost always: throw daggers out, get them to converge, then blink in. Not the other way around.

Skill 2: Shadowblade Slaughter

First tap: throws five daggers in a fan arc, dealing magic damage and slowing enemies hit. Second tap: recalls those daggers back through the target, dealing a second wave of damage.

Both waves have to hit for full damage. If you're too far away when you recall them, the daggers pass through empty space. Get inside the fan's range before recalling.

Ultimate: Incandescence

Gusion blinks in the direction you aim. The moment you cast it, S1 and S2 cooldowns fully reset. You can then cast the ultimate a second time in a short window to blink again.

This is the engine of his entire kit. The reset turns a 2-phase kit (throw daggers, detonate) into a 4-phase sequence. You're essentially running two full S1 + S2 combos in one engagement.

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#Skill Level Order

Max S2 first, then S2 again, then alternate between S3 (ultimate levels when available) and S1 last.

Priority: S2 > S3 > S1

S2 is your damage. S3 upgrades the ultimate's blink range and reduces its cooldown. S1 scales less aggressively.

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#Best Build for Gusion: Season 39

Jungle Build (Primary)

Start with: Jungle knife + one potion. First back, aim for Arcane Boots. Starlium Scythe is your second buy.

Situational swaps:

• Swap Blood Wings for Winter Truncheon against heavy burst (Eudora, Lunox). The freeze buys time when your combo misses.
• Swap Blood Wings for Concentrated Energy if you're snowballing and want sustain over raw HP.
• Against heavy magic resistance stacks, move Divine Glaive to slot 4 and delay Holy Crystal.

Mid Lane / Gold Lane Build (Non-Jungle)

If your team already has a jungler and you're running Gusion mid or even gold lane:

Mid lane Gusion is legitimate. You get faster level 4, earlier roam timings, and access to both sides. The tradeoff is you scale slightly slower without jungle gold.

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#Emblem Setup

Primary: Assassin Emblem

• Tier 1: Rupture (adaptive penetration for early damage)
• Tier 2: Weapons Master (boosts all equipment damage, which multiplies through Holy Crystal and Blood Wings)
• Core Talent: Lethal Ignition

Lethal Ignition deals bonus adaptive damage after you land consecutive skills. Gusion's combo is five or more skill casts in a row. Lethal Ignition fires at the end of that sequence and can delete anything left alive.

Alternative talent: Killing Spree if you're struggling to survive after kills. The HP regen and movement speed post-kill let you reset for the next target. Useful in lower rank where fights are messier.

Do NOT use Mage emblem on Gusion as a jungler. You lose adaptive penetration, and Gusion's damage ceiling drops noticeably. Mage emblem is only worth considering if you're forced into a support-style role, which Gusion isn't.

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#Battle Spell

Execute is the right call for most situations. Gusion's combo burns targets to low HP. Execute seals the kill. It also scales with hero level, so a level 15 Execute is a serious chunk of true damage.

Retribution if you're jungling. Buy Starlium Scythe and run Ice Retribution variant. The slow from Ice Retribution helps your S2 land both hits.

Flicker as a learning tool. If you're still building muscle memory and missing combos, Flicker gives you an extra blink to chase or escape. Drop it once your combo rate hits 70%+.

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#Combos: Basic to Advanced

The golden rule before anything else: S2 waves must hit the target both ways. Throw the daggers, close the gap, then recall. If you activate S2 phase 2 from far away, you deal half damage. This single mistake explains most failed Gusion plays.

Combo 1: Basic Entry (Learn This First)

S2 (throw) > S1 (throw) > S1 (dash) > S2 (recall) > AA

1. Throw your S2 fan of daggers
2. Throw S1 dagger to mark the target
3. Dash in with S1 activate (you're now inside S2 range)
4. Recall S2 daggers through the target
5. Basic attack to proc passive

This is your foundation. It forces you to arrive before recalling S2, which is the whole lesson. At max rank, this combo won't one-shot squishies, but it establishes the timing you need for everything else.

Combo 2: Standard Kill Combo

S2 (throw) > S3 > S2 (recall) > S1 (throw) > S1 (dash) > S2 (throw) > S2 (recall) > AA

1. Throw S2 fan of daggers at the target
2. Cast S3 (ultimate) toward the target to get closer, skills reset
3. Immediately recall S2 daggers through the target (you're closer now, more daggers land)
4. Throw S1 to mark them
5. Dash in with S1 activate
6. Throw your refreshed S2 fan of daggers
7. Recall S2
8. Basic attack to finish

This is the combo you want in 90% of engagements. You get two full S2 waves after the reset, and S1 closes the gap between them. Against squishy carries at full build (items 4-5), this combo deletes them before they react.

Combo 3: Double Dash Escape Combo

S1 (throw) > S2 (throw) > S1 (dash) > S2 (recall) > S3 (dash toward escape) > S3 (second dash) > AA

Use this when you need to kill and immediately exit. After the kill, both S3 dashes take you away from the enemy team. You're not hanging around after the assassination.

Combo 4: Anti-Tank / Extended Combo

S1 (throw) > S1 (dash) > S2 (throw) > S2 (recall) > S3 > S2 (throw) > S1 (throw) > S1 (dash) > S2 (recall) > S1 (throw) > S2 (throw) > S1 (dash) > S2 (recall) > AA

Against tanks or high HP targets, you front-load S1 to dash in early, then cycle through both S1 and S2 sets after the ultimate reset. This is the combo that ends with 9-10 dagger hits total. Execution speed matters here. Any pause in the sequence lets the tank react or escape.

The Cooldown Reset Window

After casting S3 (Incandescence), you have roughly 2 seconds to use the second blink. Use that window to position before refreshed skills, not to sit idle. If you cast S3 and pause, you waste half the reset's value.

The mental model: S3 is not an attack. It's a repositioning tool that happens to reset your damage. Think of it as a free teleport that gives you two more full skill uses.

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#Positioning and Game Phase

Early Game (Levels 1-6)

Farm your jungle route efficiently. Gusion's clear with Starlium Scythe is decent but not exceptional. Standard top-side or bottom-side route, depending on your team setup.

At level 4, you have S1 and S2 at usable levels. This is your first gank window. Look for overextended midlaners or a gold laner who's pushed too far. One successful gank sets your snowball in motion.

Do not fight the enemy jungler 1v1 before level 4. Gusion without his full rotation loses most early jungle duels.

Mid Game (Levels 7-12)

This is when Gusion is most dangerous. You should have Starlium Scythe and Genius Wand at minimum. Look for picks constantly.

The play is: clear your side jungle, rotate to a lane where someone is overextended, kill them, then immediately move to Turtle or contest an objective. Don't farm after kills. Use the tempo.

If you're consistently getting kills in this phase but your team isn't converting them into objectives, that's a macro problem, not a Gusion problem. Type "Turtle/Lord" in chat and move there after every successful pick.

Late Game (Levels 13+)

Gusion's power peaks with Holy Crystal and Divine Glaive, but he falls off relative to sustained fighters as the game extends. Your window is open now, not in 5 minutes.

Focus on the enemy carry. Not the tank, not the initiator. Find the marksman or mage, eliminate them before the teamfight starts, and then use S3 to exit. You're the opening act of every fight, not the main event.

In the base siege phase, stay in flanking bushes. Let your frontline go in first. The moment their tank uses S2 or their mage pops defensive skills, that's your cue to enter.

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#Matchups

Gusion Counters These Heroes

Zhask (58% WR): His spawns are immobile. Blink past the turret, kill him before he can kite. His self-peel is almost zero without Dominance Field active.

Lesley (56% WR): No mobility, no escape. Hit her once with S1 and she's committed to the fight or forced to Flicker. Her range advantage means nothing when you're inside it.

Odette (55% WR): If she uses her ultimate, blink away with S3. Come back after it ends and delete her. She has no gap close, no dash, no escape. Perfect target.

Moskov (54% WR): No mobility skills. Once you're in melee range, he can't kite you effectively. S1 mark from the fog of war, combo through.

Hard Matchups for Gusion

Khufra (41% WR): His Bouncing Ball directly cancels your blink skills. If Khufra rolls while you're mid-S1 dash, you get cancelled and knocked up. Against Khufra, wait for his Ball cooldown before committing. It's roughly a 14-second window at level 1.

Chou (44% WR): His Shunpo is immune to CC at the start of the dash. He can also kick you mid-combo, and his immunity makes landing S1 marks unreliable. Save your S3 as an escape tool when fighting Chou, not an engagement tool.

Ling (45% WR): Can go on walls to escape your reach. Equal mobility, better sustained damage if the fight drags. Don't chase a Ling who's already on a wall. Take the camp instead.

Lunox (49% WR): Light form gives her damage immunity timed with her passive. If you combo her during Light form, she absorbs hits and fires back with Order and Chaos. Bait the form switch first, then commit.

Lolita (48% WR): Her shield reflects projectiles. Your S2 daggers count as projectiles. Against Lolita, either skip S2 entirely and use S1 to dash in for melee hits, or wait until her shield is on cooldown. Never just throw S2 into an active Lolita shield.

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#Tips for Climbing Ranked with Gusion

1. Throw S1 into bushes when enemies are missing. You're not telegraphing an attack. You're checking if someone is there. If they're hiding, the dagger marks them and you suddenly know their position.

2. Master the pre-engagement combo start. In ranked, most Gusions throw S2 first and then fumble the second activation because they're out of range. Practice starting with S2 throw, then blinking via S1 before recalling. Build that sequence until it's automatic.

3. Wait for CC to be used on your front line. If your tank gets stunned, the enemy wasted their crowd control on the wrong target. That 2-3 second window is your entry. Going in before CC lands means you'll get stunned mid-combo.

4. Use the second S3 blink as an escape, not an attack. New Gusion players burn both S3 blinks going forward. Save the second one. If your combo doesn't kill and you're in the middle of their team, that second blink takes you out.

5. Track the enemy Khufra or Chou. These two heroes hard-counter your combo. Before diving a backline, glance at where these heroes are on the map. If Khufra is near and not visible, assume he's flanking toward you.

6. Don't build Gusion as a mage. Lightning Truncheon is fine mid lane, but building full mage items (no Starlium Scythe, Arcane Boots only) in jungle makes you slower, weaker at early objectives, and you lose the basic attack enhancement. Gusion is an assassin. Build him like one.

7. Your power spike is items 3-4. Once you have Genius Wand and Holy Crystal, you should feel the difference. If you're not getting kills at this point, your positioning or combo timing is the issue, not the build.

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#Team Composition Synergies

Gusion works best with heroes who provide:

• Hard CC initiators: Tigreal, Khufra (your team's Khufra, not theirs), Franco. They lock someone in place and you can land both S2 waves with zero kite risk.
• Follow-up AoE: After you kill the carry, a Pharsa or Chang'e cleans up the chaos. Your pick creates the opening; their AoE converts it into a wipe.
• Angela or Mathilda for protection: If someone protects you mid-combo, your survivability becomes significantly less of a problem. Angela's S2 lets her attach to you and help sustain through the fight.

Gusion struggles in compositions that need a frontline presence from the jungler. If your team has no initiator, you'll be expected to go in first, which exposes you to CC before your combo is done.

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#Frequently Asked Questions

Is Gusion good in Season 39?

Gusion sits at a 50.4% win rate and B-tier in standard matchmaking, but his performance scales sharply with player skill. At Mythic ranks, he becomes a legitimate threat. If you invest time in his combos, he overperforms his tier label.

What spell should I use on Gusion?

Execute for mid lane or gold lane. Retribution if you're jungling. Flicker is acceptable while you're still learning his combos, but drop it once your execution is reliable.

Why does my S2 do low damage?

You're recalling the daggers from too far away. The daggers return in a straight line, so if you're outside their travel range, they miss the return hit. Use S1 to dash close before recalling S2. Both waves must hit for full damage.

Can Gusion play mid lane or gold lane in S39?

Yes. Mid lane is fully viable, especially with the Lightning Truncheon build. Gold lane is situational and works when you have a strong support, but you miss out on early jungle farm and ganking flexibility. Jungle remains his best role.

How do I deal with Khufra as Gusion?

Bait his Bouncing Ball before committing your S1 dash. Khufra's Ball has roughly a 14-second cooldown at early levels. Once it's used, you have a clean window to combo him or his teammates. Never dash into an airborne Khufra.