Season 40's "Decisive Moment" patch officially dropped on March 11, and Moonton followed through on the most sweeping mid lane overhaul in recent memory. Patch 2.1.56 touches 20+ mages with a stated goal of "bringing attributes and mana costs closer to average levels." Translation: they picked winners and losers, dressed it up as standardization, and called it diversity. Let's look at the numbers.
For context on what the patch changed at the attribute level, see the Patch 2.1.56 Advanced Server mage rebalance breakdown published before the official launch. This article covers the meta consequences now that it's live.
#What "Standardization" Actually Means
Moonton established baseline attribute targets for mid lane mages entering Season 40:
| Attribute | Baseline Target |
|---|---|
| Base HP | 2,380 to 2,440 |
| HP Growth | 145 to 165 per level |
| Physical Defense Growth | ~4 per level |
| Movement Speed | 240 to 250 |
Every mage that sat outside these bands got nudged toward the center. That sounds neutral. It isn't. Moving a hero's HP down 210 points while also nerfing their slow by 20 percentage points is not "standardization." That's a targeted hit dressed in spreadsheet language. Yve players know exactly what I'm talking about.
#The S40 Mid Lane Mage Tier List
Rankings reflect patch 2.1.56 on official server at Mythic+. Previous tier in brackets.
| Hero | Tier | S39 Tier | Win Rate Trend | Key Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gord | S | A | Rising | Skill 1 CD: 10-7.5s → 8-6s; Passive base damage scaled with level |
| Nana | S | B | Rising | Skill 2 CD: 14.5-12s → 12-9s; Damage +67% at rank 1 |
| Zhask | A | B | Rising | Ultimate CD: 60-50s → 44-36s |
| Novaria | A | C | Rising | Skill 2 mana: 100-200 → 50-90; Magic scaling: 70% → 100% TMP |
| Vexana | A | A | Stable | Ultimate CD: 60-46s → 50-40s (50.9% WR, holding) |
| Kagura | A | B | Slight rise | Skill 1 damage +50 at R1; Ultimate CD: 43-33s → 36-30s |
| Lylia | A | A | Stable | Mana cost reductions across kit; no damage changes |
| Vale | A | B | Rising | Ultimate CD: 44-36s → 36-30s; base HP +100, defense +2 |
| Zetian | A | A | Stable | Attribute standardization only; kit untouched |
| Kadita | B | A | Slight drop | Movement speed 255 → 250; HP normalized downward |
| Cecilion | B | B | Slight drop | Movement speed 255 → 250; defense -1 |
| Lunox | B | B | Neutral | HP dropped from 2,621 to 2,440; defense improved |
| Luo Yi | B | A | Dropping | Passive base damage: 365 → 300 |
| Eudora | B | B | Neutral | Mana costs up on Skills 1 and 2 (post-revamp baseline) |
| Valentina | C | C | Dropping | Skill 2 damage: 125-225 → 90-180; HP normalized down |
| Faramis | C | C | Neutral | Movement speed 245 → 240; mana costs up |
| Zhuxin | C | B | Dropping | Skill 1 wave-clear damage reduced; HP -40 |
| Pharsa | C | A | Dropping | Skill 2 base damage -50 at early ranks; CD increased |
| Yve | D | B | Hard drop | HP: 2,530 → 2,320; slow reduced across full kit |
| Chang'e | D | C | Dropping | Movement speed 250 → 240; HP -60; no damage compensation |
#Winners: Who Gets Priority in S40
Gord (S-tier)
52.4% win rate entering the patch. The Skill 1 cooldown cut from 10s to 8s at rank 1 is larger than it looks. Gord's identity is sustained beam damage, and the previous version punished you for whiffing with a decade-long wait on recast. The passive now scales as 140 + (8 × Hero Level) + 40% TMP, which produces roughly 260 base damage at level 15, up from a flat 140. He also gained 4 physical defense points, taking him from the squishiest mage in the pool to a mid-table baseline. Moonton has essentially rebuilt him as a threat. He remains immobile, but his damage window is now frequent enough that high-kill-potential comps will pick him.
The catch: his Skill 2 damage was trimmed (14% → 10% magic power scaling), which limits his burst combo ceiling. He's a sustained damage mage now, not a burst mage. Pair him with a CC-heavy roamer and the sustained beam format becomes punishing.
Nana (S-tier)
Nana's Skill 2 at rank 1 now deals 250 base damage with 50% magic power scaling, up from 150 and 30%. That's a 67% base damage jump at the first rank. The cooldown drops from 14.5s to 12s at rank 1, with a 9s floor at max rank. She was sitting at 50.2% win rate in S39, tolerable but not pressuring bans. These numbers shift that calculus. Her utility kit is unchanged, which means an already-solid support-mage framework now has a genuine spike threat bolted onto it.
The risk: Nana is skill dependent in a way that rewards the enemy team for not standing in obvious Molina zones. At Mythic+, she'll be exploitable by mobile assassins. Pair her with a roamer that can protect the zone she creates.
Novaria (A-tier)
47.8% win rate last season. Her Skill 2 mana cost drops from 100-200 to 50-90, which removes the primary reason Novaria players ran out of gas mid-fight. The magic power scaling jumps from 70% to 100% TMP, and the base damage ceiling improves to 405. She gets a legitimate damage spike without giving up any of the unique trajectory mechanics that make her interesting. She won't threaten S-tier given her steep learning curve, but her floor in capable hands just rose significantly.
Zhask (A-tier)
The Ultimate cooldown cut from 60-50s to 44-36s is the only meaningful change, but it's the right one. Zhask's teamfight identity is entirely gated by how often he can deploy his Nightmaric Spawn. A 44s cooldown at max rank makes that threat consistent in a way a 60s window simply never was. No damage changes means his scaling stays identical, but cadence matters for a hero whose primary win condition is objective control through a summon.
#Losers: Who Drops Priority
Yve (D-tier)
This is the headline nerf and it's not subtle.
| Yve Metric | Before 2.1.56 | After 2.1.56 | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base HP | 2,530 | 2,320 | -210 |
| HP at Level 15 | ~5,305 | ~4,490 | -815 |
| Skill 1 CD (max rank) | 1.5s | 2.5s | +1.0s |
| Skill 2 slow (base/max) | 30% / 60% | 20% / 40% | -20pp both |
| Ultimate slow | 60% | 40% | -20pp |
| Win Rate (S39) | ~50.1% | Projected 46-47% |
The passive shield buff (50 + 20% TMP → 120 + 50% TMP) exists. It does not compensate for 815 lost HP at level 15 and a 20 percentage point slow reduction across her entire kit. Yve's identity is zone control through threatening slows. A 40% max slow on her Ultimate and a 40% max slow on Skill 2 is no longer threatening at Mythic rank. Players will walk through it. The Skill 1 recast window going from 1.5s to 2.5s at max rank means her DPS cadence slows at the point in the game where it should be fastest.
She is not unplayable. She is no longer a priority pick.
Pharsa (C-tier)
49.7% win rate in S39, already borderline. The Skill 2 base damage drop of 50 at early ranks combined with the cooldown creeping from a flat 5s to 6.5s at rank 1 hits her early game poke window. Her Ultimate base damage also drops 40 at R1 (570 → 530). The cumulative effect is a mage that was already position-dependent now has less damage justification for that positional requirement. She falls below Kagura and Vale as a mid lane option.
Zhuxin (C-tier)
Zhuxin drops from B to C. The wave-clear reduction on Skill 1 matters because her lane dominance came from pushing minion waves efficiently while threatening poke. Base HP drops 40 points, a minor change in isolation but representative of a consistent pattern: all her numbers got trimmed without gaining anything meaningful. She was sitting at 50.9% win rate. Expect that to erode to 48-49%.
Valentina (C-tier)
41.3% win rate last season, the lowest in the mid lane pool. Moonton then cut her Skill 2 damage from 125-225 to 90-180 and dropped her HP. The stated logic is that her attribute distribution was above baseline. At 41.3% win rate, the last thing she needed was less damage. This is a baffling decision and I'll note it as such: Valentina needed either a kit direction or a damage buff, not attribute corrections. She stays C-tier on the strength of her Ultimate's copy mechanic being situationally strong.
#Item Changes and Their Mage Impact
Two items changed with direct mid lane implications.
| Item | Stat Change | Who Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Enchanted Talisman | Magic Power: 50 → 60; Max HP: 250 → 300; CDR: 20% → 15% | Burst mages (Gord, Nana) gain raw power; sustained casters lose CDR value |
| Glowing Wand | Magic Power: 50 → 60; Max HP: 400 → 300 | Burn mages gain raw Magic Power; HP reduction is felt on fragile mages |
| Ice Queen Wand | Internal CD per stack: 1s → 0.4s | Potential upside for multi-hit mages with Zhask, Gord |
The Enchanted Talisman change is the most consequential. The CDR drop from 20% to 15% shifts first-item priority for mages who relied on it primarily for cooldown management. Gord and Nana have sufficient damage that the Magic Power gain compensates. Heroes like Faramis and Luo Yi, who needed cooldowns more than raw power, lose relative value from this item.
Glowing Wand losing 100 HP is a tax on squishier burn mages. It's a 4-5% effective HP reduction for heroes in the 2,300-2,400 HP range. The +10 Magic Power helps, but the HP loss on heroes like Zhask, whose positioning makes them vulnerable, needs factoring into build decisions.
#The S40 Mid Lane Meta in One Paragraph
Gord and Nana take the top two slots in a meta that now rewards setup over zone control. Yve's dominance in objective-controlling slows evaporates with 40% maximum slow values. Pharsa follows Yve down. The beneficiaries are heroes with consistent damage delivery (Gord's beam, Nana's Molina), strong passive effects (Zhask's summon, Vexana's ghost), and mages with meaningful cooldown improvements (Vale, Kagura). Novaria enters the conversation for the first time in several patches. The mid lane is more diverse than it was in S39, which is precisely what Moonton stated as the goal. Credit where it's due.
For a broader look at how mid lane picks interact with the rest of the map, the Best Mid Lane Heroes S39: Mage Tier List covers the S39 baseline you're comparing against. For overall role tier context, check the MLBB mid lane role page for live win rate data as S40 matures.