Nana MLBB Guide: Death Is Optional (Season 42)

Minute twelve, Turtle pit, and their Hayabusa finally commits: four shadows, one target — me, the squishy little mage. The ultimate lands. All of it. And instead of a death timer, I turn into a small cat-shaped problem and waddle out of the pit at bonus speed while his entire combo cools down behind me. He spent everything killing a Nana. Nana does not die on schedule. That's Nana. Welcome in. She's the Sweet Leonin of the Enchanted Forest, whose dead best friend Molina left her the transformation magic behind this whole kit (Fandom's lore). Per MLBBHub (checked 21 Oct 2026), she's one of the most-picked heroes in the game at a 2.04% pick rate. Everyone owns her. Almost nobody plays her properly.

Why she's feared (and loved)

Fear first: Molina Smooch is the rudest single button in the game. It doesn't stun you or root you — it *transforms* you. For 1.5 seconds you cannot attack, cannot cast, and you waddle around as a small animal with your Magic Defense cut while the enemy team takes free shots. Worse, she can plant Molina like a landmine and let the cat do the chasing. Divers don't fear Nana's damage. They fear becoming a cat on camera, mid-dive, in front of everyone.

Love second: Molina's Gift. Once every 150 seconds, death gets overruled: cleanse, invincibility, a heal, and a sprint out of the fight she just lost. Per Fandom's lore, it's her dead best friend still body-blocking for her — and the most forgiving mage in the game to learn: Difficulty 1, Control 10. Buttons for toddlers, consequences for adults.

Season 42 viability: the honest read

Paperwork first — this is where guides lie to you.

Patch 2.2.16 (released 16 September 2026): Nana has no balance change. Absent from the verified adjustment list (Masha/Bruno revamps plus 22 adjustments), and blooing's complete 2.2.16 roundup — buffs, nerfs, tweaks, Classic pass, both Brawl columns, read end to end — mentions her zero times. One footnote: blooing notes a bug fix for Molina Smooch occasionally dealing abnormal damage — a fix, not a buff or nerf. Patch 2.2.16a (14 Oct 2026): the documented list (Kalea buff; Aulus, Hirara, Eudora, Rafaela nerfs) has no Nana, and with no Fandom page for the sub-patch, any "secret Nana change" claim stays [UNCONFIRMED]. Her last documented balance touch: Patch 2.1.61's mid-lane mage rebalance (MLBBHub) — S2 damage up, late-game cooldown reduced.

The trackers, dated (community snapshots, not Moonton figures): - MLBBHub (refreshed daily, checked 21 Oct 2026): C tier — 47.54% WR, 2.04% pick, 4.23% ban. - MLCounters (updated 20 Oct 2026): 47.58% WR, 2.03% pick, 4.39% ban. - MLBB.io (Oct 2026): C tier, 47.5% WR — and its Insights page flags her a Mid Lane "Trap Pick", winning only 44.9% in mid, bottom of the lane.

The chorus: ~47.5% win rate on a huge pick sample — and EliteDias (updated 15 Oct 2026) files her S tier on the same 47.6% number. The trackers agree on the number and disagree on what it means — data sites say C, the editorial list says S — both describing a control kit lobbies keep drafting and failing to convert. Sentiment: no fresh r/MobileLegendsGame Nana threads surfaced this season (two searches) — tracker/creator material only, and the creators (blooing; fone.tips) agree: she wins when teammates follow up the morph, and bleeds wins when they don't. My tier verdict: C+. The paperwork says C — but the plus is real: against dive and one-shot combos her kit answers questions other mages can't, and a 47.5% hero with Control 10 and a free second life is a draft tool, not a comfort pick.

The full kit: what every button does

All mechanics from the MLBB Fandom hero page, checked 21 October 2026. Base HP 2501→4321, mana 500→1900, Physical Attack 115→217, MS 250. Moonton ratings (via MLBBGuides): Survival 5, Damage 6, Control 10, Difficulty 1. - Passive — Molina's Gift: On fatal damage, Nana removes all debuffs and transforms into Molina: untargetable and invincible, +30% Movement Speed for 2 seconds, recovering 10% Max HP over the duration. She cannot attack or cast in this form — she just runs. Cooldown 150 seconds; a gold ring marks it ready (Fandom). Fine print: if she holds Immortality, Molina's Gift triggers first (Fandom) — and the transform does not cancel Yin's My Turn. - Skill 1 — Magic Boomerang: Hurls her boomerang in a direction, damaging enemies on the way out and back: 320–440 (+100% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage to the first enemy; every additional enemy hit takes 20% less (max −60%). Cooldown 5.5→4.0s; mana 50–75. - Skill 2 — Molina Smooch: Summons Molina at a target location; after a short delay, Molina chases the nearest enemy hero in range for 2.5 seconds; the first hero she touches takes 250–375 (+50% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage and is transformed for 1.5 seconds — Fandom's Transform state means they cannot attack or use skills — slowed by 50% (Fandom's table scales it to 70% at max rank), Magic Defense reduced by 25%, and revealed. If no hero comes near, Molina waits on the ground for up to 12 seconds. Cooldown 14.5→12.0s; mana 80–105. - Ultimate — Molina Blitz: Molina strikes the target area 3 times, each strike dealing 440–660 (+160% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage and slowing enemies by 50% for 1 second. Enemies hit by consecutive strikes are stunned for 1 second. Cooldown 36/32/28s; mana 135–165.

Skill priority, my way: ultimate at 4/8/12, Magic Boomerang first (wave clear, poke, your only real early damage — blooing maxes it first), Molina Smooch second.

Combos

• "The Cat Nap" (solo pickoff): Molina Smooch planted where the target is *going* → the morph lands → Molina Blitz directly on the cat (a stationary target eats consecutive strikes and the stun) → Magic Boomerang through them plus basics while their buttons don't exist. This is blooing's core sequence — reverse the order and they walk out between strikes. With Flameshot, it slots in after the Boomerang as the finisher (blooing's combo line).
• "The Door Guard" (teamfight): Molina on the objective door pre-fight + Molina Blitz across the entrance on the commit: diver becomes a cat, follow-up eats three strikes, your team fights a 5v4 with a spectator.

Rotation and map control

Level 1: take Magic Boomerang and clear mid with it, bending the return pass through the enemy mid laner behind his wave. Mid Lane is her measured home (MLCounters, MLBBGuides and blooing all file her there); roam is the off-role Zathong lists, for drafts that already have a mid.

Molina is a pre-fight skill. Plant her in a bush or chokepoint seconds *before* the dive, already hunting when they show (blooing) — thrown after it starts, she chases someone already past her. Stand mid-range, not max range, so she lands ahead of their path. Same logic for Molina Blitz: zone it across objective doors on the engage — area denial, not a damage dump on whoever's closest.

Play the passive like a resource bar. With Molina's Gift up, hold aggressive mid-range positions and bait the combo — you walk out of your own funeral. Once it pops, 150 seconds of being a normal squishy mage with no dash: behind the frontline, no exceptions (blooing: watch the passive's cooldown, not just the ultimate's). And ping the transformed target the second it lands (blooing): the 25% Magic Defense cut is team-wide but lasts 1.5 seconds — nobody notices unless you tell them.

Best build, emblem, and battle spell (Season 42)

Two schools, and the lobby decides. The burst pickoff build (MLBBGuides' default ranked mid set): Arcane Boots → Genius Wand → Wishing Lantern → Holy Crystal → Divine Glaive → Blood Wings. The CDR zone build (blooing's core, mirrored by MLBBGuides' second set and Zathong's sustained set): Arcane Boots → Glowing Wand → Lightning Truncheon → Divine Glaive → Holy Crystal → Wishing Lantern — more casts, more Molinas, more zones. Flex honestly: Enchanted Talisman when mana ends your rotations (MLBBGuides, two of its three sets; Zathong's pro build); Fleeting Time so takedowns refund the Blitz, and Ice Queen Wand for extra slow (MLBBGuides' zone set; Zathong's burst set); Winter Crown or Immortality vs a dedicated diver (MLBBGuides' anti-dive set — Immortality triggers *after* your passive, so it's a third life, not a second). Emblem: Mage — blooing runs Rupture / Weapon Master / Lethal Ignition (her multi-hit kit triggers it in one combo); Impure Rage is the mana-school third talent the older guides swear by. Roam Nana swaps to Support with Focusing Mark. Battle spell: Flicker by default (MLBBGuides' pickoff set; Zathong; fone.tips calls it the most common) — she has no dash, and Flicker is the only reposition she'll ever own. Flameshot is the zone school's pick (MLBBGuides; blooing — finishes and peeling divers); Sprint is blooing's safety answer into dive. Purify only vs CC chains long enough to stop you casting at all (MLBBGuides' anti-dive set).

How to counter her

Two tracker families, one verdict: a no-dash mage whose whole game is one transform (12s+ cooldown) and a passive (150s). Play around the clocks. MLCounters' measured top three (updated 20 Oct 2026): Gloo, Kaja and Sun. MLBB.io's matchup data (current patch) names Gloo (+2.1% win-rate advantage), Joy (+1.0%), Esmeralda (+0.9%), Kaja (+0.8%) and Hanzo (+0.8%) — Gloo and Kaja are the two-source consensus: Gloo walls off the ground her zones need; Kaja suppresses her before the morph matters. - Chase her through the passive: MLBBGuides' matchup notes name Zilong and Natalia (score 44, her worst) for one reason — they chase Nana *through* Molina's Gift's 2 seconds and finish her when it ends. The second life only saves her if she reaches her team inside it. - Be untargetable or too fast to plant on: blooing files Fanny (cables outrun Molina's 2.5-second chase) and Lancelot (untargetable/invincible frames — a chasing Molina connects with nothing). - Items: Athena's Shield and Dominance Ice (MLBB.io); Radiant Armor and Tough Boots (MLCounters) — her damage streams in small hits, so magic-defense stacking outlasts it. - Play patterns: bait the combo, then fight during its cooldowns (MLBB.io); pop Molina's Gift with a cheap engage, then take the real fight inside its 150-second window; never clump inside Molina Blitz — spread, and the stun literally cannot happen. And don't rely on Purify against the morph: you can't press anything mid-transform (Fandom's state locks your buttons) — a teammate's cleanse is the real answer (fone.tips names Diggie's Time Journey). Who she counters — also measured: Odette is the consensus victim (MLCounters, MLBB.io, blooing — Swan Song needs an uninterrupted setup, and a chasing Molina takes it away). MLBBGuides scores her strong into Eudora and Kadita (54): one-shot mages are exactly what a death-defying passive eats — the combo lands, she doesn't die, they have nothing left. MLCounters adds Alucard and Lolita; blooing adds dashless Lesley. The honest disagreement: Hayabusa — MLBBGuides scores Nana *strong* into him (a landed Molina cancels Shadow Kill mid-cast); blooing files him as her counter (you can't plant a cat on a shadow). Same skill check: predictive placement, he's food; reactive, he's gone.

Mistakes everyone makes

• "The Late Molina": Throwing Molina Smooch after the dive has already started — or from max range, onto the spot the enemy just left. Thrown mid-chase it usually misses; planted a few seconds early, from mid-range, it hits almost every time (blooing's most common Nana mistake, and it isn't close).
• "The Spread Ult": Molina Blitz on a scattered fight. The stun needs consecutive strikes on the *same* hero — three strikes on three different people is a very pretty slow (blooing).
• "The Victory Lap": Spending the Molina's Gift window running back *into* the fight instead of out of it — then playing two fights with no safety net (blooing: escape with it, don't re-engage).
• "The Wave-Clear Ult": Burning Molina Blitz on a late-game minion wave. Its value is starting fights and sealing objective doors, not janitor work (fone.tips).

FAQ

• Did Nana change in Season 42? No balance change in 2.2.16 or the documented 2.2.16a list; blooing notes one under-the-hood item — a Molina Smooch abnormal-damage bug fix. Last real balance touch: Patch 2.1.61's mage rebalance (MLBBHub).
• Can you Purify the morph off? No — you can't press anything mid-morph; Fandom's Transform state locks your buttons. Answers: control immunity going in, or a teammate's cleanse — Diggie's Time Journey strips it off allies (fone.tips).
• Mid or roam? Mid — every tracker files her there (MLCounters, MLBBGuides, blooing), and she needs mid's gold for the poke to matter. Roam is real (Zathong) but doesn't fix her actual problem — lobbies not following up her control, which is why MLBB.io flags even her mid win rate (44.9%) as the lane's trap pick.
• Why is she picked so much if she wins 47.5%? Because she's the comfort mage: Difficulty 1, Control 10, a passive that forgives a death every 150 seconds, and a cat that aims for you. Popularity measures how she feels; the win rate measures how lobbies use her.
• Flicker or Flameshot? Flicker if you're learning her or the enemy dives hard — it's her only reposition (MLBBGuides, Zathong). Flameshot once your placement is predictive — finishes, peel, the zone build's spell (MLBBGuides, blooing).

Final verdict

Nana in Season 42 is the people's control mage: one of the most-picked heroes in the game, a C on the data sites, an S on the editorial list, and a kit that turns the enemy's best diver into a house pet for 1.5 seconds at a time. She will not carry your lobby. She decides which of the enemy's plays are allowed to happen — and in drafts where that's the question, she's the answer.

Play her if: the enemy draft leans on dive and one-shot combos (Eudora, Kadita, Odette, predictable divers), your team has follow-up damage that will actually shoot the cat, and you'll do the unglamorous work — Molina planted early, Blitz on doors, passive treated like a second health bar with a 150-second fuse.

Skip her if: the enemy shows Gloo or Kaja, your team is five strangers who have never focus-fired a called target, or you need your mage to win the game alone. Take a burst mage and carry it yourself. Nana doesn't win fights. She cancels them — and invoices the enemy a cat for the privilege.

Keep reading

• Mobile Legends: Bang Bang on CoolGameShelf — the game page: player rating and official store links
• MLBB Emblem Guide — the emblem setup behind this guide's build
• More mage guides: Kagura MLBB Guide, Lunox MLBB Guide, Harith MLBB Guide