The beauty of "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang" lies within its diverse meta. Right now, the game sees junglers lead from the front once again as teams hinge on them to be the difference-makers between victory and defeat.
With several balance changes and hero revamps in recent times, quite a few assassins and hybrid damage dealers have resurfaced in relevance.
Among them, Yi Sun-shin, Hayabusa, and Julian take center stage among all other jungle picks as game carriers if played perfectly.
Yi Sun-shin: Meta Comeback After Game-Changing Revamp
Position: Jungle
After months of obscurity, Yi Sun-shin has finally taken his rightful place in the meta. The rework on his ultimate, Mountain Shocker, made him a fearsome teamfight starter: not only does the skill reveal enemies across a wide area, but it also gives Yi Sun-shin the ability to pilot a ship that crashes into opponents with a stun and heavy AoE damage. This instantly provided him with what he was missing: reliable crowd control and decent weight in coordinated conflicts.
His Traceless skill remains an important part of his kit, as giving him brief control immunity is extremely helpful in surviving chaotic skirmishes. Yi Sun-shin's unique mechanic of switching between attacks of different types-Ranged and Melee-allows him to maximize the damage output, especially when contesting objectives like Turtle and Lord.
But this hero requires mastery: high skill ceiling, unforgiving for inexperienced players, and bad positioning will get punished very fast. Most importantly, Yi Sun-shin belongs in the jungle. His effectiveness as a Gold Laner is really limited since his attack range is inconsistent and his playstyle leans toward that of an assassin.
Hayabusa: The Safest Jungle Assassin Pick
Position: Jungle
Hayabusa, up to this day, remains one of the most dependable junglers in MLBB, especially for ranked-game-climbing players. His shadow-based mobility grants him effortless repositioning and excellent setups to ensure quick kills, allowing him to turn the tables in his favor on many occasions. This will be a great choice for players looking for a low-risk, high-reward assassin.
His Ultimate grants temporary untargetability, sending the enemies into a panicking situation while he conducts his devastating burst damage. In fact, this skill makes it very hard for Hayabusa to get punished in any solo queue environment. With proper timing and map awareness, he can dismantle backlines and retreat before enemies can react.
The consistency and safety make Hayabusa an excellent fallback pick for junglers looking for dependability in performance without overly excessive mechanical complexity.
Julian: Early-Game Snowball Potential
Position: Jungle, Mid Lane, EXP Lane
Julian explodes for early momentum. Reaching Level 3, he is an immediate threat to gank the lanes or invade the enemy jungle. While his kit is quite flexible, allowing him to fit into many roles, in the jungle, his rapid tempo can overwhelm ill-prepared opponents.
His biggest strength is in rapidly snowballing and pressuring very hard across the map. On the other hand, Julian struggles really hard against teams with any decent crowd control.
Heroes like Tigreal or Jawhead can turn him off before he provides value, which is why he doesn't see much professional play. However, in ranked games where coordination is lower, Julian remains a lethal pick for aggressive players who live off of early dominance.
