Zhu Xin vs. Marcel: An Analysis of the Two Most Overpowered Characters in MCC

The new character has traditionally been very strong. It’s not even about the ultimate mechanic, which not everyone has yet learned to use properly: Marcel provides too much of an advantage in the early game, and his stats allow him to maintain that advantage throughout the entire match.

The MCC participants themselves admitted that finding a worthy alternative to the Soul Photographer in the roamer role is very difficult: some spoke softly about the hero’s strength, while others pointed to the complete lack of good counterpicks. Coming up with something on the fly didn’t work out—in 86% of games, Marcel was simply banned, so he appeared in the picks only 18 times. And in almost every game (17 out of 18), he was picked first or second—that is, immediately after the bans.

It’s also interesting that by the end of the season, teams had started to value Marcel a little less. During the first half of the MCC regular season, roammers only let him into the pick phase 5 times, but in weeks five and six—already 12 times. On one hand, this suggests teams were gradually adapting; on the other, the final matches had lost their tournament significance, so they were more willing to play against the Photographer of Souls.

Although the hero doesn’t have the highest win rate in MCC Season 7 (only 12th place among characters with 5+ picks), it’s important to remember that he was assigned to weaker teams several times (likely as an experiment). Three of Marcel’s seven losses were against Aura Farmers; magic and Virtus.pro, featuring Maxim “Nagib” Dudich, each lost once with him as well.

One of the most effective heroes based on the results of the M7 World Championship has become even stronger since the start of the new season in MLBB. The Spirit Beacon was barely affected by the March patch: the mage rework benefited Zhu Xin, and in the opinion of many, she has become the undisputed best choice for the mid lane.

But, unlike Marcel, there’s often a solid counter to this overpowered mid laner. The hero’s pick rate exceeds 31% (40 picks out of 88 bans)—meaning in every third match, teams preferred to ban someone else, keep Zhu Xin in the pool, and find a counter for her. 

The counters varied widely: sometimes the mage was swapped for Marcel himself (often unsuccessfully), while in other cases teams picked their signature hero, a strong duo, or another strong mid laner. Most often, Valentina was picked against Zhuxin, and it worked—a 6:10 map record against the “imbalanced patch,” and out of the last 11 such games, the Spirit Mayak managed to win only two.

Zhuxin’s win rate isn’t particularly high overall: just 50%. The hero isn’t among the leaders in other metrics either—for example, with a KDA of 5.47, she ranks only 13th, and in some categories she’s even lower. Can we say that Zhuxin is overrated? Probably, but it’s usually the weaker teams that do this. CyberHero went 0-6 against her, while Aura Farmers and FORZE both went 1-5.

MCC S7 regular season drafts often followed the same pattern: the second team was forced to spend two bans on these heroes to prevent the opponent from picking them first. This pattern can be observed in 85 games (66%). Other scenarios were significantly less common:

In games where teams traded Zhu Xin and Marcel, the Soul Photographer proved stronger—9:4. In two other surprising matches (Yandex vs. CyberHero and VP vs. Forze), one team picked both heroes at once—and in both cases, that team won easily.

Despite the two-week break, the heroes’ standings are unlikely to change drastically by the playoffs. We can only expect that Zhuxin will lose his 100% pick rate: in theory, one of the teams could pick a different hero for the mid lane after bans, and the opponent would respond with a successful counter-pick.

As for Marcel, he is unlikely to return to the picks without a successful trade. Zhuxin will be the primary option for this, and there aren’t many other possibilities. While we will definitely see the mid laner in several games, the roamer might disappear for good.

It’s worth noting: although Zhuxin seems slightly weaker than Marcel, she still stands out significantly from the rest in the overall pool—at least in our region. And what about the rest?

In the case of these two heroes, the global MLBB meta aligns with the opinion of Russian-speaking pro players, though it’s not quite as definitive. Zhuxin appears in almost every draft, is picked very frequently, and has a win rate close to the ideal 50% balance.

The situation with Marcel is slightly different. He is among the most popular characters with a high win rate—but one in every six drafts goes without him. Interestingly, in the three strongest regions (the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia), his stats are lower: he appears less frequently in drafts and wins less often.

By the end of the regular season, EECA remained the only region where two heroes participated in every draft. In other leagues, such heroes are either absent entirely or there is only one:

Zhuxin’s standing fully aligns with what we see in EECA—though in top leagues, Freya is valued slightly higher, while Baksia and Harley are mentioned less frequently here. Marcel, meanwhile, rounds out the top 5 in the MPL: he trails not only Zhuxin and Freya, but also Fovius and Fanny.

It is likely that at international tournaments, our teams will have to acknowledge Freya’s dominance and not rely so heavily on their own favorites: as practice shows, the Asian meta proves to be slightly more effective. 

We’ll be able to test this as early as this summer at the AFK Masters, Games of the Future, and the 2026 Mid-Season Cup—though for now, MCC teams need to focus on developing their own meta ahead of the regional league finals.