“At M7, I had to play fighters, and I wasn’t ready for that”: an interview with Hiko from MSC 2026
After Team Spirit advanced to the playoffs of the MLBB Mid-Season Cup 2026, we had the chance to chat with the team’s gold laner, Hiko. In an interview with OFFSTAGE, Anton reflected on his career experience and assessed the current meta for the gold lane.
Hi! Two years ago, the 2024 Mid-Season Cup was your first international tournament. Do you remember what it was like, and how has your approach to the game and team coordination changed since then?
Back then, I was still just a kid. It was my first international experience; I didn’t really know what to expect yet, and I felt pretty insecure. Overall, I used to interact with the team differently—now everything is completely different. I’ve grown as a person and as an individual; a lot of time has passed, and a lot has changed since then. And now I’m performing much better.
You always dominate in your region, but when you go to an international tournament, how much does your gameplay differ? Or is it more or less the same?
Of course, at tournaments like these, you have to adapt because the level of play on the international stage is much higher. They position themselves much better on the lane than, say, our players do. You have to adapt, play even better, and try to win the lane against top Gold players from Southeast Asia.
A few questions about the meta. What do you think of the current Gold meta overall? Do the current strong champions suit your playstyle?
At M7, I had to play fighters, and I wasn’t ready for that—I didn’t adapt well. But now the meta is more or less the same: both ADCs and fighters are played in the Gold tier, and I feel comfortable playing both marksmen and fighters. Overall, I feel good—I like the meta.
Do you think Gold players are capable of carrying the game in the current meta, or are junglers more likely to close out matches solo?
I think junglers are very strong right now, but if you’re playing marksman, you can still easily make a huge impact in team fights in the late game—your champions are simply very strong in the late game.
I think ADCs can carry in the late game, but assassins get up to speed a bit faster—if they have a lot of farm and you don’t, it becomes pretty tough to play.
How much have the new jungle timings—where an enemy champion can gank the lane right after the first creep—changed the gameplay on the gold lane? Do you have to play more cautiously?
Of course, you have to keep in mind that if you play aggressively on the lane and the jungler comes to you after the green creep, he’ll use up a spell, and then things will get very unpleasant. So, if a jungler can do that—say, Hirara or even Baksiy, who doesn’t show up very often these days—you need to play the first wave fairly passively.
Overall, due to the nerfs to all tanks and the buffs to assassins in the jungle, you also need to adapt and change your hero pool to focus more on survival rather than on gaining an advantage in team fights. So yes, due to the changes in the jungle meta, players on the gold lane also have to adjust their gameplay.
In this tournament, you’ve been picking Cloud quite often, even though he has a terrible win rate—around 30%. Why do teams keep actively picking him? Are the other options worse?
First, gold laners are picked in the second phase, which comes after the bans: often, the heroes that are best suited for the draft get banned. The selection isn’t that wide, and Cloud performs quite well against assassins and has good laning.
It’s just that sometimes it’s very hard to make an effective impact in team fights because of the current meta. I think he’s still a solid pick; it’s just that few enemy and ally picks suit his playstyle.
Melissa is also appearing frequently in the top lane right now. What can you say about her—is she a strong hero?
She also performs brilliantly against the strongest assassins in this patch: Ling and Fanny. Melissa counters them quite effectively because her dome prevents assassins from killing you in teamfights, and she has good laning. She’s an excellent hero in this meta, which is why we ban her regularly.
Nathan is often mentioned among your signature heroes, and in 2024 you had a 100% win rate with him in two consecutive MCC seasons. Why do you think he’s completely fallen out of the meta now?
Since then, Nathan has taken a lot of harsh nerfs. Plus, he’s hard to play against assassins, and he struggles in lane. I don’t think he’s relevant right now.
In ranked Gold tier, people often pick Miya, Hanabi, and Leslie—heroes you never see on the pro scene. Is it because the esports meta is too different from ranked games?
I think these heroes are too easy to kill in team fights—that’s the problem. People started actively picking Hanabi at one point when tanks were playing in the jungle, but now the meta has changed, and it’s almost impossible for her to play against assassins.
As for Mia—I think her laning phase is weak without Inspiration. And if you take Inspiration, you’re an easy target in team fights. Leslie has strong laning, but she has a very hard time dealing damage in team fights. She becomes very vulnerable late-game, and by that point, the game might already be over.
