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Heroes

Mina Deadlock Guide: Abilities, Build, Ability Order and Counters

Mina is Deadlock's vampire harasser: low health, a weak gun on paper and a bite that turns every poke into real damage. This guide covers her kit, then uses about 14,000 ranked games at Oracle and above since City Never Sleeps to show the build strong Mina players agree on and the matchups that matter.

Written byMax CalderDeadlock journalist

Published5 min read

Two hero cards of Mina, Deadlock's vampire marksman

Who is Mina?

Mina is filed as a marksman and rated Hard in the game files, tagged Harasser, Nimble and Vexing. Her gun deals little on its own; the damage comes from Love Bites, which adds spirit damage to every bullet and bursts on targets you keep hitting. She is one of the most played heroes in ranked, picked in about four of every ten matches.

Base stats

Mina's base stats
Health
660
The lowest of any hero
Gun damage per second
~29
~45 with Love Bites
Ammo
12
1.7 s reload
Falloff range
20-46 m
Move speed
6.5 m/s
Stamina charges
2

Abilities and upgrades

Abilities and upgrades (tiers cost 1, 2 and 5 points)
  • Rake16 s cooldownA clawing swipe in a 60 degree cone: 60 damage plus 6% of the target's missing health. Heals 25 for each kill.
    1. +60 damage
    2. 8 s shorter cooldown, +30 heal per kill
    3. +7% missing health damage
  • Sanguine Retreat32 s cooldownBurst into mist and fly up to 9 m, untargetable on the way. Can be recast once within 4 s.
    1. +25% fire rate and 8 extra bullets for 8 s
    2. 10 s shorter cooldown
    3. +1 recast, +4 m range
  • Love Bites10 s per targetBullets add 4 spirit damage and build toward a bite worth 45 bonus spirit damage on that target.
    1. The bite slows by 24% for 3 s
    2. +3 spirit damage per bullet, +45 bite damage
    3. 5 s shorter per-target timer, +25% fire rate
  • Nox Nostra150 s cooldown75 bats seek out enemies, each dealing spirit damage and a short silence. Every bite on a hero adds 2 bats for good, up to 50 more.
    1. +1.9 damage per bat
    2. 45 s shorter cooldown
    3. Bats deal +0.5% of current health

Which ability to max first

This one is settled. At Oracle and above, 99% of Mina players max Rake first and 97% put their first upgrade point into it. The first tier doubles its damage and the second adds healing on kills while cutting the cooldown, which is why nobody waits on it. Max Rake, then follow with Love Bites.

The build high-rank Mina players agree on

Most bought items on Mina at Oracle and above, in buying order

Share of Oracle-and-above games where the item was bought, and the minute it is usually bought.

None of the other heroes we analyzed has a build this fixed: eight items show up in more than nine of every ten high-rank games. Spirit and early, stamina to stay slippery, and around the 14 minute mark because a single stun is usually enough to kill a 660 health hero.

How to play Mina

  1. Poke, then bite. Shooting and Rake both build Love Bites, but each target can only be bitten once every 10 s, so spread your damage across heroes.
  2. Bite heroes to grow your ultimate. Every Love Bite on a hero adds two bats to Nox Nostra for the rest of the game.
  3. Save Sanguine Retreat for when you are caught. You have the lowest health in the game, and the retreat makes you untargetable while you fly.
  4. Use Rake to finish, not to start. It deals more damage the more health the target is missing, and every kill heals you.
  5. Fire Nox Nostra into fights where enemies need their abilities. The bats silence each target they hit.

Matchups

Mina's win rate against each enemy hero, ranked games since City Never Sleeps

Hardest

  • Rat King3,918 games, mostly before his nerf38.9%
  • Graves3,172 games43.1%
  • Ivy1,853 games43.2%
  • Paige2,911 games43.5%
  • Seven2,831 games44.0%

Easiest

  • Shiv2,480 games53.4%
  • Mirage949 games53.3%
  • Warden1,046 games53.3%
  • The Doorman1,551 games52.9%
  • Pocket2,711 games52.6%

As with most heroes, the hard list is mostly the top of our tier list: strong heroes beat Mina because they beat everyone. Adjusted for overall strength, only one matchup stands out, and it is a surprise: Baba. Mina wins 52.4% against her, almost five points less than expected. Baba's silences and pigeon hex shut down a hero whose damage runs through abilities, though this is early data from Baba's first days.

How to play against Mina

  • Stun or silence her first. With 660 health she rarely survives a full combo, and silence stops both her escape and her Rake.
  • Do not trade at mid range for long. Each bullet she lands builds toward a bite, so long pokes favor her.
  • Watch for the mist. After Sanguine Retreat she has a 4 s window to recast, so save your burst until it is used up.
Mina's ranked win rate by rank bracket
Average rank in the matchWin rate
Initiate to Mystic47.3%
Ritualist to Oracle48.5%
Phantom to Eternus48.4%

Mina wins 47.9% of ranked games since City Never Sleeps, which places her in D tier, and 49.0% at Oracle and above, where players know the kit. She rewards practice more than most, so the sandbox is worth ten minutes before ranked.

FAQ

Rake. 99% of Mina players at Oracle and above max it first, and 97% put their very first upgrade point into it.

High-rank players buy , and early, then , , , and , finishing with and .

Stun or silence her before she can use Sanguine Retreat. She has the lowest health in the game at 660, and Baba's silences are the one matchup that hurts her more than expected.

She wins 47.9% of ranked games since City Never Sleeps and 49.0% at Oracle and above, a high-skill hero that gets better with practice.

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