Stats for mythic rank, last 7 days — third-party aggregation, not an official Moonton figure.
Written by EllieAnth — playing MLBB since 2017 (9+ years), peak rank Mythical Immortal, 1126 stars.
A breakdown of the 8 matchups that decide Aulus games — why each one leans the way it does, what it costs you in lane, and how to play it.
Overview
What decides Aulus's matchups
Aulus's matchups hinge on how effectively he stacks Fighting Spirit while managing his early vulnerability. Before accumulating max stacks for the bonus Movement Speed and Basic Attack Damage, opponents can aggressively trade while his Damage Reduction from Aulus, Charge! is low due to minimal extra Physical Attack. To survive and scale, Aulus relies on sustaining through enhanced Basic Attacks granted by The Power of Axe when hitting multiple Hero or Creep targets. Enemies continuously exploit his weak early laning by forcing trades before he can maintain axe stacks or utilize his front-facing Damage Reduction.
Hard counters 1
These heroes have a structural edge over you: their kit directly shuts down the tools you rely on. Winning the lane outright is rarely the plan — the goal is to limit mistakes, give up as little tempo as possible, and look for value somewhere else on the map.
Aulus relies on closing distance using Aulus, Charge! to build max stacks of Fighting Spirit and unleash enhanced Basic Attacks from The Power of Axe. Zhuxin completely shuts down this close-range playstyle through sustained kite and airborne crowd control. The movement speed boost from Aulus, Charge! is easily negated by the slow on Fluttering Grace, while her continuous channeling of Lantern Flare rapidly applies Soul Snare stacks. Once ten stacks accumulate, Zhuxin lifts Aulus airborne for a full second and hurls him away, completely resetting his engagement momentum and wasting his enhanced attack window.
Lane impact
In the lane, Aulus is forced into a defensive posture, unable to approach minion waves without taking free damage from Fluttering Grace. Every attempt Aulus makes to clear waves or trade allows Zhuxin to hold Lantern Flare, continuously draining his HP while building Crimson Butterflies to sustain her Mana. If Aulus attempts to contest teamfights around the Turtle, Zhuxin can activate Crimson Beacon to blink into safety while carpeting the area with Soul Snare stacks, rendering Aulus airborne before he can touch her backline. Consequently, Aulus loses wave priority and objective presence early on.
How to play it
To survive, Aulus must refrain from running straight at Zhuxin with Aulus, Charge! while her Mana is full. Bait out Fluttering Grace first to waste her movement speed and slow, then wait until she cancels or exhausts her Lantern Flare channeling before committing. Never cast The Power of Axe while Zhuxin is actively stacking Soul Snare on you, as being tossed airborne wastes the duration of your enhanced Basic Attacks. If trading is impossible, give up early wave pressure, farm safely under turret, and wait for allies to force her ultimate, Crimson Beacon, before diving in.
Unfavorable 6
You are behind in this matchup but not helpless. These opponents punish specific mistakes rather than dominating every exchange, so precise cooldown tracking and patient trading keep you in the game.
Hilda completely oppresses Aulus during the early stages because Blessing of Wilderness gives her constant health regeneration and shield uptime in EXP lane bushes, invalidating any minor poke Aulus tries to dish out. When Aulus attempts to stack Fighting Spirit, Hilda uses Combat Ritual to close the distance instantly and applies Wilderness Mark stacks using Art of Hunting. The physical defense shred from Wilderness Mark strips away Aulus's durability, making the front damage reduction from Aulus, Charge! far less effective against the massive physical damage of Power of Wildness.
Lane impact
In the laning phase, Hilda controls every bush, forcing Aulus completely off the wave and denying him the gold needed to hit his level scaling power spikes. If Aulus tries to clear minions, Hilda engages with Combat Ritual, disrupts his attack rhythm with the knockback on Art of Hunting, and regains any lost HP by retreating into the brush via Blessing of Wilderness. This constant lane pressure deprives Aulus of wave control, preventing him from contesting the early Turtle or assisting his team during river skirmishes.
How to play it
Aulus must play with extreme restraint, giving up early minion last hits if Hilda holds the river bush. Save Aulus, Charge! strictly to cleanse the slow from Combat Ritual and escape, rather than using it offensively. Avoid trading inside the brush where Blessing of Wilderness grants her shields, and wait until she wastes Art of Hunting on the minion wave before attempting to clear. Your primary objective is reaching late game; once you hit maximum stacks with Fighting Spirit and unlock fully enhanced attacks from The Power of Axe, you will cleanly outscale her.
Chou controls every short trade through Jeet Kune Do and Only Fast, preventing Aulus from comfortably stacking Fighting Spirit. When Aulus attempts to close the distance using Aulus, Charge!, Chou can absorb the initial hit with Shunpo's shield while gaining Control Immunity to negate any slow or crowd control. Furthermore, Chou's third cast of Jeet Kune Do airborne knockup interrupts Aulus's attack flow when attempting to land basic attacks for sustain. The ultimate The Way of Dragon completely disengages or displaces Aulus whenever he commits with high stacks.
Lane impact
During the early laning phase in the EXP Lane, Chou holds total wave control because Aulus cannot sustain extended fights without full stacks of Fighting Spirit. Every time Aulus steps up to last-hit minion waves, Chou can poke with Only Fast and execute the three-hit Jeet Kune Do sequence, forcing Aulus to spend Aulus, Charge! defensively for its front-facing damage reduction. This constant displacement strips Aulus of lane priority, allowing Chou to freely rotate to secure the Turtle or contest the enemy jungle while Aulus is stuck clearing under his tower.
How to play it
Aulus must play defensively and avoid trading until reaching higher levels. Track Chou's Shunpo cooldown before committing; if Chou wastes its shield aggressively, cast The Power of Axe across Chou and the minion wave to maximize enhanced basic attacks and healing. When Chou initiates with Jeet Kune Do, activate Aulus, Charge! to face him directly and reduce incoming damage, then step back before the third airborne cast lands. If Chou threatens to kick you with The Way of Dragon, hold your position near the tower and prioritize passive minion farming.
Guinevere controls this matchup because her Spatial Migration airborne knockup directly interrupts Aulus before he can stack Fighting Spirit or land enhanced attacks. Aulus relies on close-range continuous basic attacking to sustain, but Guinevere chains Spatial Migration into Violet Requiem, keeping Aulus locked airborne while dealing massive magic damage under Control Immunity. Although Aulus, Charge! cleanses the slow from Energy Wave and grants front damage reduction, it does not prevent airborne displacement, rendering Aulus completely unable to counter-attack or restore HP during her full channel.
Lane impact
Guinevere dominates the early EXP lane tempo by poking with Energy Wave to shorten her cooldowns while threatening Spatial Migration whenever Aulus moves up to hit minions. If Aulus attempts to trade with enhanced Basic Attacks from The Power of Axe, Guinevere can reactively leap onto him, forcing him out of lane or killing him outright. This forces Aulus into a passive defensive posture under his turret, forfeiting lane priority, which allows Guinevere to rotate freely to contest the Turtle or invade the nearby enemy jungle.
How to play it
Patience is mandatory until Aulus reaches his late-game scaling. Never engage or commit enhanced attacks from The Power of Axe while Spatial Migration is off cooldown. Use the Movement Speed from Aulus, Charge! reactively to dodge Guinevere's leap rather than running straight at her, or use it to cleanse the slow from Energy Wave. Once Guinevere whiffs Spatial Migration and leaves her illusion, aggressively close in, stack Fighting Spirit, and trade heavily while her crowd control and Violet Requiem are unavailable.
Silvanna structurally counters Aulus's early trading pattern before his passive scales. When Aulus attempts to attack, Silvanna can interrupt him using Cometic Lance's stun and immediately follow up with Spiral Strangling. That channeling skill grants her a thick shield that absorbs Aulus's incoming damage while her passive, Knightess' Resolve, strips his defenses by up to five stacks. If she traps him inside Imperial Justice, Aulus cannot disengage using Aulus, Charge!, forcing him into a enclosed duel where her bonus Attack Speed and Lifesteal completely out-sustain his early damage output.
Lane impact
During the EXP Lane phase, Silvanna asserts aggressive wave dominance because Aulus cannot break through her Spiral Strangling shield early on. Attempting to contest minion waves directly exposes Aulus to Cometic Lance stuns, draining his health pool and forcing him to farm under his outer turret. Silvanna's early level four spike with Imperial Justice creates high kill threat, effectively freezing the lane and delaying Aulus from building Fighting Spirit stacks. This forces Aulus to surrender early Turtle fights and map rotations until he reaches his higher power spikes.
How to play it
Aulus must play passively and prioritize minion experience over trading blows. Keep a close eye on Silvanna's Cometic Lance cooldown, reserving Aulus, Charge! strictly for disengaging rather than initiating fights. If she misses Spiral Strangling or uses it on a minion wave, briefly enter with your primary attack skill to secure last hits before retreating. If locked inside Imperial Justice, immediately turn face-forward to maximize the frontal Damage Reduction from Aulus, Charge!, surviving her arena duration until late-game scaling allows you to out-carry her.
Minsitthar structurally counters Aulus by nullifying his core combat mobility and sustained trades. King's Calling creates an anti-mobility zone that grounds Aulus, preventing him from utilizing Aulus, Charge! to close distance or escape. When Aulus attempts to stack Fighting Spirit through extended melee brawls, Minsitthar's Mark of the King interrupts his attack cadence with a stun and burst heal. Additionally, Spear of Glory consistently displaces Aulus out of safe position into Minsitthar's Shield Assault, forcing Aulus to bleed health before his scaling ever matures.
Lane impact
In the EXP Lane, Aulus faces immediate wave-freezing pressure. Every attempt to hit minions to gain Fighting Spirit leaves Aulus vulnerable to Spear of Glory, dragging him into unfavorable trades under Minsitthar's terms. When Aulus tries to turn trades with The Power of Axe, Minsitthar's Shield Assault absorbs front damage while returning heavy area attacks. This forces Aulus to farm defensively under his turret, forfeiting early lane dominance. Consequently, Minsitthar gains free rotations to secure Turtle objectives while Aulus is stranded clearing shoved minion waves.
How to play it
Aulus must adopt a patient, reactive playstyle in this matchup. Always track Minsitthar's Spear of Glory cooldown before walking up to the minion wave, holding Aulus, Charge! exclusively as a defensive tool rather than an initiator. If locked inside King's Calling, focus on angling frontward to maximize damage reduction from Aulus, Charge! while disengaging instead of trying to stack enhanced attacks from The Power of Axe. Prioritize surviving the laning phase and reaching higher levels to let Aulus outscale Minsitthar during late-game teamfights.
Paquito's Champ Stance enables relentless early trading that exploits Aulus's weak early stats. When Paquito weaves Jab with enhanced Heavy Left Punch, he generates temporary shields that completely nullify Aulus's auto-attack damage before Fighting Spirit can even accumulate four stacks. Aulus, Charge! offers frontal damage reduction, but Paquito's rapid repositioning via Jab bypasses this angle easily. Furthermore, the airborne crowd control on enhanced Knockout Strike interrupts Aulus's auto-attack rhythm, forcing Aulus to dump his HP threshold and Skill 2 sustain defensively long before reaching his power spikes.
Lane impact
Laning phase becomes an uphill battle for Aulus in the EXP Lane. Paquito freezes minion waves with the constant threat of a full Champ Stance combo, preventing Aulus from building minion-hit stacks for Fighting Spirit. If Aulus approaches to farm, Paquito chunks his health bar using Jab into Knockout Strike, establishing total lane dominance. This forces Aulus under his turret, forfeiting lane priority entirely. While Aulus slowly clears incoming waves, Paquito rotates freely to secure the Turtle or invade the enemy jungle with his allies.
How to play it
Aulus must play conservatively and respect Paquito's early power spike. Track Paquito's passive indicator; never engage when Champ Stance is primed. Use Aulus, Charge! strictly as a disengage tool to absorb or retreat from incoming Jab strikes rather than initiation. Reserve Skill 2 exclusively for healing off minion waves near your turret to keep your HP bar healthy. Once you level up The Power of Axe, shift your win condition toward late-game skirmishes, where your max-stacked Fighting Spirit enhanced basic attacks out-scale Paquito's single-target burst.
Favorable 1
Your kit has the edge here. These are the matchups where you should look to build a lead early and convert it, rather than playing for scaling.
Sun relies on overwhelming opponents with clones from Endless Variety and Instantaneous Move, but this plays directly into Aulus's win condition. Aulus thrives when sweeping multiple targets, as hitting Sun's Doppelgangers allows him to max out Fighting Spirit stacks instantly while gaining full charges on The Power of Axe. Additionally, Aulus, Charge! completely removes the slows Sun attempts to apply while granting up to 60% frontal Damage Reduction, severely mitigating the armor shred from Simian God during direct face-to-face brawl engagements.
Lane impact
During early EXP Lane trades, Sun might attempt to harass with Endless Variety and gap-close using Instantaneous Move. However, any attempt by Sun to commit with clones grants Aulus immediate sustain and area damage. Sun cannot freeze the wave effectively because Aulus uses enemy Doppelgangers alongside minions to trigger maximum enhanced basic attacks from The Power of Axe, sustaining through trades and quickly clearing waves. Consequently, Sun is forced to play defensively, surrendering early EXP Lane priority and delaying his rotation to contest the Turtle.
How to play it
When Sun casts Endless Variety or Swift Exchange, do not retreat; instead, step directly into the clone cluster to unleash your second skill and sweep with The Power of Axe. Hitting both Sun and his Doppelgangers guarantees maximum charges for enhanced Basic Attacks and instant max stacks of Fighting Spirit. Activate Aulus, Charge! to cleanse any slowing effects and block incoming frontal strike damage from Instantaneous Move. If Sun attempts to retreat with Swift Exchange, use your max-stack Movement Speed boost to chase him down and secure the kill.
Matchup relationships for 1 of these pairings come from the game's own hero data; the rest are selected from the heroes you actually meet in this lane. All written analysis is AI-generated from both heroes' ability kits and reviewed automatically for accuracy — it describes kit interactions, not live win rates.
