Is Cai Yan good in Honor of Kings?

Current HOKMeta data lists Cai Yan as Tier S, with 50.5% win rate and 1.2% pick rate. Cai Yan is worth playing if your team needs reliable Roaming pressure, but you should avoid blind-picking into Gao Changgong, Mulan without peel or defensive item planning.

How do you play Cai Yan in teamfights?

In teamfights, Cai Yan should respect enemy engage range first, then play around the hero's Support job: dealing damage, protecting carries, or entering after key control is used. When behind, clear waves and preserve cooldowns instead of face-checking fog.

SRoaming

Cai Yan Build, Items, Arcana & Counters

Cai Yan is a Tier S Roaming pick. Get the best build, core items, arcana, battle spell, counters, and tool-backed item decisions.

WR 50.5%Pick 1.2%Ban 1.7%

Build answer

Cai Yan best build for S15 (June 2026)

International server

Updated: 2026-08-07

Reviewed by: HOKMeta

Role, lane, difficulty

Roaming · Support · Tier S · Easy

Current patch rates

50.5% WR · 1.2% Pick · 1.7% Ban

Core 3 items

Eye of the Phoenix, Overlord's Platemail, Sage's Sanctuary

Best arcana

Lvl 5: Saint, Lvl 5: Harmony, Lvl 5: Tribute

Battle spell

Heal

Best into

Diaochan, Arke

Watch out for

Gao Changgong, Mulan

Cai Yan TL;DR

Tier S50.5% WRRoaming

Cai Yan: Periodic Passive Effect: Restores Health and gains a Movement Speedbonus when taking damage.

Fast conclusion

Cai Yan is a Tier S Roaming pick with 50.5% win rate.

Healing Hymn → Earworm → Tune of Tranquility → weave basic attacks

Core 3 items

Eye of the Phoenix

Overlord's Platemail

Sage's Sanctuary

Pick when

You need a current high-priority Roaming pick and your draft can play around its main timing.

Avoid when

Main threats: Gao Changgong, Mulan.

Open full counter pageMatchup notes, strong targets, and heroes that punish Cai Yan.

Current patch decision guide

How to decide if Cai Yan is the right pick

Pick Cai Yan if

Pick Cai Yan when your team needs a Tier S Roaming option and the draft gives this hero enough space to play around core cooldowns.

Avoid Cai Yan if

Avoid Cai Yan when the enemy composition directly attacks the hero's main weakness or your team cannot support the Roaming game plan.

Power spikes

First completed core item: check whether the hero can now contest lane or jungle tempo.
Two to three item point: decide whether to group for objectives or keep farming toward the late-game plan.
Final defensive or damage item: adapt to the enemy threat instead of following the build blindly.

Build decision

Start from the recommended build, then adjust based on whether the enemy is forcing burst survival, anti-tank damage, anti-heal, or safer positioning.

Matchup logic

Use the counter page and build compare tool together: first identify the threat, then test whether damage, defense, or utility gives the better answer.

Common mistakes

Following the build without checking the enemy draft.

Taking fights before the first meaningful item spike.

Ignoring wave state and vision before rotating.

30-day trend

Last 30 days of win rate, pick rate, and ban rate

Use daily snapshots to see whether this hero is heating up, cooling down, or simply staying popular without converting that attention into wins.

Win rate

Current 50.45%

7d change -0.12 pts

30d change -0.19 pts

Pick rate

Current 1.24%

7d change +0.08 pts

30d change +0.28 pts

Ban rate

Current 1.70%

7d change +0.20 pts

30d change +0.36 pts

Trend read

Cai Yan currently sits at 50.45% win rate, with a 30-day move of -0.19 pts and a 7-day move of -0.12 pts.

Win rate is falling by -0.19 pts.

Pick rate is climbing by +0.28 pts.

Ban rate is climbing by +0.36 pts.

Patch reason

S15: Adjusted skill cooldown

Tools

Test Cai Yan damage and item builds

Use the calculator for combo damage, or compare two item builds side by side before changing your ranked setup.

Damage calculator Compare builds

Best Build for Cai Yan

End-game item order with gold costs and slot notes. Purchase path may differ in-match.

Build philosophy

Cai Yan benefits from Survivability, Cooldown reduction, Movement speed — match items and runes to kit scaling.

Passive: Periodic Passive Effect: Recovers Health and gains Movement Speed when taking damage.

SurvivabilityCooldown reductionMovement speed

Arcana: Prioritize runes that boost Survivability, Cooldown reduction, Movement speed for this hero's passive and skill scaling.

2 presets — switch by draft, lane, or CN meta. Default matches Roaming when available.

Recommended item build order
#	Item	Gold	Stats	Why
1	Eye of the Phoenix	2,020g	MDEF +180, PDEF +90, HP +1,350 Boosts HP Regen	Fits Survivability priority — Passive - Bloodline — Increases Health recovery by 5% for every 10% of Health lost.
2	Overlord's Platemail	2,450g	HP +1,800, PDEF +160, MDEF +80 Extra HP	Fits Survivability priority — Passive - Fated — Increases HP by 4%.
3	Sage's Sanctuary	2,280g	HP +900, PDEF +150, MDEF +150 Resurrect on the spot	Fits Survivability priority — Passive - Revive — Resurrects the wearer 2s after dying and restores 2,000–3,000 Health. This effect can be triggered up to 2 times per match.
4	Ominous Premonition	2,020g	PDEF +300, HP +1,200 Slows attackers	Fits Survivability priority — Passive - Cold Steel — When taking damage, reduces the attacker's Attack Speed by 20%–40% and Movement Speed by 7.5%–15% for 2.5s.
5	Succubus Cloak	2,020g	MDEF +300, HP +1,100 Negates magical damage	Fits Survivability priority — Passive - Mist Veil — Grants a shield that negates 400–800 (+7% extra HP) magical damage every 15s.
6	Frigid Charge	2,030g	PDEF +150, HP +900, CDR +7.5%, Resistance +10% Great crowd control	Fits Survivability priority — Passive - Ice Armor — Resistance +10%. When affected by hard crowd control effects other than suppression, grants a shield that negates (10% HP) damage for 5s.

Best Arcana & Spells

Arcana and battle spell setup
Slot	Choice	Effect
Primary	Fate	Recommended for Support Roaming
Spell	Smite / Heal	Adjust Purify/Execute based on enemy dive.

Abilities

Skill Order

Skill 2 → Skill 1 → Tune of Tranquility (max Skill 2 first)

Max primary utility/damage skill first, then Healing Hymn, and Tune of Tranquility on cooldown.

Passive

Can't Touch This

Periodic Passive Effect: Recovers Health and gains Movement Speed when taking damage.

Skill 1

Healing Hymn

Gains Movement Speed and continuously heals teammates within a certain range.

Skill 2

Earworm

Fires a sound wave in the target direction, stunning and damaging enemies hit. Sound waves bounce between nearby enemies.

Ultimate

Tune of Tranquility

Continuously heals the teammate with the lowest Health within range, while granting them Physical and Magical Defense.

Combos

1. Standard trade
Healing Hymn → Earworm → Tune of Tranquility → weave basic attacks
When: Roaming skirmish or objective fight

Counters & Matchups

🏛️ Camp Official Counter Data

Official counter reference from Camp HOK rank statistics.

Cai Yan is strong into

Pick Cai Yan when the enemy drafts these heroes.

Cai Yan struggles into

Avoid Cai Yan or ban these when they appear on the enemy team.

Full counter analysis →

vs Similar Heroes

Cai Yan vs Dolia (Support, Tier S): Dolia is 1.8% pick / 46.1% WR. Cai Yan has +4.3% WR vs Dolia in Camp data. Choose Cai Yan when you need Roaming identity; choose Dolia for Roaming comfort.
Cai Yan vs Yaria (Support, Tier S): Yaria is 1.1% pick / 48.0% WR. Cai Yan has +2.3% WR vs Yaria in Camp data. Choose Cai Yan when you need Roaming identity; choose Yaria for Roaming comfort.

Playstyle & Ranked Tips

Laning Phase

Help marksman crash wave, then rotate mid for picks. Return before Tyrant if your carry has no escape.

Teamfight Role

Peel carry first, then look for pick on out-of-position enemies. Ward Tyrant 30s before spawn.

High Rank (Diamond+)

Cai Yan is a Tier S staple in high-elo (Diamond+) on the international server — worth mastering for climb. Ban rate 1.9% — expect Cai Yan to be removed in tryhard lobbies; have a backup in the same role.

Related decisions

Keep researching Cai Yan

Cai Yan full guide

Lane plan, teamfight rules, ranked mistakes, and matchup notes.

Cai Yan counters

Best counter picks, matchup notes, and draft risks.

Cai Yan damage calculator

Test item damage against marksman, mage, fighter, and tank templates.

Cai Yan build compare

Compare two item builds and get matchup-specific conclusions.

Best Support heroes

Compare this pick with other heroes in the same role.

Cai Yan Build 2026 FAQ

Quick answers for Cai Yan builds, arcana, counters, lane choice, and ranked value.

What is the best Cai Yan build in 2026?

The best Cai Yan build in 2026 uses Eye of the Phoenix, Overlord's Platemail, Sage's Sanctuary, Ominous Premonition, Succubus Cloak, Frigid Charge. Play Cai Yan in Roaming, take Lvl 5: Saint, Lvl 5: Harmony, Lvl 5: Tribute arcana, and usually run Heal. This recommendation is aligned with S15 (June 2026) and the 2026-08-07 HOKMeta data snapshot.

What is the best arcana for Cai Yan?

The best Cai Yan arcana setup is Lvl 5: Saint, Lvl 5: Harmony, Lvl 5: Tribute. Keep the core damage arcana first, then adjust movement speed, pierce, or sustain only when the matchup makes your lane unsafe.

What should Cai Yan build first?

Cai Yan usually wants Eye of the Phoenix first because the first item should stabilize Roaming clear speed, trading power, or tempo. If the lane is unsafe, adjust boots or a small defensive component first, but do not delay the core damage curve too long.

What should Cai Yan build against tanks?

Use the HOKMeta damage calculator or build compare tool to test penetration, sustained damage, and survivability against tank templates. The best anti-tank item choice depends on whether Cai Yan can keep attacking safely or needs a defensive item to survive the first engage.

Who counters Cai Yan?

Cai Yan is most vulnerable to Gao Changgong, Mulan. Draft peel, respect engage range, and adjust items when the enemy lineup can dive or chain crowd control.

What lane does Cai Yan play?

Cai Yan is mainly played as a Support in Roaming. In ranked games, prioritize a stable farm pattern and only rotate early when the wave state keeps your economy safe.