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How to play Calico

Best build by measured win rate · patch 09-29-2026 · updated Oct 14 · Calico wins 48.1% overall

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The Calico build

Each tier lists the items Calico players win with most often, out of 203,542 Calico games. Win % is how often Calico wins when the item is bought; the green or red number is how far that is above or below the rest of the same tier. Popularity is the share of Calico games the item was bought in; Bought at is the average time. Only items bought in at least 1,500 games and by at least 5% of Calico players count, so a lucky streak can’t make the list.

Lane · Tier 1 · 800 souls

Early mid game · Tier 2 · 1,600 souls

Mid game · Tier 3 · 3,200 souls

Late game · Tier 4 · 6,400 souls

Situational / optional

Fewer Calico players buy these, usually against particular enemies, but those who do win clearly more than the rest of the same tier. Each still has at least 1,500 games behind it.

Popular, but behind the rest of their tier

Not wrong to buy, and sometimes the right answer to a specific enemy. On average, Calico players who buy these win less than those who buy something else at that point.

How this build is chosen

Source: deadlock-api.com item results for Calico, City Never Sleeps matches since 2026-09-30, refreshed daily. Items are compared with the rest of their own tier, because late items always show higher raw win rates (only players who are ahead can afford them). Ranking uses the low end of each item’s 95% confidence range, so more games beat a lucky few. It shows what winning Calico players buy; it can’t prove the item caused the win. For what to change against a specific enemy team, use the matchup tool.

How Calico plays

Strengths

  • Excellent farming speed and map mobility — she converts a quiet map into a soul lead faster than almost anyone
  • Return to Shadows Return to Shadows 115s Cooldown Calico instantly vanishes into shadow, becoming untargetable and gaining movement speed, damaging enemies around her as she goes. Damage 150 base spirit damage per hit (deadlock.one), applied on both entry and… Mobility Bonus move speed during the untargetable phase, which she uses to reposition… Defensive Full untargetability for the duration — it can be used purely to survive a… 1 -20s cooldown (from a 115s base) 2 +75 damage and +20% bonus move speed 5 +450 heal amount and +1s cooldown refund is one of the most forgiving dive tools in the game because untargetability removes the risk from the entry
  • Minimap concealment via Ava Ava 30s Cooldown Calico dissolves into shadow and takes the form of Ava, gaining movement speed that builds the longer she stays in the form and disappearing from the enemy minimap. Mobility Ramping bonus move speed (up to +45% more at Tier 2) and concealment from… Defensive Escape only through raw speed; 1 +15s buff duration 2 +45% maximum bonus move speed and +15 health regeneration 5 +20% outgoing damage, +6s damage amp duration and +10s build duration makes her rotations genuinely hard to track
  • High burst against isolated squishies

In lane

  • Gloom Bombs Gloom Bombs 14s Cooldown Calico lobs a handful of bombs that scatter and blow up after a short fuse, dealing spirit damage in the area they land. Damage 45 base spirit damage per bomb (deadlock.one); Defensive Can be thrown behind her while retreating to deter a chase through a choke. 1 -3s cooldown (from a 14s base) 2 -6% melee resist on targets hit and +6s duration 5 +3 grenades clears the wave and chips the enemy laner from a safe distance on a short 14s cooldown
  • Leaping Slash Leaping Slash 9m Range13s Cooldown Calico lunges forward and then sweeps everything around her with a melee slash. Damage 10 impact damage plus 40 heal scaling per Spirit Power at base… Mobility A committed forward dash — good for closing, mediocre for escaping since it… Defensive Heals on hero hit (+25 at Tier 1), giving her a reason to stay in a fight… 1 +25 heal amount 2 +200 bonus gold on kill and +3s bounty duration 5 +10 damage, +50% cooldown refund and +60 impact damage plus the spreadshot's 79 DPS makes any enemy who walks too far forward a real kill threat
  • Ava Ava 30s Cooldown Calico dissolves into shadow and takes the form of Ava, gaining movement speed that builds the longer she stays in the form and disappearing from the enemy minimap. Mobility Ramping bonus move speed (up to +45% more at Tier 2) and concealment from… Defensive Escape only through raw speed; 1 +15s buff duration 2 +45% maximum bonus move speed and +15 health regeneration 5 +20% outgoing damage, +6s damage amp duration and +10s build duration lets her leave a losing lane, reset and return without giving away her position

Power spikes

  • Return to Shadows Return to Shadows 115s Cooldown Calico instantly vanishes into shadow, becoming untargetable and gaining movement speed, damaging enemies around her as she goes. Damage 150 base spirit damage per hit (deadlock.one), applied on both entry and… Mobility Bonus move speed during the untargetable phase, which she uses to reposition… Defensive Full untargetability for the duration — it can be used purely to survive a… 1 -20s cooldown (from a 115s base) 2 +75 damage and +20% bonus move speed 5 +450 heal amount and +1s cooldown refund unlock — Gives her a dive-and-leave button and turns her from a farmer into a genuine pick threat
  • Gloom Bombs Gloom Bombs 14s Cooldown Calico lobs a handful of bombs that scatter and blow up after a short fuse, dealing spirit damage in the area they land. Damage 45 base spirit damage per bomb (deadlock.one); Defensive Can be thrown behind her while retreating to deter a chase through a choke. 1 -3s cooldown (from a 14s base) 2 -6% melee resist on targets hit and +6s duration 5 +3 grenades T3 (+3 grenades) — Camp and wave clear becomes near-instant, which is the foundation of her farming and split-push lead
  • Leaping Slash Leaping Slash 9m Range13s Cooldown Calico lunges forward and then sweeps everything around her with a melee slash. Damage 10 impact damage plus 40 heal scaling per Spirit Power at base… Mobility A committed forward dash — good for closing, mediocre for escaping since it… Defensive Heals on hero hit (+25 at Tier 1), giving her a reason to stay in a fight… 1 +25 heal amount 2 +200 bonus gold on kill and +3s bounty duration 5 +10 damage, +50% cooldown refund and +60 impact damage T3 — The +50% cooldown refund makes the dash repeatable, effectively giving her a second mobility charge in fights
  • Ava Ava 30s Cooldown Calico dissolves into shadow and takes the form of Ava, gaining movement speed that builds the longer she stays in the form and disappearing from the enemy minimap. Mobility Ramping bonus move speed (up to +45% more at Tier 2) and concealment from… Defensive Escape only through raw speed; 1 +15s buff duration 2 +45% maximum bonus move speed and +15 health regeneration 5 +20% outgoing damage, +6s damage amp duration and +10s build duration T3 (late 30min+) — +20% outgoing damage on transformation turns every rotation into a pre-buffed burst window

Weak points to cover

  • Zero crowd control in the entire kit — she cannot lock anyone down or peel for an ally
  • Very low durability; she dies instantly to any Hard CC chain that catches her
  • Poor teamfight presence — her damage is single-target-flavoured and she has nothing to contribute to a grouped brawl

Next

Calico’s hardest matchups

Best teammates

  • Rat King Rat King BruiserSupportClose rangeBullet damage Makes his whole team's guns better: stacking bullet-resist shred from Rat Swarm Durability high (2/3) Burst high (2/3) Mobility low (1/3) Healing low (1/3) 57.7% duo win
  • Paige Paige SupportControllerMid rangeSpirit damage Currently among the strongest heroes in the game: deadlocklabs.gg records 54.1% win rate at 2.8% pick, S tier, after a recent buff package worth about +2.2 points. Durability low (1/3) Burst low (1/3) Mobility none (0/3) Healing high (2/3) 55.3% duo win
  • Seven Seven MageControllerMid rangeSpirit damage Best-in-class wave and jungle clear, so he reaches item breakpoints ahead of most mid-laners Durability low (1/3) Burst high (2/3) Mobility none (0/3) Healing none (0/3) 54.1% duo win

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