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How to play Sinclair

Best build by measured win rate · patch 09-29-2026 · updated Oct 14 · Sinclair wins 47.1% overall

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The Sinclair build

Each tier lists the items Sinclair players win with most often, out of 174,179 Sinclair games. Win % is how often Sinclair 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 Sinclair 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 Sinclair 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 Sinclair 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, Sinclair 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 Sinclair, 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 Sinclair 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 Sinclair plays

Strengths

  • One of the longest effective weapon ranges in this group (60m falloff end) combined with a steerable skillshot
  • Rabbit Hex Rabbit Hex 24m Range26s Cooldown Sinclair hexes an area, turning every enemy inside it into a rabbit for a short time. Crowd Control A hard disable — hexed targets cannot use most actions for 2s (3s at 2 AP). Damage No direct damage; applies 15% increased damage taken (+7% at 5 AP). 26s… Mobility None for Sinclair. Hexed enemies move faster, which is a real drawback of… 1 1 AP: -12s cooldown (26s to 14s) 2 2 AP: +1s duration (2s to 3s) 5 5 AP: +7% damage amplification and +2m radius (was +3m before 5 October) is a genuine multi-target hard disable with built-in damage amplification
  • The Assistant swap gives a fragile mage a pre-planned escape, which most mages do not have
  • Audience Participation Audience Participation 20m Range85s Cooldown Sinclair copies an enemy hero's ultimate for a limited time. Crowd Control Whatever CC the copied ultimate provides Damage No inherent damage — output depends entirely on the copied ultimate. Mobility Whatever mobility the copied ultimate provides 1 1 AP / 2 AP / 5 AP: each tier upgrades the copied ultimate one additional step scales with the enemy team's power rather than his own farm

In lane

  • 16.5 damage per bullet with falloff not starting until 20m still gives him one of the longest comfortable poke ranges in this group
  • Vexing Bolt Vexing Bolt 500m Range24s Cooldown Sinclair fires a bolt of magic whose damage grows the further it travels. Crowd Control None at base. The 1 AP upgrade applies -25% fire rate for 5s. Damage 60 minimum to 120 maximum depending on distance travelled; Defensive The fire-rate slow at 1 AP is a genuine defensive debuff against gun-primary… 1 1 AP: applies -25% fire rate for 5s 2 2 AP: -13s cooldown (24s to roughly 11s) 5 5 AP: +50% maximum damage and +50% assistant bolt damage at 60-120 distance-scaled damage with a mid-flight redirect is extremely hard to fully avoid in a lane
  • Spectral Assistant Spectral Assistant 2s Cooldown Sinclair summons an Assistant at a targeted location. Damage 15 damage per Assistant attack, +14 at 5 AP. Mobility The swap is a functional blink to a pre-chosen location, usable twice per… Defensive His only escape tool — placing the Assistant behind cover and swapping is… 1 1 AP: -10s cooldown (40s to 30s) 2 2 AP: +7s duration and +5m placement range 5 5 AP: +60% Assistant fire rate and +14 Assistant damage swap doubles as an instant reload, so his 2.50s reload rarely costs him a trade

Power spikes

  • 1 AP into Rabbit Hex Rabbit Hex 24m Range26s Cooldown Sinclair hexes an area, turning every enemy inside it into a rabbit for a short time. Crowd Control A hard disable — hexed targets cannot use most actions for 2s (3s at 2 AP). Damage No direct damage; applies 15% increased damage taken (+7% at 5 AP). 26s… Mobility None for Sinclair. Hexed enemies move faster, which is a real drawback of… 1 1 AP: -12s cooldown (26s to 14s) 2 2 AP: +1s duration (2s to 3s) 5 5 AP: +7% damage amplification and +2m radius (was +3m before 5 October) — -12s cooldown (26s to 14s) makes the hard disable available in nearly every skirmish instead of once per fight
  • 2 AP into Vexing Bolt Vexing Bolt 500m Range24s Cooldown Sinclair fires a bolt of magic whose damage grows the further it travels. Crowd Control None at base. The 1 AP upgrade applies -25% fire rate for 5s. Damage 60 minimum to 120 maximum depending on distance travelled; Defensive The fire-rate slow at 1 AP is a genuine defensive debuff against gun-primary… 1 1 AP: applies -25% fire rate for 5s 2 2 AP: -13s cooldown (24s to roughly 11s) 5 5 AP: +50% maximum damage and +50% assistant bolt damage — -13s cooldown (24s to ~11s) turns his poke from a punctuation mark into continuous pressure
  • Audience Participation Audience Participation 20m Range85s Cooldown Sinclair copies an enemy hero's ultimate for a limited time. Crowd Control Whatever CC the copied ultimate provides Damage No inherent damage — output depends entirely on the copied ultimate. Mobility Whatever mobility the copied ultimate provides 1 1 AP / 2 AP / 5 AP: each tier upgrades the copied ultimate one additional step unlock, plus a fed enemy ultimate — Copies with inherited upgrade points, so the spike is really the enemy's ultimate spike
  • 2 AP into Spectral Assistant Spectral Assistant 2s Cooldown Sinclair summons an Assistant at a targeted location. Damage 15 damage per Assistant attack, +14 at 5 AP. Mobility The swap is a functional blink to a pre-chosen location, usable twice per… Defensive His only escape tool — placing the Assistant behind cover and swapping is… 1 1 AP: -10s cooldown (40s to 30s) 2 2 AP: +7s duration and +5m placement range 5 5 AP: +60% Assistant fire rate and +14 Assistant damage — +7s duration (5s to 12s) makes the swap a reliably banked escape rather than a burst-window tool

Weak points to cover

  • 730 HP, zero sustain, and completely dependent on the Assistant being placed for any escape
  • Every meaningful cast is a skillshot or placement — misses are expensive on long base cooldowns
  • Rabbit Hex Rabbit Hex 24m Range26s Cooldown Sinclair hexes an area, turning every enemy inside it into a rabbit for a short time. Crowd Control A hard disable — hexed targets cannot use most actions for 2s (3s at 2 AP). Damage No direct damage; applies 15% increased damage taken (+7% at 5 AP). 26s… Mobility None for Sinclair. Hexed enemies move faster, which is a real drawback of… 1 1 AP: -12s cooldown (26s to 14s) 2 2 AP: +1s duration (2s to 3s) 5 5 AP: +7% damage amplification and +2m radius (was +3m before 5 October) does not interrupt in-progress abilities, so it fails against exactly the channelled ultimates you most want to stop

Next

Sinclair’s hardest matchups

Best teammates

  • Graves Graves ControllerSummonerClose rangeHybrid damage Best-in-class unattended map pressure via Borrowed Decree Ghouls marching at objectives Durability low (1/3) Burst low (1/3) Mobility none (0/3) Healing low (1/3) 54.2% duo win
  • 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) 54.4% duo win
  • Victor Victor BruiserInitiatorClose rangeSpirit damage Highest win rate in this group (around 56% on deadlock.one's current-patch sample) — currently a strong pick Durability very high (3/3) Burst high (2/3) Mobility high (2/3) Healing very high (3/3) 51.8% duo win

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