Mid Lane is known to be one of the most diverse roles in terms of Champions playable in the role. However among all the Assassins, Bruisers, and even the occasional Tanks, Mages consistently stand strong despite constant meta shifts. As such, if you’re looking to improve upon your Mid Lane knowledge, what better place is there to start but Mages and their starting items? This guide will tell you all about which starting items to buy on each Mid Lane Mage and why!

(The starting items you buy are often very dependent on lane matchups. In games where you aren't familiar with your matchup, I would recommend counterpick stat sites like U.GG or LoLCounter.com)

Option #1: Corrupting Potion

Corrupting Potion should usually be bought in matchups where you are trying to either survive poke or play very aggressively in an attempt to force your opponent out of lane.

Corrupting Potion provides burn damage when you damage an enemy, along with Health and Mana regeneration. These stats allow you to be a bit bolder with your trading, as you can deal some extra damage and recover some Mana and HP lost in the trade.

Dark Seal is also a great first recall buy with Corrupting Potion as it synergizes very well with the increased potion healing passive of Dark Seal and gives you some of that AP you’re lacking in Corrupting Potion.

You must be wary of the Mages you choose to start Corrupting Potion on though. In the early game, starting items are a very large factor for how effective a Champion’s waveclear is, and the extra bit of AP may be needed to clear waves quickly. To better illustrate this point, take a look at this clip from the Dignitas Mid Laner Henrik “Froggen” Hansen.

And while you can buy Dark Seal on your first recall when you start Corrupting Potion, that equals to 850 gold spent for both of those items, when instead you could get Doran's Ring for just 400 Gold and get even more AP for waveclear. That doesn't mean buying Dark Seal after Corrupting Potion is bad, it's just more situational. Also, even though Froggen is mentioning Viktor specifically, this applies to more Mages than just Viktor. But if the Mage you’re playing doesn’t need the extra bit of AP from Doran’s Ring to clear the wave, and you’re in a matchup where you should be aggressive, then go ahead and start Corrupting Potion.

For the sake of accessibility, I'll be separating all of the Mages into different sub-classes that do the best with certain items. However, this doesn't mean that they can't start other items, it's just generally the most optimal. However, I'll let you know when they have other options.

With that being said, let's take a look at the sub-classes for Corrupting Potion:

Roaming Mages

Roaming Mages are extremely waveclear focused. This only makes sense as you should always push in the wave before roaming. But unlike the need for an AP starting item that Froggen said Champions like Viktor need, Roaming Mages possess enough raw waveclear power for that to not be required.

For all of the Roaming Mages, Corrupting Potion is usually the best option as it provides the sustain they need in their weak early laning phases, and their low cooldown abilities make great use of the burn passive.

However, I strongly recommend buying a Dark Seal on your first recall if you start Corrupting Potion on Twisted Fate, as his waveclear has longer cooldowns than the other two, so the extra AP for quickly clearing waves is very nice. Doran’s Ring is a viable option if you’re looking to be very aggressive with your roams in the first few levels, but Corrupting Potion usually covers all the bases for what Roaming Mages are looking for.

Utility Mages

Utility Mages have the name they do because their kits are either focused on being more supportive or having impactful CC. In the case of Malzahar, it’s the latter, and Morgana and Karma relate more to the former. Malzahar and Karma have very similar laning phases in the way that they do very well at harassing and pushing in melee champions, and are good at safely pushing in and poking ranged Champions.

Because of these strengths, Malz and Karma can build Doran's Ring against Ranged Champions if they're looking to play safer, but Corrupting Potion is usually the best in most situations. Morgana is a slight exception. Doran’s Ring is a great option in lots of games as she requires the AP and Mana regeneration to waveclear consistently. So if you do build Corrupting Potion on Morg, make sure to get the old faithful that is Dark Seal.

All three of these Mages have nice and safe laning phases that give them the freedom to either push in the lane a lot or harass the enemy, which makes Corrupting Potion a great option for them.

Option #2: Doran's Ring + 2 Health Potions

Doran’s Ring is a nice all-around starting item for just about any Mage, so if you are not quite sure what item to start or don’t know the matchup, it never hurts to start with a good old Doran’s Ring. And it’s usually a good move to buy a Dark Seal on your first Recall if you can’t afford a core item component yet; alternatively, a second Doran’s Ring can be purchased if you require more Mana sustain.

While pretty much all Mages do great with Doran's Ring, there are a few sub-classes of Mages that shine with the item. Here's a list of the different sub-classes that tend to do best with Doran's Ring:

Control Mages

Control Mages’ main characteristic is their ability to control specific areas in teamfights and the laning phase, forcing their opponents into unfavorable positions. Because of their strong AOE zone control, Control Mages tend to have very strong waveclear; for example, Viktor’s Death Ray or Anivia’s Ultimate. One of the best tools a Mid Laner and especially a Mage can have is strong waveclear. Strong waveclear allows you to dictate the flow of a matchup as well as a way to respond to or set up for roams.

Because of how waveclear-focused Control Mages are, Lux, Orianna, Viktor, and Zilean should always start Doran’s Ring.

Usually, Anivia should start Doran’s Ring like her Control Mage brethren, but in matchups where she can be a bit more aggressive, Anivia can start a Corrupting Potion into Dark Seal on her first recall.

Lissandra has two equally good options; she has a pretty safe laning phase that lets her be aggressive with Corrupting Potion’s burn effect but still needs the AP from Dark Seal for wave clear. Alternatively, if you are looking to either play more passively or roam early in the game, Doran's Ring provides Liss with more early waveclear power and safety in exchange for less trading power.

Remember, waveclear is king for Control Mages, and their Starting Items should reflect that.

Poke Mages

Doran’s Ring gives everything a Poke Mage could ever want; the Mana Regeneration paired with the AP let’s Poke Mages keep up their barrage of spells while clearing waves in the early game. Corrupting Potion's burn effect is nice for poke, but it does not provide the AP or Mana regeneration that Poke Mages so sorely need.

Burst Mages

Burst Mages excel in very high damage intended to be unloaded on a singular target. Because of their strong single-target damage, Burst Mages tend to have stronger laning phases than other sub-classes of mages. Burst Mages also usually have reliable and short-ranged CC and damage, making them decent picks against Assassins.

Due to their focus on single-target damage, their waveclear tends to be a bit lacking, making Doran's Ring the best choice for most games on all of these Mages. That doesn't mean Corrupting Potion can't be started in matchups where you're looking to harass early, you'll just need to buy a Dark Seal on your first recall.

Zoe's Paddle Star provides her with enough waveclear on a low enough cooldown that she doesn't need an AP starting item to clear waves well in the early game, letting her build Corrupting Potion. But Doran's Ring is still an option if you intend to be spamming spells, it really comes down to preference.

Oddball Mages

I call this group of Mages Oddball due to their kits either not fitting into any of the other sub-classes, or their kits are a mixture of multiple sub-classes. Neeko has decent AOE burst but is also chock-full of utility, Brand is definitely capable of burst, but his damage is more focused on hitting multiple targets than single-target elimination. As for Swain, he could maybe fit into the Mega-Scaling subclass, but he’s not as high damage as that group of Mages and is a good bit beefier. All three of these Mages almost exclusively start Doran’s Ring, but Corrupting Potion is an option for Neeko and sometimes Swain if you’re looking to be extra aggressive. If you do build Corrupting Potion on Neeko though, get a Dark Seal too.

Mega-scaling Mages

Despite these two Mages having great scaling, their laning phases can be solid if played right. Azir is very proficient at bullying people out of lane with his Sand Soldiers, and a few well-placed Qs from Karthus can quickly take away a huge chunk of an enemy's health.

Both of these Mages do great with Doran's Ring, as it gives them the Mana they require to waveclear and be aggressive in lane. Azir also has the option to build Corrupting Potion if he's trying to dominate his lane early on.

Unlike Azir, Doran's Ring on Karthus is a must. Karthus' Mana hunger requires that he has the Mana regeneration from Doran's Ring or he will quickly run out, and he needs the AP to clear waves efficiently early on.

Building Doran's Ring should ensure the safety of strong waveclear in the landing phase for these two late-game Mages. And through that waveclear, you should have a much easier transition from the laning phase into that sweet, sweet, late game.

Doran’s Shield and Sapphire Crystal are very specialized starting items that are only taken on a few Mages. Because of this, there are no sub-classes dedicated to these items, so I'll just be listing individual Mages

Option #3: Doran's Shield + 1 Health Potion

Vladimir is the only Mage that has Doran's Shield as an option; he makes great use of Doran’s Shield’s early game defensive stats, as that is his weakest point. Doran's Ring is also viable on Vlad if he doesn't have to worry about being poked down, but usually Doran's Shield is best.

Option #4: Sapphire Crystal + Refillable Potion

Sapphire Crystal can be started on scaling Mages that rush Tear of the Goddess (basically just Cassiopeia and Ryze). Building Sapphire Crystal with a Refillable Potion gives these scaling Champions not only a nice head start on their Tear of the Goddess but makes sure that they don’t need to keep buying new potions in rough matchups.

Cassiopeia is best with a Doran’s Ring or Corrupting Potion start most of the time. Corrupting Potion is especially good when she's in a matchup where gets to bully her opponent. But in matchups where Cass is going to struggle, Sapphire Crystal is a nice option for the head start on Tear of the Goddess.

Unlike Cass, Sapphire Crystal is always the ideal item for Ryze, as not only does he get the head start on Tear, but he still gets spell damage from it because of his passive.

Due to the diversity of Midlane Mages, they can have very different experiences in the laning phase. This variety also translates to the starting items that you build on them. And even though there are only a few options, your starting item choice not only has a big impact on the game, but different strengths of the items are brought out depending on the Mage using them. That’s why knowing what items to start on the Mage you’re playing is so essential. Now go and use your newfound know-how and either win some laning phases or be nice and safe with your starting item and scale up!