Mid Lane Meta Guide by DIG LoL Fenix

20 Aug 20

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Mid Lane Meta Guide by DIG LoL Fenix

Want to master the Mid Lane like a pro? Read on as Fenix explains his favourite Champions, items and strategies!

The Middle Lane in League of Legends is the centre, both literally and figuratively, of all the action you’re likely to see on Summoner’s Rift. With such a huge potential for playmaking and opportunity for high-octane gameplay, the Mid Lane has played host to some of the biggest names in LoL Esports history and some of the most iconic plays that fans could hope to see (like this renowned Azir play).

To help us understand the state of Mid at this point in the Season, we were lucky enough to talk to the man responsible for that wacky Azir quadra kill - DIG LoL’s very own Fenix! Read on to learn more about the best champs, items, and strats that you can employ in your own games to pick up some of that sweet, sweet LP!

Before we dive into the best picks and choices for your Mid Lane arsenal, let’s focus first on the play-style that you should emulate for success. At the moment, the Mid Lane takes on a more hybrid role in the team than it ever has, acting as a mix between a Carry and a Support for their teammates in the right situations. As the Mid Lane has the most open access to the other lanes and Jungles, it subsequently has the best chance of impacting the flow of play (second only to an effective Jungler).

Fenix elaborates on this point, talking more about the state of Mid Lane at the higher levels of play and weighing in on whether Mid Lane is actually as important as it may sound.

“As every season goes, the meta becomes more team-focused. What the Mid Laner will do now is just stay strong and try to help side-lanes instead of just focusing on their own lane. Everyone says Mid is the most important role, but Jungle is the core of League of Legends as a team game. Whichever team gets their Jungler ahead will be better positioned to take the win; say for example I don’t help my Jungler but the other Mid Laner does, their Jungler has more presence all over the map but all I have is advantage in Mid Lane. Right now, as a Mid Laner, you should be thinking that you are the servant of the Jungler and try to help them as much as you can.” - Fenix

When it comes to your Champ Select choices, there is considerably more variability in Mid than you’re likely to find in other lanes. For this reason, it is hard to recommend or suggest one particular keystone over the others, and to choose your keystones and runes on a case-to-case basis, especially taking into account your matchups. For example, a Fizz in the Mid Lane who finds himself in a particularly unfavourable matchup, or is playing into a very aggressive, early game Jungler might consider taking the Zombie Ward Rune over the more kill-focused Eyeball Collection Rune.

As for deciding your Summoner Spells, there is really not much of a decision to make at all; Flash is the quintessential Summoner Spell across the Rift, however there exists a common debate between (particularly lower-elo) Mid Laners between Ignite and Teleport as the secondary Spell.

To provide insight into this debate, we asked Fenix for his input, hopefully to once and for all give an answer about which is better in the current meta.

“I think almost every game you should take Teleport instead of Ignite. When you take Teleport, you get priority on when you want to Recall, as you can just Teleport straight back with an item advantage. Also, when you win your lane with Teleport, you can have an effect on your teammates across the map, but when you have Ignite it’s very hard to do that.” - Fenix

This also feeds back into the idea that the Mid Laner cannot be static and must do their best to extend a helping hand to their side-laners and Jungler whenever an effective opportunity arises.

The itemisation and build paths of a Mid Laner are as numerous as they are powerful. Arguably the most common Ability Power-focused item that you’ll see in the Mid Lane is Zhonya’s Hourglass, for a number of reasons. Not only does it boast a healthy amount of AP, Cooldown Reduction and Armor to prevent getting one-shot by those pesky ADC’s, the Active Ability of Zhonya’s Hourglass is an incredibly powerful tool both offensively and defensively that synergises with the Perfectly Timed Stopwatch Rune in the Inspiration path.

Rabadon’s Deathcap, Luden’s Echo, and Void Staff are all also commonly found in the inventory of a capable AP Mid Laner, but the potential for flexibility and creativity is more present than ever, being based very heavily on your matchup against the enemy team.

Fenix came through with a hot-take when asked about the itemisation of a Mid Laner.

Fenix responded, “I like Hextech GLP-800. I think this item is really underrated right now. It’s cheap, it has a very strong item path even before you complete it with Hextech Revolver and Lost Chapter.”

When you analyse this opinion, considering Hextech Revolver for the extra punch it packs with Magic Bolt as well as the sustainability granted by Lost Chapter’s Unique mana restoration passive, it’s difficult to provide any argument against the GLP 800!

Now, finally, we get to break down the Champions you’re most likely to see, play, and either learn to love or despise when playing in the Mid Lane. Mid has the equal highest number of Top Tier Champions (based on their performance in Platinum+ players’ games.), tied at 5 with Top Lane. These champions are as follows:

  • Zed
  • Talon
  • Galio
  • Kassadin
  • Fizz

Why are they all so highly rated in high-elo games? To answer that question, let’s consider Fenix’s previous words of wisdom: the current role of the Mid Laner is to stay strong to assist their teammates, rather than necessarily dominating their own lane. Now, what do all of these Champions have in common? The answer is mobility, the potential to cover distances of the map with pace and ease to influence the game in parts of Summoner’s Rift that other Mid Laners would struggle to reach without using Teleport.

So what does Fenix think about Mid Lane champions in the Meta right now?

“I think Galio is really strong. He can push, he has hard CC and he also has his global ultimate so he fits this meta very well. The most annoying champ to play against right now? Definitely Zoe. Once Zoe gets W in lane, I feel like she can just win lane for no reason. Those bubbles can also be very hard to play around. Personally, I prefer champions who can push mid easily like Zoe or Syndra.” - Fenix


And there you have it! We’d like to extend a big thanks to Fenix for weighing in on the points covered through this guide, so that you as a player can have the best chance of playing the Meta for success. You can catch our previous interview with Fenix for his take on the 2020 NA LCS, his goals and more- but before then, make sure you use the information outlined in this guide to climb the Ranked ladder faster than ever with the expert advice of DIG’s LCS Mid Laner himself. GLHF!

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