As illustrated in the previous post, there are obvious reasons for placing 2 people bottom because of early dragon pressure. This leaves 3 people left. We’re going to focus on the solo AP carry in the middle lane.

The main reason for sticking an AP based character in the middle lane dates back to the strategy of DotA and HoN. The main reason for the middle lane or “short lane” is because it is the easiest lane to gank from. It is the shortest distance from either lane so you can readily help at any time. Typically, champions with extremely high burst and high mobility or crowd control (CC) take this lane. Something that was present in the older generation MOBA games was that as soon as middle lane reached level 6, they would disappear off the map and every lane that was overextended would have wards up.

Also, as said above, the middle lane usually has a character with high burst potential. These are referred to the characters that “scale with levels.” This means that these characters will actually do more damage with the more levels they obtain. The characters that do really well are those that gain large burst damage with their level 6 ultimate abilities. Some of these characters include Anivia, Annie, and Veigar. However, remember that characters with high mobility can fulfill the role of middle lane as well. These would be Twisted fate (after 6), Sion (after boots of mobility), and Kassadin (after 6).

Throughout this whole blog, there is a lot of emphasis on getting to level 6 as fast as you can as middle lane. While this is your ultimate goal, there are 5 levels in your way. My major piece of advice to all mid laners is to know when your champion is strongest between levels 1-6. Very few people who play middle lane are actually conscious of this fact. Certain champions are stronger at earlier levels than others.

Let’s take Annie for example. She mainly skills her Q and W before level 6. Because she is completely dependent on 2 skills, she is strongest from levels 2-3, especially when she has her stun up. Now let’s look at Veigar. Veigar is very reliant on his quick burst combo but before 6, he has a major weakness. He can’t land his W consistently without help from his E. Even at level 3, when he has all 3 skills, he is still weak because his 3 skill points in 3 skills does less damage than someone like Annie who has 3 points in 2 skills.

In order to win mid, you need to know when you’re strongest and take advantage of that while being careful of your opponent when he/she is strongest. Keep in mind that characters with high mobility are more focused on ganking other lanes and less on killing their own. Characters like Twisted Fate need to be pressured to stay in lane to stop him from teleporting to every lane and killing everybody. Use this to your advantage.

Another tip I have for people in the middle lane is to know where to ward. I will highlight on a map below on very good ward spots for mid. Every time you go back to shop, you should try your best to grab 2 wards. You are going to need to ward both sides of the river to prevent ganks. If you’re feeling really brave, ward their wraith entrance as soon as you come close to lane, trying not to let the other player see you. If you think you could meet the jungler on the way, you can ward the bushes to the side of middle lane over the ledge just to be safe. Another good spot is in one of the two bushes in the middle of the river on the side opposite the enemy wraith camp. The main point for the wards not over the ledge is to let you see if the other team’s middle is gakning another lane. This is even better than an MIA call as you can let other lanes know when to play aggressively and when to play passively.

Now for something that’s going to be in all of my meta guides.

Breaking the Meta

Just because the meta calls for an AP mid, it does not mean you need to put an AP mid. Some people have had luck running Talon mid because he is highly bursty and is a direct counter to casters with his silence. If you could also pick a champion that can withstand a lot burst such as Rammus or Udyr (with defensive skills maxed first) they could also be viable and make the middle lane a farming lane.

You can also take advantage of the fact that many people play middle lane to produce the most possible damage they can. This means they will be extremely squishy so if you coordinate with a strong CC jungler, you could pick up a strong CC middle laner such as Shen or Blitzcrank and go for a kill lane in middle. This will allow you to roam and gank other lanes more.