A Mid Lane Analysis Featuring the Top Three Best Performing Champions (Patch 6.24)

The 2017 Ranked Season has begun! In a lane full of commanding mages and evasive assassins, it can be difficult to decide which champions you will take into your placement and or ranked games. In this article I aim to shed light on the top three best performing champions in the mid lane on Patch 6.24 and help you make informed decisions before the next time you click “lock in”. Please keep in mind the fact that playing the champions that you are most comfortable with is crucial if you wish to climb the ladder. You should not sacrifice your LP and your ranked experience only to not meet the expectations of your teammates and yourself.

Lux - the Lady of Luminosity

Recently, our optimistic tactician has been seeing a steady increase in her win rate over the past few patches. After the assassin update, poke/burst and control mages have had a huge influence on the mid lane. The removal of armor penetration and the introduction of lethality into League of Legends has made assassins like Zed and Talon much less oppressive, giving Lux an advantage from the start of the game. Lux's lack of reliance on Rylai's Crystal Scepter has helped her survive the shift in the mid lane meta. In addition, buffs to all of her abilities and visual bug fixes over the course of Season 6 have also contributed to her consistent success in soloqueue.

Lux's super long range forces her opposing laner to sacrifice their health for the opportunity to earn gold from minion kills. Lux's Light Binding serves as a root which will assist in successfully hitting Lucent Singularity and Final Spark. Light Binding will root the enemy behind the first enemy hit which is useful for escaping or bursting multiple targets. This is especially useful when trying to escape from a gank from champions that specialize in chasing down their opponents like Vi. Her passive, Illuminate, allows Lux to auto-attack her opponents after they are hit with one of her spells to deal additional magic damage which aids in chipping away your lane opponent's health.

The slow applied on the enemy by Lucent Singularity makes the enemy much more vulnerable to taking extra damage from Illuminate. The Lucent Singularity + Illuminate poke will help to nullify low-range mages and assassins such as Katarina and Annie which can easily carry a game if given the opportunity. Prismatic Barrier helps Lux to win trades and increase her survivability in the lane. As the game progresses, Lux has the potential to do an overwhelming amount of damage and erase champions off of Summoner's Rift by incorporating Final Spark into a successful combo.

Ahri - the Nine-Tailed Fox

Ahri's role as a poke assassin enables her to be aggressive both in laning phase and outside of lane. Her mobility and hard crowd control are huge contributors to her success in this new Courage of the Colossus focused meta which has been an issue for other mages. Ahri is able to escape from junglers who can better utilize this immensely advantageous keystone such as Hecarim, Vi, and Zac. Comparatively, Syndra has struggled with the advent of these heavy CC junglers. Ahri's mobility also gives her great roam potential. Successful roams to the bot lane will result in an easier lane for your duo lane and effectively shut down the enemy AD Carry. The enemy carry's performance has a huge influence on the outcome of the game. Champions like Twitch and Vayne have the capability to completely take over a game and become unstoppable; setting the standard for AD Carries. Similarly to Lux, one of Ahri's core items is Luden's Echo. This extra area of effect damage enhances her wave clear has always complimented her kit more than the recently nerfed Rylai's Crystal Scepter and helped her to remain solid and powerful in the mid lane. 

The magic/true hybrid damage that Ahri can deal in lane just by abusing Orb of Deception encourages a poke playstyle. Conversely, if the matchup is unfavorable, Ahri can still farm from a safe distance on account of Orb of Deception's high range. If Ahri is being ganked, the movement speed provided by Orb of Deception's gives her the quickness and to avoid hard crowd control and fatal damage. Fox-fire allows you to concentrate on your positioning and effortlessly reposition (especially when using Spirit Rush!) because it is an instant-cast ability and prioritizes enemy champions. Charm's crowd control also grants Ahri time to make a swift getaway in the event of a gank if it is landed successfully on an immediate threat. Ahri's ultimate, Spirit Rush, gives her the tools to escape from champions with gap closers like Yasuo, a very popular and robust champion. 

Xerath - the Magus Ascendant 

Xerath's comeback can be attributed to the decline in Syndra's success and other powerful mid laners that were effected after the nerfs administered to Rylai's Crystal Scepter. Like the previous champions I have discussed, his Morellonomicon + Luden's Echo itemization has greatly aided in his rise to become one of the best mid laners on this patch. In the past, Xerath has struggled when assassins like Zed have a resurgence because of his lack of mobility. After the changes to lethality, champions who benefit from armor penetration require more time to adequately scale and have an influence on the game. Xerath excels at most mid lane matchups because of his enormous range and mana return on Mana Surge. Mana Surge allows him to be a little more liberal in lane and in skirmishes with his mana expenses while effectively chipping away at his adversaries. This gives Xerath a slight advantage over mid laners early on that incorporate Lost Chapter/Morellonomicon in their item path. Luden's Echo will immensely empower Arcanopulse which will obliterate the squishy and vulnerable enemy backline. Xerath also synergizes extremely well with junglers who can offer crowd control. Courage of the Colossus has encouraged a resurgence in play of these types of champions. Hard CC will give him an opportunity to effortlessly hit all of his skillshots and utterly wipe the opposition off of the map with his overpowering combo.

Much like Lux, the enemy is obligated to choose between their health or farm in this matchup. Arcanopulse effectively punishes the enemy if they are too greedy, out of position, or not quick enough to react to the ability's indicator. Xerath's enormous range assures early game safety and allows him to poke out backline champions that could potentially wreak havok in team fights. Arcanopulse is an excellent wave clearer which helps apply lane pressure or turtle. Shocking Orb stops enemies in their track and gives Xerath a window to unload his damage. Shocking Orb also gives him a lot of pick potential and gives his team opportunity to further their lead or climb back into the game if they are behind. Rite of the Arcane adds to Xerath's roam potential. This ability makes it much easier for him to have an impact in the bottom lane or assist in pursuing a wounded enemy.

 Good luck and have fun on the Fields of Justice!

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