Succeeding in the Mid Lane: Part One - Auto Attack Harass

Because most ability power (AP) casters have skills that cost mana, they cannot constantly use them to damage the enemy player. Instead, auto attacking the enemy champion, while not as damaging as the skills, is a free of cost and very effective way of harassing. Once you harass the enemy using a combination of skills and auto attacks to a low enough level, you can go in for the kill.

The first step to effectively harass is to know who has the longer auto attack range. Websites like LoL Wikia and Leaguepedia will quickly give you the information you need. For example, if you were playing as Annie against an Ahri, you can quickly see on LoL Wikia, during the loading screen, that you’re auto attack range is significantly longer than your opponent’s:

As you gain more experience in the mid lane, you will begin to learn and memorize the effective auto attack ranges of many AP mid champions.

The best time to harass with an auto attack is when a friendly minion is about to die. Thus, you’re opponent will have to decide between harassing you back and getting that last hit. However, be careful that you don’t miss last hits yourself as they are most often more important than that one harass. Be sure to immediately fall back after your auto attack particle has been shot, as nearby enemy minions will begin attacking you when the auto attack lands on your opponent.

Below, Team Dignitas’ own League of Legends AP middle player,William 'Scarra' Li, harasses his opponent, Zilean, with an auto attack. As shown, right after the attack leaves Kog’Maw’s mouth, Scarra clicks behind himself to fall back such that the nearby enemy caster minions don’t damage him. Zilean decides to harass back, as he wouldn’t miss a last hit in doing so.

Effectively harassing the enemy AP Caster in the middle lane with your auto attacks will slowly but surely give an advantage to help you win the lane.