Picking the Correct Midlaner

Before you even begin picking and banning as a midlaner, you need to understand each different variation of the role. While they may all be gods who can be taken into the midlane, there are many different variations and each of these has a different role in the team and a different win condition. We're going to look at each, when you should pick them and how to counter them. Let's begin.

The first kind of midlaner we are going to look at is the burst/control hybrid midlaners. These gods have decent burst damage but also abilities which control the fight and bring a lot of utility to their team. Examples of this kind of midlaner include Isis, Ah Puch and Janus. These midlaners all feature crowd control (Stun/silence, slow and banish respectively) and utility (heal, zone denial and speed boost/portals respectively) within their kits. While they do not pack as much of a punch as their pure bursty cousins, they make up for it in the multiple ways they can help the team. Burst/control hybrids who have a lot of utility, like Isis, often have damage that falls off late-game to balance them out, so keep that in mind.

Burst/Control hybrids like Isis excel at controlling a fight and dealing distributed damage, and often have ultimates that bring a lot of utility

So when should you draft a burst/control hybrid midlaner? The most important thing when picking a midlaner is looking at what your team already has but also what it doesn't have. If your team already has a late-game damage carry but is also lacking control/utility, this is the choice for you. You will have a definite place within the team and an assured role. Picking a control midlaner when you don't have late-game damage on your team leads to a situation where no one on your team can push you through once you hit the late-game. In this situation, you aren't the teams win condition but you can help achieve it, by using your hybrid abilities to control the fight.

What about when this kind of god is on the enemy team and not yours? To beat this kind of midlaner, you need to push for late-game damage, which is something they severely lack. While trying to fight them with your own utility and control, it's easier to change the game state out of their favour, to make them less useful as the game goes on and to solidify your control over late-game team fights.

 

Staying on the topic of pure burst midlaners, let's take a closer look at the them. These gods are all about the massive amounts of damage they can put out and how quickly they can change the dynamics of a fight. Examples of this kind of midlaner are Scylla, Raijin and Zeus. Most burst damage midlaners are incredibly squishy, with poor or very telegraphed escape abilities. This, combined with the fact that they only really come into their element in the late-game means that these gods are risky, and prone to falling behind early on, so keep this in mind when you draft these gods.

Scylla is the perfect example of a burst damage midlaner. Risky, item dependent, but if she gets to late-game, she can singlehandedly win the game

So when should you draft a burst midlaner? Well, one thing that influences this decision is the fact that burst damage midlaners very often become win conditions. One of the oldest win condition gods in smite is Scylla. If Scylla gets to the endgame even just on the same level as her opponent midlaner, she will very often just win the game. This means that if you have a team with a lot of crowd control but lacking a central team fight god and a big source of damage, drafting a burst midlaner is very beneficial. A burst can also be drafted in a team that is extremely early game focused. While this may seem counterproductive, you have to remember that just because you draft an early game team it doesn't mean you will win the early game. If you don't, or even if you come out even, you still have your burst damage midlaner to carry you through the game.

Countering a burst damage midlaner is more of a team effort. As a team, you need to work around their cooldowns and always know what they have available. When fighting, you need to make active decisions about targets in fights. If nobody goes onto the burst midlaner in the fight, they will be free to win the fight for their team simply due to the massive amount of damage they do. They always have to be on your mind, otherwise they will end up all over the kill feed.

 

The next kind of midlaner we are going to look at is fairly niche, the magical auto-attack based midlaners. There are currently only two of these, Sol and Chronos, although Freya could be considered to fall into this category. This midlaners are still mages, with their damage scaling off their magical power, but their me in source of damage is their basic attacks, not their abilities. There is absolutely nothing in the game that can stop a Chronos or sol if they get fed, and very little if they make it to the endgame and get full build. However, getting to full build is often the challenge with these midlaners as their mid games are fairly bad, providing fairly low impact to the game. They aren't as risky as their ability burst cousins, but they make up for it by being relatively more difficult to play and do exceedingly well with.

Both Chronos and Sol can carry games alone if they get ahead. Their playstyle is very different and difficult however, and they require a lot of practice to master

Drafting these midlaners is based on the current metagame. It all depends on how often the late-game state happens and how quickly it is reached. In the current Smite metagame, late-game is reached fairly easily and often, so drafting these gods is definitely an option. Both Chronos and Sol bring a ridiculous amount of wave push due to their easy clear and their focus on basic attacks. A team that lacks a good tower taker could definitely consider drafting these gods, but make sure you have some mid-game gods, because both Chronos and Sol do nothing in the mid-game. The lack of burst damage may also mean that objective fights like at the Gold Fury are dicier, with no good secure on your team. You also have to consider how heavily weighted your team is on basic attacks. If your current composition is Apollo, Osiris, Kali and Sylvanus, three of your current picks rely on basic attacks. Picking Chronos or Sol here makes it very easy for the enemy to build into anti-attack speed, as it impacts so much of your team. In this situation, picking a burst damage midlaner might be a better option.

So how do you counter magical auto-attack midlaners? Well as mentioned previously, building anti-attack speed is a great way to limit their damage potential. While it may require you to change your build, it's worth it, especially if the enemy team has more than one basic attack based god. Furthermore, pressure early game and consistent ganks can mean that Chronos or Sol never come online, becoming a waste of space on their team. If you can build up enough tempo against then, it can be almost impossible for them to come back.

 

The final kind of midlaner we are going to look at is even more meta dependent than magical basic attackers. Season 3 has seen the rise of ADCs in the midlane. While the Golden Bow meta did help this, now that it's gone, there are still some ADCs worth considering for the mid role. Sometimes referred to as "physical mages", these gods have very good ability scaling but lower basic attack damage. This makes them mediocre ADCs but great midlaners in some situations. Mid ADCs have to have hard hitting abilities to clear the wave, so choices like Neith, Medusa and Anhur are very common. These gods will bring early game dominance, clearing the wave very easily and being able to push towers due to their innate basic attack scaling.

Medusa is the perfect example of a mid-capable ADC. High ability scaling which allows for easy waveclear and hard hitting basics to allow for easy tower taking

Picking a mid ADC has to come with a plan and a full team composition in mind. While the things they bring are quite valuable in the midlane, they lack two key factors: magical damage and meaningful burst damage. This means that these two things need to be made up elsewhere on your team. What the solution usually ends up beings is one of the traditionally physical roles switches to magical, usually solo or jungle. Putting someone like Ao Kuang in the jungle is a great choice, as he is magical and brings a lot of burst damage to the table. Also make sure your team knows their win condition. With two ADCs on the team, you win by completely out-pushing your enemy. If your entire team knows their win condition and there is magical burst damage somewhere on the team, picking an ADC for the midlane can win you the game.

But what about when you're facing off against one? The best way to fight an ADC midlane is to not let them do what they want. Do not let them take your tower for free. Don't take stupid risks, understand that they will farm better than you in most circumstances and just play for later on in the game, where your damage is much more useful than theirs. Ganks from your team can also help a lot, putting them behind to the point where they physically can't do what they need to be a useful part of their team.

All of the above guides are detailed but at the same time should be taken with a pinch of salt. Every game of Smite is different and therefore every situation where you need to choose what to play is different. This guide just gives you a rough blueprint to work around and to know what factors you should be considering when thinking about which midlaner to pick.

I hope you enjoyed reading this guide and I hope it was useful!

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