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Mid Varus storms the Rift!

Riot·6/15/2015, 12:22:45 AM·4 votes·107,966 views

The guilty will know agony. Varus is no stranger to the fissures of the Summoner's Rift, previously seeing competitive play down in the AD carry position. He isn't a regular pick, but don't write him off yet! Just because he’s meant to be a Marksman doesn’t mean you’ll always find him in the bottom lane.

High Damage, Low Mobility

No matter where he is, Varus brings tons of damage to the Rift with his immense ability to poke, thanks to his Piercing Arrow (Q). Blighted Quiver (W) applies additional magic damage and provides percent health shred, giving him the power to cut down enemy tanks. And that's not even mentioning Hail of Arrows (E), a triple threat that provides wave clear, heal reduction, and a slow. With the right team compositions, he provides a lot of utility as well as back line damage.

High damage and poke means that laning against Varus can be suffocating. But, his low mobility is a glaring weakness that enemy teams can exploit. Without escape mechanisms, the only way he can get away from a dangerous situation is through using Flash or by using his ultimate, Chain of Corruption (R). Because the corrupted Ionian warden is naturally squishy, eliminating him early in a fight also means that he will not be able to put down the damage he's expected to provide.

The 2015 Revival of Mid Lane Varus

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Recently, Varus has wandered away from the bottom lane to emerge as a viable pick for many pro mid laners. The Unicorns of Love's mid laner Tristan "PowerofEvil" Schrage showcased Varus in the EU LCS Spring Split Playoffs. Going 5/1/7 in the first Finals match against Fnatic, he showed the legions of League of Legends players worldwide that the Arrow of Retribution could be played quite successfully outside his intended role.

It's now a few weeks into the Summer Split and the teams in League Champions Korea (LCK) have wholly embraced Varus in the mid lane as well. CJ Entus, SKTelecom T1, the Jin Air Green Wings, and the KOO Tigers have all incorporated the Ionian archer into their team compositions.

It all started with Lee "Faker" Sang-hyuk in the Week 2 game against Najin e-mFire, where he was able to do more damage than Najin's entire team combined. Since then, Shin "CoCo" Jin-young of CJ Entus, the Jin Air Green Wings' Lee "GBM" Chang-suk, and the KOO Tigers' Lee "KurO" Seo-haeng have also pulled out the unfamiliar champion in the mid lane as a means to throw opponents off their game.

Synergy: It's Really Important

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Varus is strong -- but as showcased in the games below, the success of the pick often heavily depends on the synergy between him and other champions in the team composition. Four different teams chose mid Varus, and that means four different compositions were drafted. What worked and what fell short?

SKT T1's Team Composition:

  • MaRin - Nunu
  • T0M - Sejuani
  • Faker - Varus
  • Bang - Lucian
  • Wolf - Janna

SKT's double AD composition is bolstered by the steroids provided by Janna and Nunu, specifically with Blood Boil and Eye of the Storm. Two buffs and two AD dealers gives SKT the flexibility to split the buffs or to stack them onto a single champion. Sejuani provides a lock-up ult that synergizes well with Varus' Chain of Corruption, providing two forms of CC that is able to lock down the enemy team.

Jin Air Green Wings' Team Composition:

  • TrAce - Rumble
  • Chaser - Rek'Sai
  • GBM - Varus
  • Pilot - Vayne
  • Sweet - Alistar

Jin Air's composition lacks the steroids previously seen in the SKT composition, though we see another top lane AP damage source. Was it just coincidence? Jin Air didn't seem to reap the benefits of the mid lane pick, having no additional buffs and no reliable way to engage.

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CJ Entus' Team Composition:

  • Shy - Rumble
  • Ambition - Nunu
  • CoCo - Varus
  • Space - Sivir
  • MadLife - Janna

CJ Entus also picked an AP top laner to mitigate the lack of mid AP damage. Like SKT and unlike the Jin Air Green Wings, CJ was able to incorporate Nunu and Janna boosts for their two AD dealers. Sivir's ult enabled hard engage, coupling well with the Varus ult CC. Because the composition incorporated buffs, peel, and initiation, CJ Entus was able to use their picks successfully.

KOO Tigers' Team Composition:

  • Smeb - Riven
  • Wisdom - Gragas
  • Kur0 - Varus
  • PraY - Corki
  • GorillA - Karma

Kur0 actually saw success with the mid Varus pick in both his Week 4 games against the KT Rolsters, but the Game 2 team composition showcases champion picks that haven't commonly been seen in competitive play for quite some time. The interesting picks to note are Riven and Karma. Riven's Ki Burst (W) provides hard CC that can be used in conjunction with Chain of Corruption, while Karma fulfills AP damage, a root (W), and a team speed boost and shield with Defiance (Mantra'd E). Each champion chosen provided a certain complementary quality that helped Kur0, and Varus, shine.

The Item Build: What the Pros Chose

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Take a look at Faker, GBM, and CoCo's builds. Seeing triple? Aside from situational item picks for their respective games, each mid laner opted for four core items: Muramana, Last Whisper, Boots of Lucidity, and Youmuu's Ghostblade. The four items complement Varus' ability to shred targets and do so without running out of mana. Using the Youmuu's active means that he's able to make the most out of his %health shred. Boots of Lucidity? Even more cooldown reduction to poke enemies with.

With the exception of Faker -- who was too far ahead in the game to even think about building a defensive item -- the other two mid laners opted to build into a Hexdrinker, an item that provides magic resist and a protective shield.

No Turning Back Now

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It's much too early in the summer season to say that Varus will continue to be a contested pick. If the pro players' Solo Queue practice games are of any indication, however, he seems to be here to stay. What lies ahead for mid Varus? Whatever happens, it's clear that his work is not yet done.

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152 Comments

RandomUsername126/15/2015, 1:38:05 AM22 votes

Varus mid, coming to a solo queue near you!

Sukishoo6/15/2015, 11:36:53 PM9 votes

Now I wish people would STOP following this. Just cause the LCS does it, doesn't mean YOU can.

FluffehPoro6/15/2015, 5:03:49 AM7 votes

Do you go ap or ad with him mid? I am kinda interested

Egg Gongju6/15/2015, 9:28:33 PM6 votes

God I hate the pros so much. They think they are the first to do anything off-meta and be good at it. F Screw LCS Pro's. I was building Nashors/Rabs on Trist/Varus before they were. I'm sure others were too. Time to avoid League.

Shipx76/16/2015, 1:00:31 AM5 votes

You should make some exclusive "hipster skins" for champs like this that are played in situations like this. Give them for free to certain players who would do this before everyone else, before letting them be sold in the marketplace. Meant to be a sort of "I took mid Varus before it was cool".

OshGoshBoGosh6/15/2015, 1:32:24 AM4 votes

I was so pleased to see C9 Incarnation tear it up today. I always loved his AD mids. Can we get a little Zed love this split?!

FreakyPig6/15/2015, 10:42:42 AM4 votes

You're forgetting the kog'maw ap mid he made famous aswell.

RottedApples6/15/2015, 2:27:55 PM4 votes

all these noob lcs players. Don't they know you should build nashors tooth first?

Firebeard6/15/2015, 10:50:46 PM4 votes

I am stoked! I am a Varus main going as far as to change my Summoner name to CrimsonBlight for his W and reflecting my ranked team CrinsonSociety ((despite being Bronze III, can it elitist "plat" douchebags, I don't care if you call me noob)) and as such, I am glad to see him being used. I tried him AP in the past with mixed success, and am fairly new to trying him AD mid with the different Manamune and cooldown boots, also with mixed success. I still wish I saw more people going ADC Varus too, but alas, it isn't to be. Everyone either calls him "Too ez and OP" or "Weak and just bad" which is also preposterous. I mean... He is the Nidalee of Adc's with his Q, offering tons of damage "nearly half health mid game against most squishy targets" but his Q is fairly east to dodge, and with no mobility, any champion can hardly be considered OP. any gap closer or stun wrecks his world. Sorry to anybody who might be reading this. I had a clear point for writing this comment in the beginning but it kinda broke down into a rant with no concrete thesis. Reply with whatever or don't, I don't really care. I look forward to seeing you on the rift! ~CrimsonBlight

Gilded Blade6/15/2015, 8:49:10 PM3 votes

AD Varus mid? Those Vvortic M'chonics tho. These players deserve challenjo-...oh, wait.....

Köökie6/16/2015, 3:09:15 AM3 votes

GENJA The Timelord Strikes Again....

L4RG3 LOCKET6/15/2015, 10:32:39 PM2 votes

It's just op http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/1857184814/47797267 Varus

The noob boob6/16/2015, 2:41:37 AM1 votes

Ad VarusVarus isitem 3042 +item 3035 +item 3071 +item 3031 item 3158 +item 3142 And the build is known as the snipes cause you work around your Q damage or the Arrow that's shot because it has such a high AD Ratio so you just pop them with armor pen items

Burrito Bombs6/15/2015, 10:29:53 PM1 votes

dude ap varus was the best, glad to see its back

SS4 Kakarot6/16/2015, 11:36:55 PM1 votes

Please for the love of god riot stop posting these on the front page of league. At the very least you could add a TLDR to the end that says "hey these guys are in lcs lck etc. etc. they are pros and have communication therefore can do whatever they want. HOWEVER all you bronze and silvers cannot because your solo queue team doesn't understand or know how to protect you properly nor do you really know how to mid varus very well in the first place." rito plz stop posting these Teemo ing awful ideas on the league menu because it just brings anger and pain into my solo q

Acllet6/21/2015, 8:26:38 AM1 votes

AD VARUS MID Storms the Rift with {{summoner:2}} Varus item 3004 and a lot of SNIPES :D

Road to Źion6/21/2015, 6:34:06 PM1 votes

summoner 13

Rasmutant6/22/2015, 10:45:54 PM1 votes

when varus can out poke stuff like corki and tf i dont think his q needs to start counting the cooldown when he still charging tha q, you feel me? like why is i that corki missles do barely any damage but varus q op? not to mention an ammo component. varus aint balaced in my onion.