Smite on Mid Laners-Pros and Cons

Following the latest patch we saw a rise of Mid laners using . In this Discussion I want to explain why it is a good options and when you can do it. I will only use for my talk as the champions I am going to talk about in the second part can all use the auto attack component more then a slow. To start with, I´ve found 2 main reasons on why to go Smite as a Mid laner. 1) Following the jungle changes from this patch control over Scuttle crab became an important objective. It grants a lot of gold and a decent exp lead or bonus to the one that takes it. Using smite mid allows you to roam up and take it to get an advantage over the enemy laner. I also have to mention that grants extra control over Drake and Baron Nashor as mid laners usually have a higher level then the jungler in the mid and late game stages and thus more smite damage. And, on top of all of this smite offers a mini heal every 75 seconds as you can just smite a jungle monster (as mid laner mostly the big Raptor or, as mentioned above, the Scuttle crab). This is something you can theoretically do on every mid laner who can control scuttle and roam without ever purchasing a jungler item. As it stands, this is what AD champions and Spellbook User can do without loosing much. What I forgot to mention...you can also use it to secure Cannon minions.

2) With all the jungle changes also got a build path change where it builds out of and the Jungler item . To remind you all: Runic Echoes is effectively a cheaper (and thus slightly weaker) version of . To name the difference: 525 Gold less in exchange for 30 Ap and 40 bonus damage. These 30 AP difference have a gold value of 652,5 Gold, making it in pure math not worth it, not to mention the extra 40 damage on the passive. But this is where extra damage comes in: Some Champions like , or use basic attacks in their combo. The 3 mentioned all dive into the enemy team and go into melee range and also got all in strength in lane. The bonus true damage and damage reduction helps in 1v1 and even 1v2 fights. Red Smite is sometimes quite tilting to play against when the enemy wins the 1v1 by just a bit of damage he had more then you he didnt take thanks to the damage reduction. In addition to this you got mana regeneration when roaming through the jungle and for users you can also just throw a skill at your Raptor camp to get 25% of your missing mana back and also heal for a bit from health stealing. At this point I will make another honorable mention: . Her W, especially when maxed second, is a good bonus damage burst for your all in combos after landing an E. Of course everything I named in 1) also applies to the AP champions using a cheaper upgrade. But now to the cons or downsides of going in the mid lane:

• You lack a defensive summoner spell. The damage reduction only applies to the target smited and you dont have a , or .
• With the exception of W movement speed bonus you lack a mobility summoner spell like or even for roams.

So, is it worth it? For those champions that can use the upgrade and the dueling strength I would say it is an option you can op into if the matchup you are in is not to bad for you and if you feel comfortable playing without another summoner spell. Also a good scuttle control can give you a lead on gold and exp and the extra Baron and Drake control will always pay off.