Mid lane tier list patch 6.17

Honestly I'm pretty bored and I've been seeing a lot of sleeper picks recently and so I thought I'd devise a list of the best midlaners right now based on a combination of solo queue and competitive potential. If you have any questions comment below and I'll give you my thoughts on specific champions.

Before we start, the mid lane pool consists of

Yes, I am aware more champions are picked mid, such as Pantheon or Wukong, but the instances are so rare and so cheesy you will see it perhaps once every 100 games. A fair reason not to add Galio on this list as well but since he is primarily played mid I decided to keep him.

Same thing goes for Urgot. Riot bless his soul.

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S tier - these guys are the LCS picks. They either define or are the embodiment of the meta. They're super strong and they often win teamfights just by existing.

- I believe Anivia should be on there not because she is a meta champion but because she's a huge counter to it. She is considered one of the best counterpicks to Vladimir and a few others. She's on the lower end, however, because she doesn't fare particularly well against champions like Taliyah (subject to change post-6.18) and GP because she can't really stop him from farming or put significant pressure on him pre-6.

- I feel he's pretty sleeper. I rarely see a Kennen do poorly, especially after fixes to his ultimate and Protobelt were thrown into the game. His burst combo is much higher and he's a significant AoE threat.

- Gonna be real happy once this stupid bruiser build goes away.

A tier - These champions are on the cusp of viability, but aren't picked for reasons such as not being discovered, not owning up to what the S tier provides, it's basically all the good midlaners for ranked but not in competitive because there are enough really good picks right now.

- Akali is remarkably cheesy, and as always, can stomp solo queue with relative ease. The new Hextech Revolver gave her a fantastic boost and in solo games she does fairly well until people start dropping pinks.

- Really underrated and people aren't building him right. The optimal build right now is Triforce -> Draktharr -> Gunblade (or Gunblade -> Draktharr) to maximize your burst. Corki hits like a truck if you're running this. While Varus is the strongest physical damage champion (aside from Yasuo) who goes mid right now, Corki is the strongest champion that builds AD.

- Both have high enough damage to be omnipresent in games. Both are really dumb, particularly Kat with her snowball potential.

- Perhaps one of the strongest mid laners right now. Her only problem is that she cannot compete with the top tiers in terms of effectiveness, and have to snowball games hard in order to be as useful as a Rylai's Cassiopeia/Viktor.

- The 6.17 buffs are nice to her uptime on being a significant threat.

- Must must MUST have a team built around his ultimate. The spell is remarkably strong and sending Ryze and his initators into the enemy team. Alternately, Ryze could just step out of his ultimate (yes, I've tested this) and teleport his Malphite and Vi right into your team. Either one works particularly well.

- All good for being able to nuke your carry through a Braum shield. The weakest of the three is Xerath but after the Morellonomicon changes neither of them are to be underestimated. Overall, I'd rate Ziggs best because of the lack of strong assassin threats and his siege capabilities are so good in this meta.

B tier - Shaky but playable. These champions only really carry when used by players who comfort pick them. Many still have potential but they're just outclassed or better off in another role.

- a strong champion right now, but after the minirework ages ago that lowered her damage and upped her utility, she really is better suited for support. A full AP Karma still hits like a truck though so mind the Mantra Q's.

- I love Twisted Fate to death, but he's pretty outclassed at the moment by Taliyah, Corki, and Aurelion Sol, who all do his job without really sacrificing lane dominance. With Taliyah's incoming nerfs, I do believe that is subject to change, or maybe TF is simply getting a new friend in the B tier.

- Still obnoxious and still hated, Zed has historically had issues carrying, and his shuriken nerf makes it harder for him to get reliable damage in the late-game, where he struggles.

Nobody likes to lane vs. him but frankly all good champions at the moment shine in the late-game and are tanky. Not targets he wants to take on.

C tier - These are the champs you're just better off not playing. They're usually just too unrewarding for what they do.

- Azir is an example of what is going to happen to Gangplank soon. Azir got nerfed repeatedly due to his sheer strength in organized games, until he was no longer good in competitive games (meaning he goes without being played), and since a decent Azir in competitive games means you're going to get alright Azirs in high elo, a barely viable competitive Azir means you're better off just turning off your brain and picking Viktor.

- Way too unreliable for what he does. He's a brick wall in lane but when your mages want to afk farm he isn't going to be doing much. He'll likely rise up and become a sleeper pick once the meta turns to faster, more dangerous picks (think assassin rework) but for now he's just kinda sitting there.

- From almost 100% pick ban to unplayed. Kassadin just isn't seen anymore because he exerts negative pressure until level 6, and due to beefy DPS midlaners taking complete control of the lane as well as a slew of anti-mobility items, Kassadin is quite unable to pick up and do what he does best.

- Alright in competitive, awful in solo queue. Good riddance.

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Well, tell me what you guys think. I know I missed a few but frankly you simply don't see Urgot or Wukong mid enough to really claim viability or include them in a list with champions who are picked exclusively or at least most mid. But again, this is League, and cheese tactics work. So if you've found you carry hard with Swain, keep doing what works for you, but if you're looking for a new mid to play my advice is to use this list and definitely go for an A tier on this list who is undiscovered/not really played at the moment and is easy to pick up, like / / /

Hope this helps.