Is Janna mid viable?

Farenknight·Aug 13, 2015·2 votes·825 views

She used to see play mid in S1, but my question is, can she go mid and still be useful as an AP mage? If yes, what could you build, and in what type of comp?

3 Comments

MisterHealYoGirlAug 13, 20151 votes

Not really. She used to be able to poke pretty well with her tornadoes, but the ratios were HEAVILY nerfed, simply because that's not the kind of comp that Rito wanted to endorse. Right now she's so overwhelmingly defensive that putting her in a solo lane, where she has no one to protect, isn't really appealing. If you were totally set on having it happen, you would want some other source of magic damage, like a Diana jungle or something. Overall, it is possible, but it means that you're investing a huge portion of your team's resources into one of the most defensive champions in the game. Janna has no kill pressure, and even built full AP, most of her influence in teamfights comes from her crowd control. Your heal is super strong, but that's about the only difference. There are two types of people that would not pick Janna mid into; hypercarries like Karthus or Ryze are 100% cool with midlane being a relentless farmfest, and Janna has zero kill pressure. Secondly, assassins like Zed or Leblanc can delete her without much effort, and snowball lane super hard.

tl;dr Janna mid could theoretically work. It makes your team painfully defensive, but as long as your comp is okay with that, like if you have multiple other carries on your team (Diana Jungle, Kog'Maw ADC, Vayne top, whatever) it can work. If you want to play a support-ish mid, though, I would recommend Lulu or Lux over Janna.

ConturbatioAug 13, 20151 votes

Not after they increased the CD on her W by 4 seconds at rank 5. That was the final blow Riot launched at Janna mid which finished her off.

Bondage BunnyboyAug 13, 20151 votes

Janna's excellent if you know you won't be pressured much mid lane/can easily deal with the enemy ganks (so against something like Anivia/Morgana+Shyvana). But I'd still rather pick Lulu, she has an easier time farming and more damage. Plus, if it's only one target you're trying to save every teamfight, Lulu would have the same effect.