Best mid laners to climb with during the rest of season 12 as we reach the end of 2022 in patch 12.19.
Are you looking to gain some LP and jump a couple of divisions? Or maybe you are looking to find a new champion to one trick in a consistent fashion. If want to play and succeed in the mid lane in the current state of League of Legends, you should keep the meta in mind. Some champions can win you games by themselves, while others can make it very hard to climb. So here are some champions we believe will help you in your climb.
Ekko
Ekko has been in a great place and has been viable in the jungle for most of the season. He wasn’t seeing too much play in the mid lane, only one-trick’s seemed to play him there, but still, he wasn’t bad in the role. So the big damage buffs he got to his Passive (Z-Drive Resonance) and his Ultimate (Chronobreak) weren’t necessarily needed, but they did enough to increase his play rate in the mid lane by nearly 50% in the first week of the patch while raising his win rate by 1.5%.
As a melee assassin, Ekko doesn’t have the best early game as he can’t respond to being harassed while cs-ing very well. But Ekko is also one of the best scaling assassins in the whole game, especially if he doesn’t fall behind or snowballs with early kills, which is a reason why he is more popular in the jungle. But with these damage buffs in patch 12.19, Ekko’s kill pressure both pre and post-six have greatly increased, which once again allows him to snowball into the late game.
With two item core build of Hextech Rocketbelt and Lich Bane, Ekko can nearly one-shot any squishy champion while also having the best get-out-of-jail card in the game, his Ultimate. And this Ult also means that Mejai’s Soulstealer is a great purchase on the assassin. Mejai’s is already an item with high-risk high-reward but with Ekko you both reduce the risk and increase the reward.
Viktor
Viktor hasn’t got any changes this season, except the Durability Update, despite the fact he is one of the best mid lane mages you can play at the moment. Ever since his introduction to the League roster, Victor has been one of the best scaling champions and with the change to his Hexcore Updates, his scaling conditions are met much easier.
But if you’d like to pick up Viktor and learn how to play him the best way, you should get out of the mindset of this champion being a safe pick that only scales for the late game. Viktor is actually one of the most dominant laners in mid, especially during level 1. His self-shield on his Siphon Power (Q) and easy-to-hit Death Ray (E) makes his trading patterns very favorable.
He is also very flexible when it comes to itemization as you can go any of the four mana Mythics without problems, and most of the Legendary items perfectly fit him as well. He also greatly benefited from the recent Stopwatch/Zhonya’s Hourglass changes. Since he usually doesn’t rush these items, Viktor doesn’t necessarily care for the price tag, but the increased AP on the items is greatly appreciated.
Syndra
Syndra just got a mid-scope update with patch 12.19. It wasn’t the biggest update where her abilities got changed or anything, but Riot made some adjustments that changed how Syndra fundamentally functions as a champion. While before she was a lane bully who spiked with one or two items and then offered more of a utility role with her Scatter the Weak (E), nowadays Syndra is much better at scaling.
The biggest change with Syndra’s kit is the mechanic of her upgraded abilities. Just like Viktor before her, Syndra now needs more interaction within the game to upgrade her abilities rather than just level up. Before 12.19, Syndra used to get her upgraded Force of Will (W) at level 18, as she leveled it up last, but now you can access it much earlier. Combine this with the execute upgrade in her Ultimate, Unleashed Power, or the %15 she gets at 120 stacks, Syndra actually does damage in the late game rather than being an AoE stun bot.
If you are looking to pick her up, Syndra’s best build is the triple-pen one with Sorcerer’s Shoes, Luden’s Tempest and Shadowflame. Then you should look to pick up a Rabadon’s Deathcap, even before a Void Staff unless you absolutely need it, as it has a great interaction with Syndra’s new passive.
Vex
Some might think Vex is a situational pick where you need multiple enemies with movement abilities so that you can get more value from her Doom ‘n Gloom passive. But while it is true that Vex is very strong against enemies who dash into her, she is also great if the enemy team doesn’t have too many tanks and Vex can get multiple resets with her Ultimate, Shadow Surge.
Vex also has great waveclear with her multiple AoE abilities so she is great at showing the opponent under her turret and roaming with her jungler. Any early kills Vex gets will be a problem for her enemies as she power spikes very strong with her first one or two items, even though she tends to fall behind in the very late game.
Keep in mind that while Vex is good at killing squishies, like control mages, in teamfights she can struggle to lane against them. Picks like Viktor or Syndra give her a very hard time as she doesn’t have the best range, which means you can show and roam. So, she is not a great blind pick, but when picked in a good situation, she is one of the best mid laners to climb with.
Sylas
Sylas was in a fine position most of Season 12, but after some Kingslayer (W) buffs and a general nerf to Grevious Wounds, he became one of the best mid laners to climb with. He became a pick/ban in pro play during the recent weeks, but that was contributed by the prevalence of Gnar picks in the top lane. Gnar doesn’t see too much play in solo queue, but with how much champion variety is in there, you won’t have a big problem to find Ultimates to steal.
Plus, Sylas at the moment is not as Ult dependent as he was before, one of the reasons why he is as good as he is now. After a very weak first early levels, Sylas has a pretty big power spike in level three or four, and if you can manage to get a kill in lane using this spike and Ignite, Sylas can snowball a game comfortably with only his three basic abilities.
Admittedly he got hit with some nerfs in patch 12.17, but they were only some base HP and one second down from your Chain Lash (E), which should not hurt as they aren’t the reason why you would pick Sylas.
There is also a new build you can try, with the first item Liandry’s Anguish and with the First Strike Keystone. This build gives you a lot more ability haste which Sylas loves, while also being much better if the enemy team has a beefier frontline.
Honorable mentions for LOL patch 12.19
- Zed
- Vladimir
- Singed
- Katarina
- Talon
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