Leading the pack: who is the best Mid Laner in League of Legends?
The mid lane position has always been the most highly coveted role in League of Legends. Traditionally a role for mages and high damage assassins, Season 10 has seen a dramatic shift in terms of champion priority as players around the world have revolutionized the mechanics required to succeed and to become the best mid laner in the world.
Every championship winning lineup in League of Legends has been helped to the promised land by a mid laner who knows how to take charge. Exceptional 1v1 ability, playmaking, communication and shotcalling are all aspects of mid lane play we have grown accustomed as different eras of dominance have come and gone. In this list, we take a look at the most dominant mid laners currently within each region.
As we compare team strength internationally, how do these elite players shape up in a head-to-head battle?
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1. South Korea: Chovy – DragonX
Since he burst onto the scene as a member of Griffin in 2018, Chovy has been a legend in the making with his innovative team-first approach to Mid lane. Chovy took the LCK by storm with his patented Galio, completely dismantling enemy teams within 20 minutes, and sometimes earlier. Chovy’s uniqueness as a selfless mid laner in a league where minimal advantages are favored over team success has changed the way smaller teams approach their mid and jungle synergy through the wild success Griffin were able to attain in a short amount of time.
© Riot Games
As a member of DragonX, Chovy has shown similar glimpses of brilliance with an entirely new roster at his disposal. The imprint of his play on the team’s success remains the same. Chovy is an anomaly statistically no matter which way you look at it. His KDA seemingly has him as a middle of the pack player, but his sky high numbers for CSD & EXP differential at 15 minutes tops the league, along with his damage output per minute amongst mid laners.
Those stats go to show that Chovy is completely willing to put his life on the line to get optimal advantages for his team, while still maintaining high individual stat lines. While other mid laners in the LCK might be more polished in terms of mechanics or ‘mistake free’ gameplay, Chovy is a thoroughbred winner that will put it all on the table to get his team the result.
2. North America: Nisqy – Cloud9
Picking Cloud9 players as the best overall players in the league given their undefeated record seems like a foregone conclusion, but there is an argument to be made for Nisqy’s core involvement in their 12-0 run thus far. As previously mentioned in the best Jungler article, there is a high chance C9’s jungler doesn’t make the cut for the list if not for the pressure and roaming danger that Nisqy brings to the table.
Nisqy is the kind of player that uses his skills to elevate others rather than use his teammates as a crutch for his own success. Because of that style, he has given up lots of ground on CS differential and XP differential at 15 minutes, but the rest of his team have flourished on those metrics due to his exertion on other areas of the map. At this point, Nisqy can do no wrong as his team has hit their stride. A Spring Championship after nearly six years without a title for Cloud9 would further solidify that notion.
© Riot Games
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3. Europe: Perkz – G2 Esports
The craziest thing about G2 Esports is they have not one, but two, completely viable candidates on their active roster that can top this list. This year, Perkz made his return to mid lane after the AD experiment in 2019 failed to bear results. Since then, it’s been almost routine to see Perkz fall into his playmaking ability of old as he remains a focal point to anything positive that is happening on the rift.
His dominance in the role is especially impressive given just how lackluster his team has been in recent weeks. Caps has gone through obvious growing pains as a learning bot laner, and Jankos has been playing uncharacteristically tame compared to what we’re used to in high stakes situations. In spite of all these hiccups, Perkz has proven his worth as a mid laner far exceeding the potential of his peers. Even in the early goings of Spring, Perkz has shown little to no rust in his return to Mid which can only be a positive omen for what’s to come in 2020.
© Riot Games
4. China: Rookie/knight – Invictus Gaming, Top Esports
Before we go too in depth with the LPL at this current state, it’s important to temper this part of the list with an asterisk given the heavily afflicted schedule that has taken place in China thus far. However, the first week of LPL taught us a few cold hard facts about the mid lane, and the continuing trend of dominant mid/jungle duo’s reigns supreme no matter the season.
When looking at confidence in play, few mid laners can rival the relentless pace of Rookie as his ability to exert lane pressure and turn that into advantages on the map have been studied in depth, but recreated seldomly. As his tenure within iG continues to grow, his team has rewarded him with undying devotion as his efforts have seen them surpass FPX this year in spite of a new bot lane. Rookie’s talents have been put on hold due to LPL being suspended, but make no mistake this kind of player isn’t working tirelessly to improve his skill set both on and off the rift.
© Riot Games
Knight just barely bumps Doinb off this list based on his Week One exploits in LPL Spring 2020. Knight missed the mark last year by a few games as he was unable to qualify for Worlds 2019 as a member of Top Esports. The ambitious changes made by Top this year have made it clear the goal is Worlds or bust.
The star mid laner finds himself at the forefront of this push and his mid lane prowess is an integral piece of the puzzle. Few mid laners at the highest level can embarrass and bully their opponents in lane the way knight does. In any given match, he is liable to put on a clinic. If he finds his form in time for Summer, he may very well be the biggest name in China, if not the world, by the end of the year.
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