Mid lane is one of the easiest roles to carry in League of Legends, mainly because you can easily access other parts of the map and dish out a lot of damage.
Great mid laners can effectively roam into other lanes while keeping pressure on their mid lane opponent, and champions who excel at it are indispensable.
This list of top-tier champions can change depending on several factors. Sometimes, the meta shifts for no reason other than players’ tastes, but usually, it’s because of balance adjustments. Keeping up with the flavor-of-the-month champs can be difficult, so let us do it for you.
Here are the best mid laners for League Patch 14.21.
Ahri
Ahri is back on top as the powerhouse mid laner in League. Across many stats sites, she is one of the more popular champions in the game. According to U.GG, Ahri is the most picked champion across all ranks. Ahri has also been extremely viable in competitive play recently, with the mid laner being the second most picked at the 2024 World Championship.
| Pros | Cons |
| – Solid laner – Mobile – Ultimate provides great roaming potential | – Abilities are skill shot dependant – Difficult to play when ultimate is on cooldown – Requires strong positioning at all times |
With Malignance still a really strong item, Ahri will remain the top dog in the mid lane. She can impact the map in a way that many champions can’t. Ahri’s goal is to shove the lane in with her Q and then look to roam once she’s level six. Her ultimate is a powerful tool as she can get to lanes quicker while providing good escape mechanics if she’s ever caught being somewhere she shouldn’t be.
| Area of Interest | Best options for Ahri |
| Best runes | Rune tree one: Domination – Electrocute – Taste of Blood – Eyeball Collection – Ultimate Hunter Rune two: Sorcery – Manaflow Band – Transcendence Offense: Attack Speed Flex: Adaptive Force Defense: Health |
| Best items | – Malignance – Sorcerer’s Shoes – Horizon Focus These are the only items you’ll need on Ahri during the early game to get going. Malignance is the best item for the champion as it burns the enemies whenever Ahri uses her ultimate. Ahri also has long-range abilities, making Horizon Focus a solid choice for her second full item as it reveals where the enemies are after damaging them from long-range. |
| Best Summoner’s Spells | – Flash – Teleport |
| Best build path | – Orb of Deception (Q) – Fox-Fire (W) – Charm (E) Once you get level four, max Q first, W, and E in the end. |
| Toughest matchups | – Jayce – Akshan – Veigar – Sylas – Malzahar – Annie – Anivia |
Sylas
Sylas is amongst the best champions right now in League. When he gets going, he’s one of the harder champions to stop, thanks to his ultimate, which steals the enemy champion’s ultimate. When locking in Sylas early, the champion impacts the enemy team draft. For example, a Sylas with Alistar ultimate, Lux ultimate, etc., makes the game difficult for the opposition.
| Pros | Cons |
| – Very strong with the right ultimates – Very mobile – Great roamer – Able to one-shot squishy targets | – Abilities are skill shot dependant – Difficult to play when ultimate is on cooldown – Weak laner |
Sylas is at his best when he roams around the map looking for picks with his early-game spike. Rocketbelt is the best item for him early because he can quickly pounce in while still being about to get out of dodge if needed. While teams should definitely plan their draft around Sylas not getting good ultimates, most teams in solo queue avoid this, therefore Sylas will often get at least two good ultimates to choose from every game.
| Area of Interest | Best options for Sylas |
| Best runes | Rune tree one: Domination – Electrocute – Sudden Impact – Eyeball Collection – Relentless Hunter Rune two: Sorcery – Scorch – Transcendence Offense: Adaptive Force Flex: Adaptive Force Defense: Health |
| Best items | – Hextech Rocketbelt – Sorcerer’s Shoes – Cosmic Drive You’ll want to run these three items on Sylas practically every early game. Rocketbelt is pretty straightforward in that it allows Sylas to spike early and impact the map faster. He’s not a great laner, so using Rocketbelt to shove in the wave is a good plan, as you can then focus on leaving the lane while the enemy has to farm. |
| Best Summoner’s Spells | – Flash – Teleport |
| Best build path | – Kingslayer (W) – Abscond / Abduct (E) – Chain Lash (Q) Once you get to level four, max W first, E, and Q in the end. |
| Toughest matchups | – Galio – Vex – Taliyah – Ryze – Malzahar – Cassiopeia |
Yone
No one enjoys being killed from two screens away—that is the problem many have when going up against Yone in League; the mid lane champion is just as dominant as ever. To make matters worse, the champion is the strongest in competitive play right now. Yone is the most picked champion in the mid lane at Worlds 2024, meaning his presence in solo queue is likely to rise.
| Pros | Cons |
| – Can assassinate squishy targets hiding in the backline – Ultimate is a great engage and disengage tool – Great roamer | – Weaker early game – Difficult to play if enemy has hard CC – Vulnerable to ganks |
Yone is definitely a champion who needs time to ramp up due to the weak laning phase. Anyone with poke can whittle him down and zone him off the wave, making the game very difficult to play. Yone being short-range early means he must walk up to the wave to kill it.
Later into the game, his abilities will clear the wave with ease, but early on, they do next to nothing, especially to enemy champions. On the other hand, he can assassinate an enemy from miles away thanks to his E and his ultimate, which is where the joke two screens away comes from.
| Area of Interest | Best options for Yone |
| Best runes | Rune tree one: Precision – Fleet Footwork – Absorb Life – Legend: Alacrity – Last Stand Rune two: Resolve – Second Wind – Overgrowth Offense: Attack Speed Flex: Adaptive Force Defense: Health |
| Best items | – Blade of the Ruined King – Berserker’s Greaves – Immortal Shieldbow These are the items that Yone will need to get through the early game. It provides enough sustainability to help Yone tackle what will likely be a tough early game. The lifesteal will allow him to stay in lane much longer and tackle the side lanes once the game reaches that stage. |
| Best Summoner’s Spells | – Flash – Teleport |
| Best build path | – Mortal Steel (Q) – Soul Unbound (E) – Spirit Cleave (W) Once you get to level four, max Q first, then E, and W in the end. |
| Toughest matchups | – Akali – Vex – Syndra – LeBlanc – Katarina – Veigar |
Syndra
Synda is back in the fold as one of the stronger mid lane champions to pick in League right now. In Patch 14.21, Syndra has risen as one of the better mage pick as ADCs are slowly being removed from the mid lane. Syndra doesn’t need a lot to get going with a kit that is fairly simple to use but difficult to master at a higher level. She has good wave clear, which allows her to roam with ease.
| Pros | Cons |
| – Great waveclear – Can one-shot squishy targets – Good in teamfights | – Abilities are skillshots – Has low mobility – Squishier than other mid lane opponents |
In terms of getting the basics down, Syndra isn’t a difficult champion to use if you’re looking for a character that can farm well and scale into the late game. The problem then becomes whether you can hit your skill shots, which is the most important part of her kit. She has an extremely powerful stun, but it can be harder to hit for players in the lower ranks. She’s also extremely immobile, meaning your positioning on her must be top tier or champions with crowd control will easily pick you off.
| Area of Interest | Best options for Syndra |
| Best runes | Rune tree one: Inspiration – First Strike – Magical Footwear – Biscuit Delivery – Cosmic Insight Rune two: Sorcery – Transcendence – Manaflow Band Offense: Attack Speed Flex: Adaptive Force Defense: Health |
| Best items | – Luden’s Companion – Sorcerer’s Shoes – Stormsurge Luden’s Companion is the primary item that will get Syndra through the early game. She has great poke, but this item will certainly help one-shot the wave with ease, allowing her to roam about the map. Syndra is great at bursting champions down, so Stormsurge is such a good item for her. It grants her movement speed, something she desperately lacks. |
| Best Summoner’s Spells | – Flash – Teleport |
| Best build path | – Dark Sphere (Q) – Force of Will (W) – Scatter the Weak (E) Once you get to level four, max Q first, then W and E in the end. |
| Toughest matchups | – Fizz – Xerath – Sylas – Ekko – Galio – Irelia |
Hwei
Although Hwei fell off recently, the mid lane champion is making a comeback in League Patch 14.21. If you’re looking for a champion who scales tremendously well and has a solid early-game presence, go with Hwei. The champ will take some time to get used to the different combinations, but players underestimate just how strong this champion is.
| Pros | Cons |
| – Great teamfighter – Provides poke and mid-to-long-range – Great early-game champion | – Low mobility – High mana cost abilities – Spells are skillshots |
Hwei isn’t easy to learn by any means, but once you get over that teething period, you’ll be a late-game monster with lots of range and able to spam abilities at will. His items also play a big part in the early game, with Blackfire Torch being his optimal starting item. Hwei’s abilities can hit multiple targets, meaning this item is more than essential for Hwei as his ability power will increase.
| Area of Interest | Best options for Hwei |
| Best runes | Rune tree one: Sorcery – Arcane Comet – Manaflow Band – Transcendence – Scorch Rune two: Precision – Legend: Haste – Cut Down Offense: Attack Speed Flex: Adaptive Force Defense: Health Defense: Health |
| Best items | – Blackfire Torch – Sorcerer’s Shoes – Liandry’s Torment As mentioned above, Hwei’s abilities are large area of effect abilities that can hit multiple targets at once, so you should go for Blackfire Torch. For every champion hit, Hwei’s ability and power increase by four percent. Considering Hwei can consistently pump out these abilities, it makes sense to go with this item first. |
| Best Summoner’s Spells | – Flash – Teleport |
| Best build path | – Subject: Disaster (Q) – Subject: Torment (E) – Subject: Serenity (W) Once you get to level four, max Q first, then E and W in the end. |
| Toughest matchups | – Naafiri – Talon – Zoe – Annie – Fizz – Xerath |
