The Mid Lane in League of Legends is one of the most popular roles in the game. A wide range of champions are played there: melee champions, assassins, some AP tanks, mages, and many others. This makes the role unique and challenging every time you queue up, since you never know who or what you'll face. The paradox of choice is a big issue for many League of Legends players, especially in the Mid Lane! However, here at Mobalytics, we have got you covered in this guide, where we will outline 5 of the strongest Mid Laners to main for the remainder of Season 26.
Before we begin, the data in this article is from our Mobalytics tier list. It is also using Platinum+, global and mid-patch data. While some of these champions might not be statistically the best, they’re very strong overall, and our list is in no order...
1. Zed
Zed is a fantastic champion to main in both the Mid and Jungle roles. He is a versatile pick that can take over the game with a small lead. He remains a popular champion in both roles due to his incredibly high skill ceiling and outplay potential- plus he is a ninja. He is an ideal pick for players who like to queue up in both these roles.
While he may be melee and suffer a lot against someone who abuses range, as long as you play around the minion wave, understand trading patterns, and manage your energy bar, Zed can comfortably get out of the laning phase ahead. He is a fantastic roaming champion, so if you cannot get kills mid, he can push the wave, force a crash, and then help his allies.
As an assassin, Zed excels at taking out squishy targets during the mid and late game who might be walking around the map alone. He can easily take down the enemy Support when they try to place or clear vision around the map. This allows Zed and his team to take an objective.
How to Play Zed
2. Syndra
Syndra is the second recommended champion on our list. She is one of the best control mages in the Mid Lane, and in Season 26 she has also seen some gameplay in the bottom lane. Her kit performs well against assassins and mobile mid lakers, giving her extra protection and survivability. If you’re looking for a simple, reliable AP champion in Season 26, consider Syndra.
During the laning phase, Syndra has good wave management. She can clear waves easily with her Q and W without running out of mana. She can also do this from a distance, which protects her from all-in champions and gives her extra survivability in lane.
She has a strong teamfight presence with her AoE zone-control abilities and strong burst potential with her Ultimate. She can set up a fight with her E, which can catch out-of-position enemies and lock them down. You can then burst them down with your Ultimate, or your team can collapse on them. This can provide you with an opportunity to force the Baron or Dragon afterwards!
How to Play Syndra
3. Ahri
Ahri is a fan favourite mid laner in League of Legends, combining safe laning with hyper mobility and strong pick potential. She has strong wave clear with her Q and lane sustain thanks to her Passive. This comes in handy when she faces tough matchups or opponents with strong all-ins. She is an ideal pick for players who want to impact the map and roam.
Her playstyle centres around landing her E on the enemy, as it is a CC spell that can set up engages. Landing your E on an opponent or high-priority target lets you burst them down with your Ultimate and Q. In matchups where you can't get kills, you can crash the wave into your opponent's tower and look to roam with your Ultimate. Her Ultimate lets her close the gap on enemies, leaving them no way to escape.
Outside of the laning phase, Ahri excels at making plays with her Ultimate and E and ambushing targets who are moving around the map alone. She can pick people off in team fights, or just focus on shoving waves and setting up traps. She is consistently a very strong, safe and roam-heavy Mid Laner and a very good pick in the current meta.
How to Play Ahri
4. Sylas
Sylas is another flex pick who can be played in both the Mid and Jungle roles. Sylas is a strong duelling champion, giving him exceptional kill pressure throughout the game. He is slightly more mechanically challenging than some of the other champions on our list, but if you understand matchups, you can perform well on him.
Sylas's biggest issue is that he struggles against long-range control champions like Orianna, and he also struggles against Cassiopeia. But in a good matchup, or against an enemy team comp with multiple strong Ultimates, he can be a true menace and take over the game. A good Sylas can trade successfully with the enemy: tracking key cooldowns, exploiting mistakes, and knowing exactly when to go in and when not to.
Throughout the game, Sylas has a strong rotation that lets him blow up enemies during short, bursty skirmishes, even against the tankiest opponents. But his real power comes from stealing a strong enemy Ultimate. If you’re facing someone like Malphite or Amumu, stealing their Ultimate could be an insane way to win an important team fight around Baron or Dragon!
How to Play Sylas
5. Viktor
The final champion is one of the more popular champions in recent times. Viktor has seen some progress in both the Mid and Bottom Lane this Season, making him a strong flex pick like Zed for players who like to play both of those important lanes. Viktor is a strong laner with good poke thanks to his E and Q. Upgrading his abilities through his Passive gives him extra lane pressure and lets him keep the enemy pushed in.
In team fights, Viktor can zone enemies away and force them into choke points with his W. Placing his W in a narrow part of the jungle prevents engages and can help your team take key objectives like the Drake. Furthermore, his Ultimate is a strong AoE tool, meaning he can deal a lot of damage to the whole enemy team while they’re grouped. His weakness? When his W is down, he is quite vulnerable to all-ins, and he's squishy and immobile.
While he lacks dashes like some of the other champions on our list, Viktor has strong wave clear, especially when he upgrades his E. This allows him to delete the minion waves with his E, then fall back and out of danger, allowing him to safely pick up farm without getting killed or sacrificing CS or XP.
How to Play Viktor
Final Thoughts
And that’s everything for this article! We hope this helps you rise through the ranks this season. Don’t forget to visit our guides page, where we’re posting loads of new content, including guides for the other four roles.