As with any League of Legends season, this year some champions crawled out of hell and became true monsters while others sank into the abyss of forgotten picks.
Some of the mid laners that were previously ruling the meta are now difficult to carry with and you need to be aware of their weaknesses.
You don’t want to get into a match on a champion that has too many counters in the meta or lacks proper scalings for the late game. These things can lead to a disastrous solo queue experience for any mid laner out there.
So trust me, some mid lane champs are simply worth avoiding. Here they are.
1. Annie
Years and years ago, Annie was one of the best mid lane champions on Summoner’s Rift. That was back when her burst was one of the highest in the entire game and her playstyle absolutely explosive.
But in season 13, Annie has no strengths that could justify us playing her for climbing. Yes, she’s an easy mid laner with no complicated mechanics, but that’s precisely one of her biggest weaknesses too.
Key weaknesses:
- Predictable playstyle
- Not enough burst damage
- Short range
You see, nowadays everybody knows how to play against Annie. Players in all elo have acknowledged the fact that Annie can Flash + Ult them so they often stay far away from her, poke her from range, or block her damage with spell shields.
On top of this, Annie’s damage isn’t simply enough to carry games, especially against tanky team comps. Yes, she can one-shot squishy enemies but she can’t deal damage consistently the way Syndra or Viktor can.
This, combined with the fact that Annie is a short-range mage and has no mobility, makes more of a liability for her team than an asset.
And don’t get me wrong, I’d still recommend Annie as one of the best beginner-friendly mid laners in LoL. She’s perfect for learning the role with and mastering the fundamentals. But for carrying and climbing, not so much.
Read Also: The 6 Worst ADCs You Should Avoid
2. Xerath
Xerath’s reasons for being among the worst mid lane champions you can play nowadays are vastly different from that of Annie. He doesn’t suffer from an old-champion-design syndrome but he doesn’t have any particular strengths either.
In the past, Xerath was a standard control mage pick, great at farming safely and exceptional at poking from afar.
However, in the modern League of Legends where every champion has multiple dashes, especially the mid laners and junglers, Xerath has almost no chance of surviving the laning phase.
Key weaknesses:
- No defensiveness (really squishy)
- Has to get ahead early on
- Too many bad matchups in the mid lane
I’d definitely say that Xerath’s damage is still decent. He’s powerful early on and scales particularly well with magic penetration items. But there are simply so many better mid lane picks that he often gets left behind in power.
In my opinion, Xerath is a much better support pick than a mid lane pick. And if you like playing him, I’d recommend going to the bot lane where the poke you can do during the laning phase actually matters.
3. Corki
Corki is one of my least played mid laners this season and there are a couple of reasons for it.
A few years back, he was a really strong pick, especially when the game was more fast-paced and the damage numbers went higher. His poke was tremendously powerful in solo queue and you could easily carry games, even in high elo.
However, Corki’s power has been reduced to only one viable item build. He only scales well with both AP and AD items which buff his R and improve his poke damage. But even then, his damage simply isn’t good enough to take down tanky opponents.
The thing that I really dislike about playing Corki is that my enemies always know when I’m about to gank. They can obviously hear me picking up the package and in high elo, all lanes play passively until I use my passive.
Key weaknesses:
- Only one viable build (hybrid)
- Squishy champion
- Predictable ganks (enemies can hear you picking up the package)
Role-wise, Corki isn’t all that bad. He struggles against assassins like Zed but he’s pretty safe thanks to his W.
But his biggest issue is not being able to carry games in elos higher than Gold.
Read Also: 7 Best AD Mid Laners
4. Lucian
Long gone are the days when even pro players abused Lucian’s power in the mid lane. And when I see a Lucian mid while smurfing in low elo, I can’t help but cringe at the bad choice.
If you haven’t kept up with the patches throughout the years, Riot Games changed Lucian’s passive. It now deals more damage if he’s been shielded or healed by an ally. In other words, if you want to maximize your damage as Lucian, you have to play with a support. In the bot lane.
On the other hand, Lucian is still an ADC champion and struggles to 1v1 against most mid laners. For example, he can bully the enemy Zed and Sylas for the first few levels. But once they start to trade with him, Lucian simply can’t keep up.
This translates into the mid and late game as well because Lucian has no tools for surviving alone. He really needs someone to peel for him which automatically makes him not fit for mid lane.
Key weaknesses:
- Vulnerable against burst damage
- Requires a support ally to fully unlock his ultimate
- Often creates an all-AD team comp
And lastly, when you pick Lucian in the mid lane, it often results in you having an entire team of AD champions. This isn’t uncommon but it does give your opponents the chance to simply stack armor and defeat you later on.
Read Also: The 7 Worst Top Lane Picks
5. Ryze
Despite being one of my favorite champions in the entire League of Legends, I won’t play Ryze in season 13 when I’m climbing. The simplest way of putting it is that he’s just too weak and he definitely needs a couple of buffs to really become a decent pick.
First of all, Ryze’s damage isn’t impressive at all. He went from being among the best late game mid lane carries to a champion that can’t solo any top laner.
Ryze struggles in lane, struggles to deal decent damage (especially AoE which is expected from an AP mage) and struggles to sit alone in the side lane. He’s just not that good and there are plenty of champions that can do his job better than him.
Key weaknesses:
- Low damage overall
- Short range
- Susceptible to early game ganks
I’d definitely say that Ryze can be a successful pick in Clash tournaments where you work together with your friends. With Ryze’s ultimate, you can teleport around the map with your teammates and impact the game significantly.
But in the chaotic environment of solo queue, stay away from Ryze.
6. LeBlanc
If you’re a seasoned mid lane player, then you’re probably surprised to see LeBlanc on my list of worst mid picks this season. But give me a chance to explain.
You see, LeBlanc is a mage/assassin that looks to dominate the laning phase, get a couple of kills early on, and scale before anyone else. And if that doesn’t happen (which is half of the games realistically speaking) she becomes useless.
On the other hand, no matter how much ahead LeBlanc is, if she doesn’t close the match early and allow it to reach late game, she can’t do anything to tanks. Her build focuses on burst damage. But since tanks can survive it, she becomes useless again.
Key weaknesses:
- Only good if she has lots of kills
- Has a high skill cap
- Really weak against tanky team comps
On the other hand, if you aren’t already a decent LB player, it actually takes a lot of time to master her. You have to practice different combos and know which spell to duplicate with your R in every situation.
So, my advice is to go for a simpler and more powerful pick in the mid lane such as Vex or Viktor.
Read Also: 7 Best Mid Lane Hyper-Carries
7. Swain
The last mid lane champion I want you to avoid is Swain. And the reasons for it are pretty simple.
First of all, Swain’s damage is never abnormally high. He’s an average mage that does well when he gets ahead and scales well in the late game. But even then, his damage is still nothing to lose your head over it.
The difficult part of playing Swain in the mid lane is in the fact that he has no mobility. Yes, he’s a pretty tanky pick, especially after level 6. But because he can’t chase or get away from dashing champions, he usually loses against them.
Key weaknesses:
- No mobility
- Mediocre damage output
- Only good in short/melee range
To be completely honest, I really believe that Swain is better than all other champions on this list. But if I were to play him in solo queue while trying to improve my rank, I’d need one or two buffs from Riot Games before doing so.
Read Also: The 6 Worst Supports
Conclusion
The tricky part of categorizing some champions as “worst ones” is that a good player can always pick them up and prove me wrong. But my goal with this post is to spread awareness to low elo mid laners as well as new players that try out the role.
In my opinion, it’s best to stick to more powerful picks, with more well-rounded strengths that can do many more different things. And if you’re like me and you want the best chances of success in solo queue, you’d avoid the champions on the list above!
And here you can check the worst champions in League overall.
