5 Worst Mid Laners in League of Legends Patch 10.5
By Blake Toman
The worst mid laners in League of Legends Patch 10.5 will be important to know this week with the expected release of the new patch. Here are the five worst mid laners in League of Legends Patch 10.5.
Not much has changed in mid lane on the new patch, with only a few buffs planned for mid lane champions like Neeko and Lissandra and buffs for a few items that some mid laners might use, such as Ravenous Hydra or Tiamat.
1. Irelia
Irelia has been in a rather weak position for most of Season 10, even though she's mobile, does fair damage, and synergizes well with the buffed Conquerer rune. But the series of nerfs near the end of Season 9 gutted the champion and now she's only a shell of what she once was in the mid lane.
The buffs to Ravenous and Titanic Hydra will certainly help her in Patch 10.5, but she won't even be close to playable for some time. Unless the meta shifts over to slower control mages, Irelia will always be outmatched in early priority, giving the opposing jungler and mid laner more opportunities to get a lead early.
2. Akali
Akali is a difficult to balance champion in the opinion of professionals and it's even more evident when looking at Akali on Patch 10.5. Akali has one of the lowest win rates in mid lane at just over 45 percent, but she can easily carry a game in the hands of mechanically skilled player.
Just look at the LCS and LEC, in both of these professional leagues Akali is considered a strong pick into a fair number of match ups. Her kit, when pushed to its limit in the highest levels of competition, is still strong, but in solo queue, most players can't push her to those limits. Instead, the champion is relatively weak there, due to the mechanical differences between the different tiers of players. So until Akali gets another rework, you should probably avoid the champion in solo queue.
3. Ryze
Ryze used to be an unstoppable force in the mid lane and was a consistent pick in professional play, but the focus on early and mid game pressure due to dragon changes at the start of Season 10 removed him from the mid lane champion pool.
Now, Ryze has a win rate that's just over 45 percent. Mostly because it takes too much gold and time for Ryze to become the late game monster he's known for being. With a meta that emphasizes mid lane priority for early dragons and Rift Herald, Ryze simply can't compete with other mages who hit their power spikes earlier and can clear waves with ease early in the game.
4. Lucian
Lucian used to have a lot of power in the mid lane, but the return of champions like Leblanc and Cassiopeia into the meta has forced him out almost entirely in Season 10. Lucian has a 46 percent win rate in mid lane, which is barely above where Ryze, Akali, and Irelia are.
But Ryze, Akali, and Irelia all scale well into the late game and Lucian does not at all. He often puts his team at a disadvantage, forcing either his bot lane, top lane, or jungler to pick an AP carry in order to diversify the damage pool. After three items, he gets out-scaled by most picks and lacks the utility that would otherwise make him an okay choice in the mid lane.
5. Corki
Corki is another champion that, like Ryze, hopes to scale into the late game. But, it often takes Corki far too long to reach that point, with items like Trinity Force and Essence Reaver being some of the most expensive in the game.
Corki also often lacks mid lane priority early in games, which can force his jungler to give up crucial resources and objectives that can set his team behind. But, the champion can still dish out damage in the late game, so he's not a terrible choice, but there are champions who can the same job with fewer and cheaper items.